I’m sitting on my patio, listening to the birds chirp, watching a DVD on my computer while I blog away. My feet are up, I have a couple of frozen Hershey Kisses in my pocket - the students really don’t need all that chocolate. I can hear the song “I Will Survive” playing in the distance – it’s ironic since just a month ago I would have thought that was so appropriate. At that point I was just trying to make it through the day, now I’m trying to really take advantage of the day and enjoy it while it lasts. After getting accustomed to life here in the BIG city, I am so calm and relaxed. Yesterday, after Andi and I went to a 2:20 PM movie, I said to her, “I don’t know how I’m going to go home.” She was pretty confused since she’s aware of my pride for knowing my way around Mexico City quite well. I clarified, “I mean in January.”
My students have come a LONG way, and so have I. I had been completely dejected, feeling that my teaching abilities (in which I had previously had full-confidence) weren’t transferable to a situation different from Wilmette. How could I motivate students who probably weren’t going to use the language while traveling or furthering their studies in college and beyond? I realized that no matter the environment or the students’ realities, they can be motivated and it’s my job to figure out how to do that. I aim to make it real – besides talking about understanding TV, music and movies, now the Mexican students will have a chance to communicate in English. Today, we began to work on pen-pal letters and the students are excited to receive the letters later this week that arrived from the students in Wilmette. Teaching is very different here; lessons that I could do in one class period in Wilmette take at least 3 here, if not 12! Teaching has become a constant challenge, but a welcome one.
