Hello my name is M-A-G-G-I-E and I am from America

November 2nd, 2011

This is how I started the first lesson for each of my 16 classes. I teach 16 different classes, each once a week for 40 minutes. For my first week I prepared only one lesson to teach in 16 different classes. I quickly learned that this strategy will not work. 

For a select few of my classes I prepared the perfect amount of information. There was ample time to explain everything well enough that they would understand it, but not so much time that I ran out of things to do. A few of my classes had really excellent students, so they were able to do and understand my lesson quickly. This is great for the students, but it left me with 10 extra minutes at the end of class where I had nothing to do but try to teach knock knock jokes. As it turns out, it is very difficult to explain painfully unfunny jokes to teenagers who don't have a great grasp on the English Language. On the complete other side of the spectrum, I have two classes in which I would be surprised if half of the students can list more than fifteen words in English. I think for those classes I am going to prepare entirely separate lessons because the level is so low. 

My worst classes by far are those in which the students are overly rambunctious. My problem is not with students talking in class. In fact, my favorite classes are the ones in which the students are energetic and talkative. I do have a problem with students goofing around, paying no attention and making the class impossible for me and the rest of the students. 

I literally cringed as I wrote that. When did I become a teacher? Five months ago I was just another student doodling in class, and making jokes at the teachers’ expense. The stranger thing is that I know in ten months I will be right back in the role of a student. In one of my classes I actually considered making two boys split up and sit at opposite sides of the room. This was a very brief consideration, because immediately after thinking it I mentally slapped myself for being "that teacher". I am not sure exactly what I am going to do in these classes, but I am going to have to do something that calms the classes down a little bit without completely going against everything that I have ever experienced as a student.