So You Thought You Wanted to Teach English...

This was Practicum Week for us TEFL Peace Corps Trainees. We all went in with bright ideas and smiling faces. We were prepared. We've done tons of training. We've planned lessons and activities. We have halfway competent intermediate Armenian language skills. We thought we could do this.

Oh buddy. I'm going to stop right here and give a huge shout-out to anyone who has taught English as a Foreign Language for any length of time. You all are unsung heroes. I bow to you and your patience. I inherently admire your ability to roll with the punches and creatively solve problems on the fly. I'm sure not everyone's experience matches mine, but there are some things about TEFL teaching that seem innately difficult. I would gladly take teaching college freshmen or substitute teaching the rowdiest high school class over teaching TEFL any day... if I wanted to be comfortable that is.

Don't get me wrong, all teaching is difficult. Even with my minimal experience, I am so very aware of how hard teaching is, especially if you care about teaching. I'm sure there are some TEFL classrooms that are easier than a standard native-English speaking class in America. I'm sure there are plenty of TEFL classrooms that run smoothly and effectively. I'm also absolutely positive that this week being so difficult had a lot to do with my lack of experience in a TEFL classroom. Still, there are a lot of challenges here that I hadn't thought to worry about.

Challenge 1 - English is a mandated class. While this could be really cool in theory, in practice I can already see a lot of hurdles that arise. This means that your best students, who would be in like a high school English 4 class, are in the same classroom as your true beginners - those who haven't even retained the alphabet.

Challenge 2 - Here, and many other places, school discipline works very, very differently. I can't just send a student to the office or write a referral. Some teachers here use discipline techniques that I am not willing to use myself, so students may not respect my way of doing things. Many students will question my role as an authority figure solely because I am an American. Maintaining order is going to be a balancing act between getting students to be "on my side" and keeping enough distance to be respected.

Challenge 3 - Classroom culture is different. It is okay, and maybe even encouraged, for students to help each other, even when solo work is expected. I can call on one student and while they are trying to come up with the answer on their own, three other students are telling the student what to say. It is difficult to gauge where any individual is at because it's almost like teaching to a hive mind.

Challenge 4 - Directions. I need to give directions in order for students to do activities that will help them learn. However, half the students in the class still don't know the words in the directions, so they can't do the activities. I mime a lot. I use bits of Armenian. Still, it is a challenge that I will constantly be working to improve myself on.

This week was exhausting. We still had our four hour language lessons in the morning. In the afternoons, we taught one class, observed another, then had group debriefs and feedback sessions. In the evenings, we came home to our families, ate some dinner, then met up with our co-teacher to lesson plan everything for the next day. It was physically, emotionally, and especially mentally taxing.

I am glad the week is over, but I'm also grateful for the experience. I was in a 7th Form (7th grade) classroom, with some very bright and motivated kids. Even those who weren't as motivated made notable progress throughout the week, and I am definitely proud of them. The students were all very excited to have American teachers visiting, and a few were really sad that we were finished today. I can't wait to get into my permanent classroom. Although, I definitely want to learn a little more before that happens.

On a side note, if you've reached out to me at all this week, I apologize. It has been hectic and stressful, and I have a full weekend ahead of me, too. I will do my best to keep in touch with everyone as I can. Hopefully, my next post will have a little more sunshine.

Հաջողություն,

Էմիլի