Tomorrow's the Day

For someone who complained about 8 o'clock classes all through my time at EMU, it's rather ironic (or perhaps karmic) that I'm scheduled to teach classes at 7 AM four days a week! Yep, classes start tomorrow and I actually think I'm pretty prepared. I've spent most of the weekend working on the syllabus, looking at the curriculum and trying to understand what exactly goes on in a listening/speaking classroom. While I don't entirely have my head around it yet, I at least feel confident that I'll make it through the first 3 periods on Monday and Wednesday.

One of the challenges of preparing for these classes is fearing that my own inadequacy as a teacher will get in the way of genuine student learning. While I'm passionately convinced that there is real value in the IC3 approach, I'm less certain of my ability to aid students' learning processes. My only expertise in listening/speaking comes because I'm a native speaker, and as we all know, native speakers do not necessarily make effective teachers. My hope is that I won't get in the way of student learning, and, just maybe help them along the journey of not only increasing their English language skills but also their inter-cultural understanding.

So, I guess that's it for now. If you think of it, keep me in your thoughts/prayers tomorrow as I'm still pretty nervous about the beginning of classes and the process of getting acquainted with my students. I'll be sure to keep you informed about the inevitable challenges and moments of gratification over the next few weeks.