Hello to all! Work is in full swing and teaching so far has been chaotic, at best. This last week we have been procturing exams to correctly place students to their correct level of English. Students come into my class and I have to send them out because they're not on my list, just to find out my list is a day old and I didn't get the new one... etc... However, things are getting better! I now have internet in my office and am getting acquainted with my students.
My class, which has twenty-three students, is among the highest level in the program of one thousand students here at King Faisal University. They're level of English is quite good and most of them can understand the majority of what I say. Due to a lack of books at this time, I have been mostly winging my classes. We have been doing Q & A sessions about life in the US, short essays about their goals and motivation to learn English, and reading articles from the Arab News newspaper (http://www.arabnews.com/). Overall, I am impressed with their knowledge, but, they need help with expanding their vocabulary, spelling, and grammar.
While my students are eighteen to nineteen years old, most of them are for the first time being required to bring their own pencil and paper to class. Not only this, but they are required to bring a book bag (backpack), eraser, pencil sharpener, and textbook with them! This is shocking to their system as they have never been responsible for many things in their lives, not even bringing basic writing materials. So, from a class management point of view, it has been a rough start in getting them prepared for class and completing what they will be asked to do.
On the positive side of things, my class is very interactive and excited to use English. I have no lack of volunteers to answer questions, and they are overall motivated to learn. Put the dorky side of me into this mix and it makes for a fun four hours of teaching everyday, while maintaining control and enforcement of the rules.
It's 10:37 AM here in Saudi now and lunch is less than an hour away. I get ninety mintues to eat *grins* and I can look forward to copious amounts of rice with lamb meatballs today, as usual. But hey, for 10 Riyals (2.60 USD), I can't really complain. When we get a refrigerator for our office building, I will start bringing in lunch from home. I'd prefer my own cooking, I think.
It's a national holiday this Saturday in the Kingdom. The country will be celebrating the unification of the nation under King Abdulaziz in 1932 when the House of Saud gained full control over the various factions that existed during that time. That means I have a three day weekend, during which I will stay home due to lack of funds to go anywhere too exciting. But that's okay! I am currently planning my November vacation which will be discussed in the future.
Below are two photos of some Shwarma meat-rolls that is sliced off and put into flat bread. The first one is beef, the second, is chicken. Oh, so delicious and cheap! :-)
Life continues in the Kingdom....
My class, which has twenty-three students, is among the highest level in the program of one thousand students here at King Faisal University. They're level of English is quite good and most of them can understand the majority of what I say. Due to a lack of books at this time, I have been mostly winging my classes. We have been doing Q & A sessions about life in the US, short essays about their goals and motivation to learn English, and reading articles from the Arab News newspaper (http://www.arabnews.com/). Overall, I am impressed with their knowledge, but, they need help with expanding their vocabulary, spelling, and grammar.
While my students are eighteen to nineteen years old, most of them are for the first time being required to bring their own pencil and paper to class. Not only this, but they are required to bring a book bag (backpack), eraser, pencil sharpener, and textbook with them! This is shocking to their system as they have never been responsible for many things in their lives, not even bringing basic writing materials. So, from a class management point of view, it has been a rough start in getting them prepared for class and completing what they will be asked to do.
On the positive side of things, my class is very interactive and excited to use English. I have no lack of volunteers to answer questions, and they are overall motivated to learn. Put the dorky side of me into this mix and it makes for a fun four hours of teaching everyday, while maintaining control and enforcement of the rules.
It's 10:37 AM here in Saudi now and lunch is less than an hour away. I get ninety mintues to eat *grins* and I can look forward to copious amounts of rice with lamb meatballs today, as usual. But hey, for 10 Riyals (2.60 USD), I can't really complain. When we get a refrigerator for our office building, I will start bringing in lunch from home. I'd prefer my own cooking, I think.
It's a national holiday this Saturday in the Kingdom. The country will be celebrating the unification of the nation under King Abdulaziz in 1932 when the House of Saud gained full control over the various factions that existed during that time. That means I have a three day weekend, during which I will stay home due to lack of funds to go anywhere too exciting. But that's okay! I am currently planning my November vacation which will be discussed in the future.
Below are two photos of some Shwarma meat-rolls that is sliced off and put into flat bread. The first one is beef, the second, is chicken. Oh, so delicious and cheap! :-)
Life continues in the Kingdom....
They're ---> Their :) Understandable, since you wrote this so late, ehhe.
ReplyDeleteGlad things are going well for you, though I think that you will need to start your exercise regimen again soon, with all that delicious food tempting you,ehehe.
Mira, tacos de barbecoa! Que sabrosos!
ReplyDeletegreat writing, Jesse, it sounds like you are having fun teaching!