Life After College

After having completed my Spanish major I asked myself, "now what?" How the heck am I going to make a living off my mediocre Spanish abilities? I soon came to the conclusion that I need another skill. The road signs pointed towards business or teaching. Well, I was petrified of teaching. You see, I'm not a particularly gregarious person and I know how much work it takes to be that amazing teacher (and being a perfectionist, I would settle for nothing less). However, I was even more petrified by the prospect of econ and math courses, not to mention a future in a cubical- so teaching it was! Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) became an obvious choice since A) I already spoke English, and B) Most importantly, it offered exciting travel possibilities.
So, I enrolled in Western’s intensive summer course; intensive being the key word. I jammed as much knowledge into my grey matter as I could, ultimately discovering that English is a CRAZY language and the importance of the phrase, “I’ll get back to you on that.” With only my practicum left I was ready to hop on a plane and begin my adventures teaching abroad. Alas… Reality came along and shook me upside down, but all that came out was one thin dime and an I.O.U. to the Department of Education for 14,000 dollars- adios Espana! Seeing no other reasonable alternatives, I resigned to “live with my folks,” a slight taste of failure rising in my throat as I said it. I soon learned that I couldn’t just walk into any academic establishment and demand a TESL practicum; these things take time and paperwork to establish. Instead, I opted to volunteer for a quarter at South Puget Sound Community College (SPSCC) until I’d gained their trust and the appropriate arrangements were made. This turned out to be a wise decision as it allowed me to observe another teacher and become familiar with the program. This also gave me time to do volunteer teaching at a nonprofit org in town, providing me with completely different approach and atmosphere. By the time I began my practicum I’d had thoroughly steeped in everything I’d learned at TESL and absorb new knowledge and experience from my volunteer work. I felt prepared, competent, and confident. I was extremely lucky to have, not only a great teacher as my practicum mentor, but also a wonderful person. It was an amazing experience and we got along well; so well in fact that she recommended me for a position the following quarter!
It was the first day of the quarter, of my first day teaching, in a brand new classroom! I began with an ice breaker; you know the one- you say your name and something about yourself, then the next person has to repeat what you said and add their own information (turns out not such a good idea if you are doing it with more than five people). About half way through it began to drag along and one of the students stopped the game, stood up in my face and announced that she had, “something else to do.” I was horrorstruck! I felt as if she might as well have said, “You are too young and incompetent to be teaching this class.” Of course I tried not to let it show and began with the lesson. Things started to look up; I’d written all over the white board and students seemed engaged. Then strike number two; I went to erase the board but it wouldn’t come off! I’d written all over the entire (brand new) white board in permanent marker! I could have sat down and cried right there, but instead I laughed. And that’s when it happened, the students laughed with me. The tension dissipated, there was literally no erasing my blunder, and yet we had all bonded in a sort of way. The ability to laugh at one’s self in not only an invaluable quality in teaching, it is life saving. Consequently, I learned that if you write over a permanent marker with a normal dry erase it will come off (be sure to file that one away somewhere).
Another aspect of teaching that had made my knees go weak and my eyes widen was the amount of planning involved. I’ll be the first to admit I AM NO PLANNER. Rather, I prefer to put my faith in the spontaneity and magic of “the moment.” My lack of prioritizing planning was amplified by that fact that I was working full time at a stressful job on top of teaching (those loans weren’t going drink a Red Bull, grow wings and fly away). My planning was like the ozone layer, still there but with a few holes threatening to increases if I continued at the same rate. I quickly found that this didn’t fly in teaching and was grateful for all I’d learned that whirlwind summer at TESL. Having clear content and language objectives are imperative to the success of any lesson. Nothing beats realia, and the careful progression of activities and skills is where you gain you student’s trust. If I ever feel unsatisfied with a class, ninety percent of the time I can trace it back to poor planning. But let’s not dress spontaneity up in the black sheep’s fleece quite yet. Being a teacher requires you to also be perceptive to your student’s needs. You can have everything planned down to the last millisecond, yet have to throw it away if your students aren’t ready. Sometimes it is better to take a step back than forward.
Despite my aversion to planning, it seems I have set myself up quite nicely. I have taken a jaw breaking bite out of those loans; I have taught a number of subjects and gained the experience to make me a marketable employee (not to mention I’ve gotten to spend some quality time with the fam.); finally, I am now ready to hop on that plane and begin the adventures of teaching abroad. The beauty of TESL is that there are always new challenges, always something to improve, and always another realm to explore.