First Week Teaching

Teaching at the Universidad Laica “Eloy Alfaro” de Manabí has, so far, been great! My schedule rocks and my students seem to enjoy learning English. I begin my week off on Monday at 2:30. My first class has around 8 students; very small compared to my class at 6:30 which averages around 45!
I have 3 classes-back to back-and I teach the same lesson 3 times in a row. Sounds pretty boring, but it actually is not. Each class is totally different than each other. The students range in size and personality. I teach 6 cycles of English (6 weeks/cycle) with a 1 week break in between each cycle, pretty awesome schedule, right? 

Students working hard!

I currently have finished week 1 in the first cycle. I taught basic grammar points such as "I am (I'm), he is (he's), we are (we're)" and I included new vocabulary and how to pronounce numbers!  I like to play a lot of games in class. It keeps my students engaged and it is fun! The game my students have liked most is a game called 21. The students sit in a large circle while passing a paper ball around counting (1..2..3..). When the ball gets to 21, the students stop. The person that the ball landed on has to pick another number and make a rule for that number. For example: when the ball gets to number 5 you have to stand up and salsa! There will eventually be multiple rules and the students have to remember the rule for each number. It is quite hilarious the rules your students can think of. My students also enjoy games that involve some type of competition. We have played bingo, a competition where each member of a team has to grab a sticky note that has an English word on it when they here me speak, and my students enjoy types of class surveys! Lots of games to keep the energy up in my classroom.


I feel very good about my first week and I am excited about this upcoming year. I get to keep the same students throughout each cycle which is great! I am able to see how they progress in their English language. 


Feel free to provide any type of ideas/games for the classroom! Feedback is always essential to have!