I started teaching ESL in 2005 when I worked as a Social Studies teacher in Rome, Italy at AMBRIT (American British International School). I picked it up for extra money.
When I retured to the States, I moved back to Cleveland and started teaching Social Studies again in the inner city, but I missed my international life. I missed the international students. I liked history and still do, but wasn't particularly interested in just teaching about the Oregon Trail anymore. I wanted something more.
Later, I moved to Chicago and started working in publishing again. (I used to work as an editor for Thompson and Gale before becoming a teacher.) I also went back to tutoring ESL for extra money and started teaching ESL courses at Xilin Chinese School to Chinese speaking students. I loved it! I loved my students! I loved the curriculum. I loved the rewards in teaching someone how to understand and communicate in a different language from their own.
Currently, I teach ESL at ELS Language Centers at MTSU. All of the students are academic bound. Classes range from beginner to masters. It is such a great thing to run into a student who had spoken little to no English upon arrival that is now a proficient and fluent English speaker. I got to take part in that journey.
My students are older. They are expats basically, and often times they need help adjusting in this new world. For example, I just had a man come in here whose wife is studying here. She is depressed, and he asked me if maybe I could talk to her. Another student asked me if I could go to the hospital with her because her husband is there, and she doesn't understand what the doctors are telling her.
Is all of this a drag? Sometimes. Is teaching them frustrating? Sometimes. However, I love it.
I love this program I am studying in now because it's teaching me how to be a better teacher. It's making me more aware of my students and their situations. It's helping me practice patience when I feel I have none.
Teaching ESL is really the only thing I can imagine doing anymore. I still travel, but I prefer living stateside and vacationing elsewhere in my freetime. I like the international students and the rewards it brings. I like when I close the doors to my classroom, not much else matters. I have an important job to do. I feel the students need the skills that I am teaching them in addition to the basic knowledge they learning about the Oregon Trail.
2 comments:
I can certainly see how teaching in the public school classroom would not be as interesting as what you already experienced internationally! Great blog, Daiva!
P.S. ...love the short, sassy hair...this is coming from a "sister short hair!"
I have been looking into teaching internationally. I would like to do something during the summer next summer, and I have been a little successful finding some organizations.
I am sure you learned a lot from those experiences! I know that's a big reason that I want to do teach internationally - of course, other than the cool factor!
=)
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