Teaching Evaluation...

Teaching evaluation

This two month teaching experience has added immensely to my life.

History:
If I wouldn’t have gotten the opportunity to teach English at the Asylum Seeker Centre (AZC) in Middelburg last year, I could never have come up with the idea of initiating English classes at the AZC in Leiden. Therefore, I must say I am much obliged to Vincent, who came up with the idea of starting the SARA committee at Roosevelt Academy, and to Djeyhoun, for coming up with this brilliant idea of teaching English at the AZC in Middelburg. Last year I realised for the first time in my life that I could teach and I loved the experience of doing something for the people. The best reward for a teacher is the appreciation his/her students show for his/her efforts and work. I come short of words if I try to describe the delight I get from teaching. Perhaps it was this infinite amount of positive energy that I got from teaching, that gave me the push to start this project in Leiden.

Teaching at Leiden:
First I’d like to thank Mr. Peter for believing in my motives and intentions and giving me permission to start this project at the AZC in Leiden. I’d also like to thank him, Mr. Jac and all staff members (including the security/reception staff) for their help and support at all times. : )

Teaching English at Leiden was somewhat different than in Middelburg. In Middelburg I was part of a group and therefore, I only taught 1-3 times every 2 weeks, depending on the number of teachers available in a certain week. In Leiden I was on my own and I taught twice a week for a period of two months. Initially I had to combine it with the last module of this university year, but soon the summer holidays started and I was a free bird.

Error Analysis:
In these two months, I have learned immensely from my mistakes, planning and the pressure of my responsibilities. Since I was teaching more frequently I could track my own progress by means of these evaluations. I started to improve my teaching methods e.g.
- I started putting the website links on top of the handouts, so that the students could trace the exercises and perhaps find more exercises related to the topic.
- When I first began with teaching, the first few weeks were a disaster what concerns the duration of the lessons. However, with some practice I mastered (well, kinda) the art of having each lesson from 16:00 and 17:30.
- I also became less chaotic when compared to the first few lessons. This point would need some thorough explanation I suppose :). My English class consisted of students with various levels of English. Actually I divided the class in three main levels, namely beginners, general and advanced. It was the difference in levels that resulted in a chaos initially. By chaos I mean to say that I was running from one end of the classroom to the other explaining things. However, after a few weeks matters became quite stable. I not only got a better idea as to how many handouts were needed for a lesson, but I also knew how to divide the lesson and my attention between these three groups.

I hope to have learned from my mistakes. It is after all practice what makes a man perfect! : P

My teaching at the AZC Leiden has come to an end since the Asylum Seeker Centre is closing. I’m not entirely sure about my future plans in connection to teaching (English). I’ll try to begin a teaching activity soon as teaching keeps my soul alive, happy and active. :)


For questions, remarks and/or suggestions, please feel free to comment on this post... :)

Once again my thanks to everyone who helped me with this wonderful project :flowers: