Student Reflection: Organizational Challenges and Triumphs for Setting up ESL Classes



by Andy Kraus

Picture: Some of the Coordinators hard at work.

My first meeting with the ESL group was a couple weeks ago! The tutors sat down and learned about what the program would be like, what the responsibilities are, and we planned dates for the tutoring sessions.

After the meeting of tutors (we have a lot this year!), I met with the coordinators. I helped out a lot last year and am going to be one of the main planners this year because of my experience. We have a syllabus lined up and each day of the week one of the coordinators will be planning what we do that day. The students are loving it!

Finding and printing materials is a challenge, as it was last year. There are a number of free sites on the internet where we have found good information to use, and we have a number of textbooks as well for the more advanced students.

We also have a good number of students this year, around 15. This works perfectly because we have around the same number of teachers, and this helps us give a lot of personal attention to the students, which they need because they all have different levels of mastery of the English language.

I can't wait to see what next week brings!

Comments

  1. Ann AbbottNovember 17, 2009 at 10:11 AM

    Andres, I love reading about your work and your excitement! It's also great to see the faces of the other people who are dedicated to this great work, just like you are.

    I don't know what you plan to write about in the future, but here are some questions that come to my mind as I read this:
    *Who are the students and what are they like?
    *How would you advise someone else to set up a group like this, if they have no experience teaching ESL?
    *What are you learning from this?
    *Do you think you are gaining leadership skills or skills of any other type that could be transferred to your future career?

    I know, I know, I'm full of questions! jeje Gracias por describir tus experiencias a todos nosotros.
    Ann

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