My first class taught at PIU went very well. I have been giving little facebook updates all week about what I have been doing so far, and for those who may not know, here's what's been happening.
This week, Melody Plaxton and I have been working on a one-week intensive course for a Study Skills class. This class includes non-Native speakers and students who either want or need more help in preparing to be better college students. I have been surveying this class in preparation to take over when the fall semester starts (Monday) as a "fly on the wall" (idiom) in the class.
On my first day, I took a seat next to one of the Chuukese men (Chuuk is an island near Guam in the Federated States of Micronesia). Apparently, Chuuk has an interesting disposition on gender status, etc, of men and women from the way they interact down to the way they dress. Well, as soon as I sat down, this student moved as far as he could away from me. We were near the end, and he gave up his desk space in this big move. I then looked around the room and noticed that all of the boys were on one side, and all of the girls were on the other (except for two Chinese female students who sat amongst the guys). At that point it hit me that there would be a LOT of things I would be learning. I knew that God was going to use me in some way, but I'm not sure if I had any idea of how much God would stretch me. None of us know what is going to happen, but this is my first prayer request for you all. Please pray for my own spiritual growth and development at PIU.
My second prayer is for the growth and development of my students. I will be teaching the Study Skills class and a remedial English course. This brings me to my first day of ever teaching an academic subject: today.
I have taught many things, and worked in English and other areas for tutoring, but today was my first day being in front of a class for two hours, being the sole speaker, and trying to make sense of practical material. This is not yoga or poetry, but instead something that needs to keep building up into college level material. As the students have proved to be more comfortable in mixed groups, I asked them to move half of the tables of our room in to create a smaller square/round table. It was weird for them to sit next to me, so we kept the divide of girls on one side, boys on the other. We opened in prayer, then got into our activities. We took a quiz on "how to prepare for a test" which I left open to their educated senses rather than being based entirely on book material. Then, we went over some study skills, study habits, and a mock test which had really funny directions that only lead to one necessary question being answered (if they read all of the directions). We all got a kick out of it and hopefully learned how to focus on directions (I failed this test when I was younger bc I didn't read the directions first). At the end of our class, I had them form 5 groups of 5 students each and prepare two lists. In one section, I asked the question "What would you like to learn in this course?". The second question was "What are some of your concerns about college or this course?" Here's some of the things they shared with me:
What would you like to learn?
-To practice English
-To write essays well
-To take notes and study
-To write faster
-Time management
-More vocab
-Fun way of studying
-If I am still single (yes me, Jen)
-How to follow and stick with a schedule
-How to be a better writer
-Spiritual growth/how to grow closer to God
What are your concerns?
-Financial needs
-Failing classes
-Not being prepared
-What does AWESOME mean? (so...I use it a lot)
-That the teacher needs to speak slower (yup, that's me too...same group that wants to know if I'm single...)
-Will I (the student) fall in love?
-How to deal with being homesick, friendsick, etc...
-That I (student) will need to know English better
It's funny how I (and probably all of us) can relate to both lists in a lot of ways. I can relate to financial needs, failing classes, not being prepared, falling in love, and being home/friend/love/etc sick (this was a concern from some of the girls, but I'm sure it relates to the guys, too). Please pray for them in these areas. Pray for their spiritual, emotional, and physical growth and strength. Pray for their education and their desire to learn, as well as their relationship and growth with God. (I think that most of them are first generation college students, so there's a lot of factors that go into what will make their education more difficult.)
Please pray that I can be a catalyst for this growth, as well as every staff member here at PIU. I think, as the new teacher, everyone knows that I have a lot to learn. I agree. I know that relationships take time to cultivate, and I am just going to let God handle that. As for now, I want to use every session and time I have with these students to hopefully minister, educate, and make a difference of some sort. I am very blessed to be here and look forward to whatever it is that God has in store for us.
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