The Wind in the Willows

This morning I couldn’t get out of bed in order to get my regular Wednesday morning bus to Haarlem. Luckily I always take a bus earlier than I really have to, which means that today I was exactly on time. The children started this period with a new schedule which I hadn’t seen yet. So, it was a big surprise that the class I was going to teach was moved from the fourth to the first hour. Let’s just say that that gave me less time to get nervous. First Jeffrey (my supervisor) wanted to address the class and discuss the difference between the simple present and the simple continuous. This because they will be tested on this next week. This test will count heavily for the final mark and can (if it’s bad) prevent some of the children from entering the next grade.

After this important discussion it was my turn. It taught the entire class in English, which is something Jeffrey hardly ever does. The topic was ‘Wind in the Willows’. This famous book is apparently totally unknown to these children. Speaking English for the entire class is not easy. I’m no native, and because of the nerves it is more difficult to think of the correct terms. "Toad and his friends get into all kinds of adventures". This is what I wanted to say, but I had to start the sentence 5 times over again before I could continue. We had an interesting discussion on the stereotypical characteristics of animals. Pigs are lazy, a lamb is meek. But what is a Toad, a Mole, a Rat, a Badger? Then I gave them a copy of a chapter from the book. Since the English in this book is very difficult for these children (who are 12-13 years old), I decided to have a relatively long introduction followed by looking at the picture first, before reading. After having discussed the pictures, it turned out that they thought Toad had fainted and really was ill, I told them that Toad was a reckless driver. Then, I told them to read page 117 and answer some of the questions I had put on paper. After this we discussed the questions and I asked them to look at a couple of questions before we were going to watch part of the Wind in the Willows film (the new BBC version, downloaded from the internet). They really loved it. I so want to become a teacher.
Getting and keeping attention is still a problem for me, but I think I’m getting better all the time. Also, writing on the blackboard must be not only big, but also legible. And I should raise my voice even more, but I already feel like I am shouting (Jeffrey was surprised by this)