Off to a good start!

I have been very busy these past couple of weeks because at last classes have started! I am teaching in English Language II & IV, English Literature I & II, and in the ESL Teacher Training Workshop. So far I have been planning and leading lessons on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, American body language, and text messaging abbreviations in the USA. All of my students are in their 20's or older, so it is quite a relief to be able to teach a lesson without also worrying about classroom management and misbehavior. So far, I definitely prefer teaching this age group to highschoolers. Occassionally, I visit my advisor's morning classes at the local high school, and that is when I realized how lucky I am to be teaching adults. All in all, all of my teaching experiences here, even with highschool students, have been very fun and rewarding.

When lesson planning, I try to be creative about how I present the material so as to make it fun and accessible to the students. I'm a big fan of using games. I played Charades with Language II last week when we discussed body language in America, and I played Agree/Disagree/Unsure with Alice's high school class this morning in order to discuss various misconceptions about the United States.

It is a very interesting feeling to be an authority on USA culture and American English. I sort of feel like an Ambassador since, for the majority of the people here, I am the first American and/or native English speaker they have ever met. Of course, right away I get a lot of questions about where I am from and why I am here, and various inquiries about the USA. Actually as soon as I open my mouth, I hear " De donde sos" meaning "Where are you from?" At first it can get a little irritating because I want to blend as much as possible, but my accento norteamericano always gives me away. Thankfully, unlike my experience in Spain, the people that I've met so far haven't reacted negatively to me being an American. In general, they are just curious because Parana rarely gets foreign-speaking visitors. A lot of times people even say to me, "Why did you come here? Everyone here wants to go to the US?"

On Mondays and Tuesdays, I take classes at the School of Visual Arts. My class on Mondays is called "Libre Expresion" or "Free Expression;" I basically get to do whatever I want to do in art for 2 hours while surrounded by retired female teachers from the University. I am the youngest student by at least 30 years in that class, and I don't mind it at all! Then, on Tuesdays, I take an art class that focuses specifically on color when painting. For my first class, I drew a copy of a picture of a toucan I found in a magazine, and then I had to paint it using only black, white, and different shades of grey. I'm pretty excited to be painting; I recently went to the art store and bought all sorts of acrylic and oil paint, watercolors, and brushes. I've always wanted to paint, but I've never really had the opportunity to take any art classes since high school. Tomorrow I start classes in Tango and Folklore (another traditional dance from the Entre Rios Province).

I also recently signed up at SerAcuaGim: a gym offering group classes in water aerobics, aerobics, pilates, and yoga. I really enjoying going to a few classes a week because it's a great way for me to have fun working out while also reviewing the parts of the body and commands in castellano. : - )
I find it really funny that all of the songs are American remixes: "Oops I Did It Again" and such.

I really am enjoying teaching. In spite of being so shy for most of my life, I'm now at the point where I am confident and out-going enough to enjoy speaking in front of a classroom of students. I used to be nervous sometimes even when I taught 11 year-olds at Freedom Schools, but now I calmly teach 41 students (!!) in the second section of English Language II. It really shocks me how comfortable and happy I now feel speaking in front of such a large class of students. I think I may have found my niche, but we shall see how the next 7 months go. I am considering pursuing teaching as a profession, but I'm not certain yet.