I like most parts of the English teacher gig, mostly because it is so different from my old lifestyle as a teacher, always in one place, same schedule everyday, no time to ever go out and do anything during the day except for the occasional Friday race to order and eat a Jimmy Johns sub and be back at school in 50 minutes.
Here I have the opposite problem, sometimes I have so much time to kill in between things that I wish I could stay in one place. It's not really worth it to take the metro home in the late afternoon because that would just mean having to take it again at the busiest time of day in order to get to my night class. I usually end up with about 2-3 hours to kill depending on if it's a day that I meet with my private student at 6:30. Sometimes I'm gone for 12+ hours and realize that I've only been teaching for about 4 of them, but it really comes down to what time and how far away your classes are. I think most English teachers must be master time killers, knowing exactly what coffee shop is where, how good the wifi is, and exactly how long it will take to walk or ride from Point A to Point B.
Here are some of the ways I have been killing my time:
1. Starbucks
Pretty much the only place with soy milk, so bring on the wifi, lattes, and comfortable chairs. I'm pretty sure I've spent more money at Starbucks here than I ever did back home.
2. Journaling
I've actually filled up 2 whole notebooks since I've been here, not bad.
3. Itouch surfing
See number 1
4. Lesson Planning
Sometimes...
5. Eating lunch at 4:30
Too early to eat lunch before I leave the house and by the time I get to my next stop it´s around 4:30. I eat the lunch/dinner combo and then have a late night oatmeal with apples snack. Nothing wrong with just moving the foods around to different times of day, and grabbing lunch somewhere is a great way to kill at least an hour and have a place to sit for awhile.
6. Walking an extra couple of metro stops when it's nice out
I love walking, but when I'm weighed down with a lot of books it makes it a little less enjoyable. The best part is the people watching, I can't get enough.
7. Reading the magazines from El Mecurio
Some days I try to listen to my own teacherly advice...to keep improving at a language, spend some time reading to help learn new vocabulary.
8. Yoga
I'm lucky enough that my yoga place is within walking or biking distance from my house. Walk to class, hop on the metro for the day, and off I go, or sometimes the reverse plan is also true.
Regardless of what I'm doing, sometimes it's just better to be out and about rather then hanging out in the casita!
Showing posts with label teaching English. Show all posts
Showing posts with label teaching English. Show all posts
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Monday, April 11, 2011
Nothing to report
It's April 11th already and I realized that I hadn't yet posted anything this month. Forgive my lack of inspiration lately, but for now I'm back to working, and to be honest, things are still pretty slow so I'm not doing a whole lot of that either. Of 4 possible private students, only one of them materialized so maybe that means that going to a lot of yoga classes and looking for jobs in the USA is what I'm supposed to be doing right now, or sleeping!?! I'm making the most of it since my karmic payback will surely be a stressful job and I'll be able to look back and remember all of the relaxing and yoga I did while I was in Chile.
I'm fortunate that I work mostly at night and the only morning that I have to get up really early is Saturday, (weird, huh?) but it actually coincides really well with our lack of time change. The government pushed it back again another month to save energy so it's really dark in the morning. When I leave at 7:45 on Saturday morning for class it's barely light enough for me to ride my bike. The trade off is that it still feels kind of like summer since it's still pretty light at night. It's so refreshing to open weather.com and still see sun and 75 degree predictions in the 10-day forecast. I'll take it!
I'm fortunate that I work mostly at night and the only morning that I have to get up really early is Saturday, (weird, huh?) but it actually coincides really well with our lack of time change. The government pushed it back again another month to save energy so it's really dark in the morning. When I leave at 7:45 on Saturday morning for class it's barely light enough for me to ride my bike. The trade off is that it still feels kind of like summer since it's still pretty light at night. It's so refreshing to open weather.com and still see sun and 75 degree predictions in the 10-day forecast. I'll take it!
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Crossing Over, part II
After Mendoza, I returned to Santiago for a few days and still had a little time remaining before classes started so I decided to dip into my travel savings fund to take one last trip, to Buenos Aires. I mention this tiny detail to any readers who might be considering teaching English here just to remind them that although the summer is great for travel opportunities, (and also high season fares) it's also a long time to be without any kind of steady pay. Save during the good months, come with some money that you saved at home, or plan to stock up on private students to stash away some cash for travels, otherwise you could find yourself unemployed, hot, and bored in Santiago for a month or longer if you don't plan ahead.
If you remember a few posts back, I crossed over into Argentina by bus. Santiago to Buenos Aires is usually a reasonable plane fare and I opted for that since the 20+ hour bus ride just wasn't for me. I thought the sights on the bus over the Andes were spectacular, but these shots I got out of the plane window were even better.
Stay tuned for pictures of Buenos Aires and my day trip over to Colonia de Sacramento, Uruguay.
If you remember a few posts back, I crossed over into Argentina by bus. Santiago to Buenos Aires is usually a reasonable plane fare and I opted for that since the 20+ hour bus ride just wasn't for me. I thought the sights on the bus over the Andes were spectacular, but these shots I got out of the plane window were even better.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Winding Down
On Monday I finished my early morning class and by the end of next week my schedule will essentially have been trimmed from 6 classes down to 3, which includes saying adios for awhile to a Saturday class. It's amazing how much of a difference waking up early on that sixth morning makes. I used to do extra things at school on Saturdays a lot but it was always by choice or for "extra money" which made it feel a lot different. However, I'll miss those Saturday morning bike rides in to the institute which always provided some early morning entertainment since I seemed to always catch a glimpse of a few people stumbling home from the previous night's adventures.
The schedule changes bring obvious positives and negatives, the positive being that I will have more time for weekend trips again and can return to exploring the city and traveling around on weekends a little more. The last time that I had the opportunity to do this was back in early September, and I obviously know my way around a little better now so that's a huge plus. Another positive is sleep...I was definitely struggling with the late nights and early mornings, so now I will continue to work M-F until 9pm but the earliest that I'll have to be at class will be T/R at 9:30.
The negative is now that I work an hourly job, less hours obviously means less money. It has definitely been a big transition for me and I miss earning a salary as well as the paid breaks and vacations. Now if I don't work I end up owing the institute more time since they usually end up paying us in advance for things and then we owe them back. It's definitely different than what I was used to, but I've learned a lot and it's been great to work with both teens and adults.
It's also been fulfilling to teach two business related English courses and I like discussing the "corporate" side of things. I've always worked in a school and have never had experience in any sort of company. I was reading a little the other day about how so many former teachers go on to become corporate trainers, and former corporate trainers go back to school to earn teaching degrees. Could it lead to a career change for me? We'll see what happens...
The schedule changes bring obvious positives and negatives, the positive being that I will have more time for weekend trips again and can return to exploring the city and traveling around on weekends a little more. The last time that I had the opportunity to do this was back in early September, and I obviously know my way around a little better now so that's a huge plus. Another positive is sleep...I was definitely struggling with the late nights and early mornings, so now I will continue to work M-F until 9pm but the earliest that I'll have to be at class will be T/R at 9:30.
The negative is now that I work an hourly job, less hours obviously means less money. It has definitely been a big transition for me and I miss earning a salary as well as the paid breaks and vacations. Now if I don't work I end up owing the institute more time since they usually end up paying us in advance for things and then we owe them back. It's definitely different than what I was used to, but I've learned a lot and it's been great to work with both teens and adults.
It's also been fulfilling to teach two business related English courses and I like discussing the "corporate" side of things. I've always worked in a school and have never had experience in any sort of company. I was reading a little the other day about how so many former teachers go on to become corporate trainers, and former corporate trainers go back to school to earn teaching degrees. Could it lead to a career change for me? We'll see what happens...
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Forgetting how to spell
The last few days my fellow teacher friend A.and I (funny how in Chile I have 3 friends with first initial A) have been talking about our sudden inability to spell in English. We both taught Spanish before coming to Chile and have both been experiencing those moments of...Where am I? What language am I trying to speak? How do I write this word on the white board? I always considered myself to be a decent speller, as evidenced by my success in elementary school spelling bee competitions, of course.
I think these types of episodes normally occur when you are switching back and forth between two languages on a daily basis, but I just started noticing more space out moments where I literally write something on the board, stare at it for a few seconds, and know that it's wrong but don't know how to fix it. It's happening especially with words like "accustomed", where the Spanish equivalent is acostumbrado. The "o's" and "u's" get all mixed up and then my students just laugh at me and ask if I'm sure I know how to speak English. Yesterday I was teaching a lesson about clothing to 3 very successful business people and I literally couldn't spell the word "pajamas". All I got was the "p" and just couldn't put my finger on what vowel came next! Slightly embarrassing but maybe I'll just take it as a good sign that I've been reading enough Spanish lately to even have this confusion occur.
I think these types of episodes normally occur when you are switching back and forth between two languages on a daily basis, but I just started noticing more space out moments where I literally write something on the board, stare at it for a few seconds, and know that it's wrong but don't know how to fix it. It's happening especially with words like "accustomed", where the Spanish equivalent is acostumbrado. The "o's" and "u's" get all mixed up and then my students just laugh at me and ask if I'm sure I know how to speak English. Yesterday I was teaching a lesson about clothing to 3 very successful business people and I literally couldn't spell the word "pajamas". All I got was the "p" and just couldn't put my finger on what vowel came next! Slightly embarrassing but maybe I'll just take it as a good sign that I've been reading enough Spanish lately to even have this confusion occur.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Teaching Here 'n There
I will try to take a break from the "look at all of the day-trips I am taking" picture portion of the blog that seems to have taken over and focus on the reason why I actually came to Chile, to teach English. I haven't said a lot about this yet and I can't give any specifics about my institute on my blog, but let me take this opportunity to report my experience teaching English here thus far.
As a teacher by trade, my observations could be vastly different from those who have never taught in a classroom in the U.S., but maybe not? I think with teaching your first language comes a certain level confidence that one doesn't ever have with their second language. Of course, there are exceptions for people who grow up other countries, live there for many years, have bilingual parents, etc. My experience in learning Spanish was in school so I became a lot more adept at learning grammatical rules of Spanish and how to use it "correctly" and completed ignored all of the English grammar rules in English class and continued to speak as I always had. This combined with several years of teaching Spanish translates to me being able to explain those rules of the Spanish language pretty well. Sure, my students here might laugh because I can't say my "r's" exactly the way that a native can, but I do have the benefit of understanding the grammatical structures of Spanish and how my students think. I know why they want to say "Have your parents any car?" and that learning "do" is difficult concept because it's so opposite the Spanish structure.
What I don't know all that well quite yet is how to explain English rules for things that I can repeat to myself 2-3 times and still not know which is the correct one since they both sound "right" to me! These are the moments that frustrate me since students seem to get caught up on some of those rules that I'm not accustomed to teaching. Meanwhile I'm waving my arms and saying "look over here at this awesome thematic lesson that I've planned" and never mind the picky grammar rule, let's just continue the conversation we were having about gossip and its negative effects. Over the course of the last few years I had stopped teaching grammar as a separate lesson and begun incorporating it a lot more holistically, hence the difficulty I'm having of doing things the "old way". I'm also working on an online TEFL course that wasn't required of me since I have teaching experience, but I want to complete one just to have the extra practice as well as the certification.
Two months into my experience I'd have to say that for me the positives outweigh the negatives. I love the change of teaching adults as well as teenagers. I love not having to spend hours and hours grading papers and being able to put that time into planning lessons for 8 students instead of 27. I'm also fortunate to be able to dip into my previous lessons that I used back home and try to use them here as an English lesson. I love being able to explain vocabulary as it comes up in class and tell an accompanying story in my first language. (last week it was "leftovers")
The schedule isn't always optimal, but I do often have time during the day to catch up on email, Skype with my family and friends at school, and possibly take a quick nap if I'm exhausted from teaching til 9 and then running home and having to be somewhere else at 8 the next morning. When you look at the breakdown of the hours, it doesn't look like much compared to what I was doing at home, but it does begin to wear you down. It's impossible to get home at 9:40 and get anything done and also be in bed at a decent time to feel rested enough for the next day's early class. That combined with also working early on Saturday mornings makes the week feel a lot longer.
Overall, I've found that it's just like anything else in life, create a balance for yourself and learn what works for you!
As a teacher by trade, my observations could be vastly different from those who have never taught in a classroom in the U.S., but maybe not? I think with teaching your first language comes a certain level confidence that one doesn't ever have with their second language. Of course, there are exceptions for people who grow up other countries, live there for many years, have bilingual parents, etc. My experience in learning Spanish was in school so I became a lot more adept at learning grammatical rules of Spanish and how to use it "correctly" and completed ignored all of the English grammar rules in English class and continued to speak as I always had. This combined with several years of teaching Spanish translates to me being able to explain those rules of the Spanish language pretty well. Sure, my students here might laugh because I can't say my "r's" exactly the way that a native can, but I do have the benefit of understanding the grammatical structures of Spanish and how my students think. I know why they want to say "Have your parents any car?" and that learning "do" is difficult concept because it's so opposite the Spanish structure.
What I don't know all that well quite yet is how to explain English rules for things that I can repeat to myself 2-3 times and still not know which is the correct one since they both sound "right" to me! These are the moments that frustrate me since students seem to get caught up on some of those rules that I'm not accustomed to teaching. Meanwhile I'm waving my arms and saying "look over here at this awesome thematic lesson that I've planned" and never mind the picky grammar rule, let's just continue the conversation we were having about gossip and its negative effects. Over the course of the last few years I had stopped teaching grammar as a separate lesson and begun incorporating it a lot more holistically, hence the difficulty I'm having of doing things the "old way". I'm also working on an online TEFL course that wasn't required of me since I have teaching experience, but I want to complete one just to have the extra practice as well as the certification.
Two months into my experience I'd have to say that for me the positives outweigh the negatives. I love the change of teaching adults as well as teenagers. I love not having to spend hours and hours grading papers and being able to put that time into planning lessons for 8 students instead of 27. I'm also fortunate to be able to dip into my previous lessons that I used back home and try to use them here as an English lesson. I love being able to explain vocabulary as it comes up in class and tell an accompanying story in my first language. (last week it was "leftovers")
The schedule isn't always optimal, but I do often have time during the day to catch up on email, Skype with my family and friends at school, and possibly take a quick nap if I'm exhausted from teaching til 9 and then running home and having to be somewhere else at 8 the next morning. When you look at the breakdown of the hours, it doesn't look like much compared to what I was doing at home, but it does begin to wear you down. It's impossible to get home at 9:40 and get anything done and also be in bed at a decent time to feel rested enough for the next day's early class. That combined with also working early on Saturday mornings makes the week feel a lot longer.
Overall, I've found that it's just like anything else in life, create a balance for yourself and learn what works for you!
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Why I Chose Chile
Lately, the most common question that I have had to answer is "Why Chile?" According to a colleague of mine, I chose Chile because a palm reader in Hong Kong told me that she saw me living in a country south of the equator. I can assure you that there was no self-fulfilling prophecy at work here. While I can credit my seminar in China studying English teaching methods for inspiring me to teach English abroad, I had actually forgotten about my fortune teller until about a month ago. I found the tiny piece of paper that she had given me with some notes about my "future" and it actually indicated that I would be heading to Australia. The ironic thing is that my original intention was to go to Spain, and it appeared that I was hitting wall after wall in terms of trying to choose a city or lock in a job. I also had to consider taking a leave of absence from my current job and how it would coincide with the school year here in the States, which of course wouldn't naturally direct me toward a country the Southern Hemisphere where the school academic calendars would be different.
So, to answer the question as directly as I can, I actually chose Chile due to a natural process of elimination. I won't mention any other countries, but you know who you are. When I started reading about Chile I already felt welcome there, even without my feet ever having stepped on its soil. It will pay me a decent salary to teach others a second language, the only job that I have ever been employed to do since I graduated college. It won't freeze me out in the winter (OK, so I am learning that I might be wrong about that), and as I keep reminding my Mom, it will provide me a pretty safe and modern environment to enjoy the next chapter of my life.
I have read multiple perspectives written by those who are just beginning, continuing, or even ending their love affair with Chile. Whether they went there originally to study or just to explore the geographical wonder that is Chile, it strikes me how many people are returning for the second, third, or even fourth time. I spent my study abroad time in Costa Rica, and although I loved that time of my life, in no way did I feel such a strong pull to lead me to live there a second time. To me this speaks volumes about the kind of experience that I'm hoping to have. While I know that being an English teacher in Santiago is not all that unique, I know that my own experience will be unique from everyone else's and that is what I'm looking the most forward to.
So, to answer the question as directly as I can, I actually chose Chile due to a natural process of elimination. I won't mention any other countries, but you know who you are. When I started reading about Chile I already felt welcome there, even without my feet ever having stepped on its soil. It will pay me a decent salary to teach others a second language, the only job that I have ever been employed to do since I graduated college. It won't freeze me out in the winter (OK, so I am learning that I might be wrong about that), and as I keep reminding my Mom, it will provide me a pretty safe and modern environment to enjoy the next chapter of my life.
I have read multiple perspectives written by those who are just beginning, continuing, or even ending their love affair with Chile. Whether they went there originally to study or just to explore the geographical wonder that is Chile, it strikes me how many people are returning for the second, third, or even fourth time. I spent my study abroad time in Costa Rica, and although I loved that time of my life, in no way did I feel such a strong pull to lead me to live there a second time. To me this speaks volumes about the kind of experience that I'm hoping to have. While I know that being an English teacher in Santiago is not all that unique, I know that my own experience will be unique from everyone else's and that is what I'm looking the most forward to.
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