…and it is with sadness that I am waving good-bye to this stage in my career.
I’m returning to the EOI Avilés for good. I can hardly believe it was three years ago that I shared with you my fears about a change of career I was ,willingly,about to face. What I originally planned to be one year in a high school soon turned into three and the truth is I am glad I took the decision. I have learnt so much.
This is my big thanks to all who have worked and probably put up with me and my lack of experience in all the red paper involving teenagers throughout these three years. You have certainly changed my mind about what teaching in a high school involves.
I have learned that being a good teacher is not teaching to those who want but to those who don’t. Highly motivated students, students who love learning languages are really so easy to teach but what is really challenging is facing a group of students who clearly wish to be somewhere else but right there, staring at you.
I remember my first term being a teacher at the high school as something close to a nightmare , so used was I to students always wanting more, never seeming to have enough, always eager to collaborate and participate… that when I faced my new students , most of whom had everything but learning English on their minds, I nearly dropped dead on the spot .Being the new girl on the block , I was assigned the not-so-good groups, if you want to put it kindly and ,in some classes , I distinctly remember my new students slumped in their seats, legs stretching across the aisle and the horrified faces as I addressed them in English. For three years, I’ve had to be a mother, a father, a friend, a counsellor, a psychologist, an actress, a lawyer as well as a teacher. I have had to be motivating, energetic, enthusiast, flexible, understanding, compassionate, well-mannered, tender, well-balanced as well as hard and strict and I have loved every minute of it.
This video is worth watching… because we , teachers, make a difference :). Taylor Mali What teachers make .
and this version with the lyrics- in case you find it a bit difficult or are too tired after dealing with your classes.
Welcome back , you too! Nice to hear from you again!
Welcome back!
Secondary school teaching is a world apart from EOI. Not that I have much experience but I have had lots of students at ESO and Bachillerato level and they couldn’t care less about learning English. All they want to do is “pass” the subject.
Although I like the idea of becoming a secondary school teacher, I’m really aiming for a place as a EOI teacher in the future.
Put simply, in a secondary school you have to educate and bring children up. The latter is less the case with EOI students.