The perfect 10

Today was an amazing day. It started out as a total drag, leaving the house at 8 in the morning knowing that I would not return home until at least 8 at night. However it was a surprisingly pleasant 12 hours that I spent away from the house. For the first hour of class we basically talked about a lot of social justice issues and just chilled drinking our coffee and eating cookies. The second hour of the morning session then flew by as we briefly discussed the grammar and phonetic concepts of the day. After the break the time passed just as quickly, we finished the topics for the week with a half hour to spare so once again we sat talking and played a few icebreakers. My lunch consisted of amazing beef, beans, avocado, tortillas, tostadas, salsa, and of course with some soup to start. Basically I'm the cool kid in the cafeteria and everyone stares at my food and jump the second I say I'm full and give away the leftovers.

I was bumming because the class I had to teach didn't start till 6:15, which meant that instead of getting home around 5 or 6 (which is the standard) I wouldn't get home till 8. So for about an hour or so I cruised around the downtown area, walked to the cathedral, and did a little shopping (not that I was actually buying anything, but looking can never hurt... especially when you have 3 hours to kill) Eventually I made my way back to ITTO and got to my class to teach the 1A students (the lowest level there is). A lot of teachers try to avoid the lower levels, but I love them. They have so much to learn and are so eager to improve that its impossible not to enjoy teaching them. I feel like I help students more when they have bigger needs. If the student already had a decent grasp of the English language sure I can help them with their vocabulary and fluency, but when students are total beginners there is so much to help them with. I got a 10 as my grade for the class, but this wasn't what put me in a great mood for the rest of the night. What set me over the top was that the students at the end of the class were curious about how to correctly say Ms. Cavanagh (all the other classes I taught were satisfied with Ms. or Teacher) they also asked "see you tomorrow?" and when I said no I was only teaching them for the day they genuinely looked sad. I then asked if they liked the class and learned/had fun and they all said yes, and asked if I always taught 1A because apparently I was good at it. They actually were excited that I had come to teach them for the day while most students resent having ITTO teachers because they miss their regular teacher. I felt like saying, "they like me! they really like me!" It is such a great feeling to know that what you do actually is appreciated and that you are making a difference for someone, as small as it might be (in this case teaching someone to say "Where is Dave?" "Dave is in the library." What's he doing?" "He's studying")

Basically today just reinforced why exactly I am here and made me realize just how much I really do love teaching