Now that all is said and done, it's time to ask that question again. Did I do a good job? Was I cut out for this over all? Again I'm going to be perfectly honest with myself. The answer will surprise you. My answer is no. I'm not saying I did a bad job, I'm saying that given my age, and lack of experience, I was not suited to do this. I don't know a lot of teaching methodology (yet), I just did what I thought would make the students understand. It worked, but perhaps I wasn't doing it right. I asked my boss in my last conversation with him what he thought, and he straight up told me no but it was okay. For my first job, and first real teaching experience, perhaps being in a fancy private school, in a professional setting wasn't right for me. It was certainly unprofessional to have a mental/emotional breakdown. My strengths were with my grade one classes and my weaknesses were in my grade 2 classes.
What I did well: My students liked me, they understood basic grammar, and they enjoyed my class.
What I didn't do well (grade 1): application, I didn't teach them to apply the things we were learning, they could understand the grammar if you asked them but couldn't if they were writing. That was my big mistake.
What I did well (grade 2): ... Yeah, I taught it.
What I didn't do well (grade 2): Honestly, everything, I didn't know how to teach this class. C/L Conversation and Listening, where do I even go from there? The book told me what to teach but it just seemed lacking somehow. I definitely didn't do it right.
Am I giving up on teaching? ABSOLUTELY NOT! I haven't taken my methods classes yet, as a result, for this experience I had to do what I thought was right. I'll be more suited to teach when I learn further methodology, classroom management, etc. This has been an excellent experience for me, and I'm not writing it off as a failure. I'm putting it up to live and learn. I've learned how to teach English in another country, I've learned how to live on my own (sorta), I've learned how to (at least try) to be professional. These are very important things that I've learned, I haven't failed, far from it. I've learned, and the more you learn, the stronger you get. I feel that I've grown up mentally and emotionally. I want to apply these experiences to whatever awaits me in the near future. Teaching is rewarding but stressful, you learn along with your students. "You teach me, and I'll teach you" (POKEMON!), sorry, quoting the Pokemon theme song. It is a true statement though. You learn with your students, and I have learned much.
For the last time...
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