Walking down the hallway, I hear the faint sounds of children playing. As we arrive at the common room full of students, we are greeted by what seems like the only adult in the building. She smiles and tells each of us which classroom we will be assigned to for the next three days. 'Three days,' I think, 'three days will go by so fast! I’ve made it through 3 weeks already; three days will be a piece of cake!' Then, I met my students...
Although it was the hardest thing I have ever had to get through, I am so grateful for those three days. For our last week of TESOL certification, we did a few days of teaching at an elementary summer school for children from other cultures. And, I was definitely not prepared for what I experienced at that summer school. To be fair, most of the “teachers” there were simply volunteers who needed summer work, and almost everyone involved in the summer school treated it more like a summer camp. However, we were not told this before our first day. I went into this 6th grade classroom to observe and maybe take notes on how to be a better teacher, and I ended up having to help the main teacher discipline his students. At one point, one of the girls insulted the teacher and her friend fell off her chair from laughter. I decided that though I might be ruining his sense of authority, I needed to help this teacher get control of his class.
So, I walked into the school nervous that I would fail as a teacher, but honestly God gave me exactly what I needed: confidence. Confidence in myself as teacher. And, confidence that God was guiding my path. The first three weeks of classes and orientations included so much information and things I needed to remember that I had begun to doubt whether this was what I should (or could) do. But, after that first day of observation in our practicum, I realized that I had already learned and knew so much about classroom management and teaching; much more than I even knew I knew (if that makes any sense!). Plus, I now know that if I can handle that group of students, I can handle pretty much anything else that comes my way!
It felt like it took forever to get that TESOL certification, but I know all those classes will help me in the long run. Now, I just need prayer and God’s guidance again as I move from the teaching side to take on the support-raising side of this journey to get to the Czech Republic!