I had my final K24 class tonight. That's it. As of tonight, the complete path has officially been forged. I can teach two consecutive years of general English.
The final, seventy-minute exam doesn't let you off lightly. My seven students were deep in thought when I called twenty minutes remaining. They barely shifted when I called ten minutes remaining. I expected ferocious sighs when I called five minutes, two minutes, one minute, but they were absorbed: tackling English.
When they finished, and I had collected their exams, they just stood there awkwardly. No one wanted to be the first to leave. There was foot shuffling and weight shifting and words started and stopped. How to say goodbye?
I inherited the group at K16--they were my first class at PEÉ and they've been both my favorite and most-feared class (favorite because they are adults with life experience and they are serious about studying; most-feared because they are adults with life experience and they are serious about studying). I was so challenged by them. There were days I absolutely dreaded teaching them grammar because they would argue with me about it. However, it forced me to a level of preparedness that I otherwise would have been too lazy to achieve. They made me better.
"Thank you," they said to each other and to me.
"My pleasure," I returned with a smile.
P.S. I've been here 256 days.
P.P.S. I've got four new mosquito bites. *sigh*
P.P.P.S. I've already got a class starting to replace my K24. It's K1. From discussing complex hypothetical situations in the past to "Hi, my name is..."
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1 comment:
It wouldn't be a crime to thank them also for what you learned while you were teaching them... I always do it when I teach a Feldenkrais group, because it's always true, even after all these years. Of course, we always have a round of hugs, too, and I don't know how that would go down in Turkey...
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