October 14, 2009

  • Classes

    Oh dear! As I started to think about writing this entry, I realised that I was thinking to myself in that slightly slower, forced English ("foreigner English") which I have had to get used to using with my classes over the past couple of weeks! It's a shame, before starting work I had got into thinking mostly in Italian, and now suddenly I'm not only thinking in English, but it's not even proper English!

    Anyway, today I met the last of the classes I hadn't yet taught, so now I can tell you a bit about all my classes.

    My youngest group, who I will only see every other week, are 15-16 year olds (although there was at least one 14 year old). Although I am working in an Istituto Tecnico (which would normally be business specific courses), one or two classes are following Liceo programmes, of which this group is one. From what I can tell, this means their level is a bit higher, as although they are the youngest (a 2nd year class), their English was pretty good, even in comparison to some of my 3rd/4th year groups. In the third year they start studying literature on this programme.

    I have six 3rd year and six 4th year groups. 3rd year is 16-17 (although in pratice could be 16-18 or even 19) and 4th year 17-18 but again, could be 16-19 pretty much. Basically they are the equivalent of 6th Form. I don't have any 5th year classes, but 5th year is the final year (18-19) which is when they usually leave school.

    With some classes I have been asked to follow a textbook which covers UK culture and history. So with the 3rd years I have to do the culture module, and with the 4th years the history module.
    At first they told me I would be able to do the same lessons with all my classes. It has since emerged that some classes don't have this book (today my tutor told me that she told her pupils to sell that book....) but have completely different ones! So I have drawn up a programme for the classes who are following that book, of whta I will do each week (although it has already gone a bit out the window because I had to start at different points with different classes). Then it looks as though I will be covering Literature with one 3rd year group and then general topics of conversation with a 3rd year group and a 4th year group. Hopefully I will still be able to recycle lesson plans and adapt them to use with different levels!

    I've been enjoying planning lessons and thinking of ways to make the topics interesting! So far they have been going down well. I'll have to come up with some general lesson plans that I can use with the classes who aren't following books, and also maybe some fillers that I can use in case a lesson is going badly!! So far I haven't needed any, but I'm sure I will at some point!

    Tomorrow will be interesting as my tutor isn't there and I have 2 classes with her on Thursdays normally. She has told me that there will be a substitute teacher and that I am to force them to stay this time (last time they left!). So I am effectively taking the classes on my own anyway as there won't be anyone there to intervene or help out if they really don't understand. However, last week they were good classes I think so it should be okay. I have to think of a topic for the second group though as they are the ones who don't have the book! I guess that's my task for this afternoon!

    Another teacher asked me today about teaching her 9 year old and some other children after school, so it looks like there are plenty of options for getting that extra bit of income I was talking about in my last entry!