A Sacred Time

Was there ever a more sacred time than 5:30pm? On work days, I would say no. Day's end, and time for a bit of planning then a beer.

Today went great, but 3 hours with 18 and 19 year-olds is... ummm... arduous at best. Getting them into a debate is like trying to undo 6,000 years of history-based cultural orientation. Yet debate they shall! Tomorrow, in pairs, they will have formal debates based on somewhat bold statements about family and the roles of various members.

My younger class this morning was great (as stated in my other entry). It turns out I'm a really good balance of clown and educator, which one must be in this kind of ESL environment. They need to be able to smile (and do so, as often as it's not disruptive!) but also learn. I feel I do that best with younger learners. I still enjoy adult teaching, but I am now feeling my mom's pain. However... she only ever had to deal with one at a time, and not 18 of them at once, locked in a room with them. Then again, she had to deal with 2 separately, for a collected term of 9 or so years. Ouch. I think I need to plan ahead for a really kick-ass Mother's Day gift.

But yeah, back to the younger class. As I said below, it went quite well and I have no concerns about them and the fact it's 3 hours. That time flies by. It's so damn hard to judge time with my teen class. They took 50 minutes on something I'd designed to take up only 15. Bonus, but then their attention began to wander, and it can be difficult to do activities with them since they're so cynical. Hell, I consider half the activities available ludicrous and irrelevant to 18 year-olds.

Anyhoo... it was a decent day, and I hope for the same tomorrer. (oh, some pictures have been updated on my Flickr account.)