My October class finished today. I always say it is my best class, and they laugh because they know I always say that. This class was good. I enjoyed it very much, the diversity made the class great. A young guy from Santa Cruz, and guy from Silicon Valley, and old Army guy that does volunteer work in Viet Nam, a young housewife from Korea, and a newly divorcee that wants to change her life. Conservative teaching style to looking for fun and everything in between. I have them teach a class every day for 3 weekends, by the time they have to do their final test, which is a 40 minute lesson they have taken the good for the others (at least that is the hope). I change the lesson plan that I am supposed to follow a few ways. First is I don't have the students read during class, I have them read at home, and then talk about it the next day of class. I have often been praised and thanked by my students for making this change. The students see a benefit in having teaching time rather than just talk about theory. The other innovation I have made to my classes is to bring in ESL students for the class to teach. They enjoy doing this, think about the first time they meet someone that doesn't speak English is when they walk into their first class. Today I had 2 people from China, 2 from Ukraine, and 1 from Turkey. I get these foreigners through a variety of ways. They enjoy it, and it helps my students a lot. I like the changes I have made, and I feel it helps my students prepare better for their life in other countries. Some succeed, and some don't. I know one student came back early because she found out she didn't like living in another country, one guy came back early because the girls in the country he went to weren't as easy as he had presumed, and one lady went to a country she had studied about for many years and then found out when she got there that it was nothing like she had imagined. I hope I have done all I can do to help prepare them!
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