Mission: Accomplished

Today is my last day teaching. Granted, I have to give exams and quizzes on Wednesday and Thursday, but since Monday and Tuesday are holidays to celebrate Peru's independence, I'm essentially done at 9pm tonight. And boy does it feel good.

During my first week, I was pretty sure I wasn't going to make it. I was pretty sure I was terrible (and I think I really was). I really didn't have a clue what I was doing, but somewhere along the line I figured out how to teach English and have fun at the same time. And, I'm pretty good at it. I can do so many things now that I couldn't do then. I can teach all 12 tenses, explain countable and uncountable nouns, I know the difference between "to say" and "to tell," the 11 different meanings of "to get" (had a dream about that once, it was kind of frightening), and everything else in between. In the 9th grade, I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to diagram a sentence (or figure out why we were made to diagram sentences, as it seems a pointless skill). Now, I know I would rock that 9th grade grammar test. Hey, the best way to learn something really is to teach it. Of course, this comes with a down side. I analyze grammar a bit too much now. I apologize in advance for correcting your grammar in my head. I will do my best to keep it in my head.

On a day-to-day basis, I didn't feel like I was accomplishing anything. I know that 75% of everything I've ever said has sounded like gibberish to most of my students, but I also know that I've actually taught them something. Take Alberto, my longest tenured student, for example. He's been in my class for 5 months (actually switched times so he could remain in my class). In those 5 months, he's improved by leaps and bounds. In the long run, that makes up for all the comma splices, the lack of subject-verb agreement, mis-pronunciation of past tense verbs, and everything else that makes me feel like pounding my head against the white board. That makes me happy.