First Classes

So I  started teaching my first classes on Thursday and Friday. Unlike what I was told I was assigned to teach at Qida, the local university. Each class had approximately 60 students, the smallest having 32 and the largest having 72. The classes lasted two hours with a ten minute break and I was the only teacher. It was pretty overwhelming but I didn't have time to freak myself out about the situation too much.

From what I previously knew the classes had no textbook but were primarily a chance for the students to practice speaking and listening to English. The students are generally freshmen studying business management. This is a class they have to take, not one that they choose so they're not really that interested. It was really hard to get them interested and engaged.

Whenever I first walked into class I was met with gasps and loud chatter, sometimes even an applause. They were all so excited to have a foreign teacher, specifically a young Caucasian one. I opened class with an opportunity for the students to ask me any questions. There were some really funny ones and always one boy who would ask for my telephone number or ask if I had a boyfriend. I was struggling to decide whether I should tell them my actual age since most of the students are a little younger and some are 21. Eventually I just told them and they couldn't believe it. It always received a good number of mutterings from the class.

I had to get used to the constant picture taking. Some tried to be sneaky about it but most were pretty blatant about taking pictures of me. During the breaks the students would always come up and ask for pictures with me. I just did it because I thought it was funny. When they asked during class though I told them to wait for the break. In my last class of the week this one boy, MK, hilariously tried acting as my bodyguard, blocking people from coming to take photos with me. He said he was the only one who could take photos with me. It was pretty hilarious. This boy was quite the character. He loved Project Runway and designed/made his own clothes. He sang some Rolling in the Deep for me in front of the whole class and then invited me to a coffee bar after class. He didn't know where the coffee bar was though so I said next week. The students were all so friendly. One girl invited me to lunch with her (I already had plans so also said next week), others wrote little notes with their phone numbers telling me to call if I had any questions.

My topic for the first week was music. We talked about different music genres and I tried to get the students to interview each other about their favorite types of music and singers. Hardly any of them did it though so I had to go around the class and talk to each group individually. I'm going to have to think of a better method for the next classes. For the second class I ever taught in my life two other foreign teachers came to watch. It was pretty nerve-wracking but I just had to ignore that. For a first-time teacher thrown into the situation I felt like I did ok for my first classes. The trouble is going to be keeping the students engaged for such a long period of time, especially those who don't want to be there and just sleep. I'm trying to think of some topics for next week so let me know if you have any ideas!