Let's do it again!

Tomorrow morning at 8AM I start my next five week teaching cycle at CECAMI. Tomorrow I get to do it all over again.

I've been on vacation this past week so I've had some downtime to reflect on my first five weeks of teaching. Out of the 24 Basic students that I taught, 15 passed my class and 9 didn't. I don't think I've taught long enough to properly determine what this says about my teaching--but I'm definitely proud that more of them passed then failed. That has to mean I'm doing something right, right? And I found, for the most part, that those who failed to make the 70% necessary to pass the class were those who were largely unmotivated and generally uninterested in learning English to begin with and who only showed up because their parents were forcing them to on pain of death.

Slackers aside, I can honestly say I am enjoying teaching. I always knew I wasn't cut out for a desk job and these last five weeks of teaching, plus the two I did in Quito, have simply proven that point. The classroom just might be the place for me. (Disclaimer: This perspective may have changed after the next seven months.) I know that wherever I end up I need a dynamic and challenging work environment. One that allows me the freedom to think and create and affords me the possibility of having a positive impact on someone's life.

I'm certainly beginning this next cycle with more confidence than I did the first one. I know the school, I know my students, and I know more grammar now than I did before (not alot more, but it's something). Having said that, everyday I continue to learn right alongside my students. Everyday I find what works and what doesn't, what my students enjoy and what draws blank stares, what to do when a tarantula enters the classroom and what not to do. And everyday I am that much better for it.

I think the one thing that surprised me the most from my first cycle was just how much I ended up caring for my students. As we said our goodbyes on that last Friday of the cycle, I became increasingly distressed as I found out which students would not be returning for another module. I have discovered that when you teach, you don't just impart knowledge to your students, you impart bits and pieces of who you are. And when they leave they take those little parts of you with them. Now that I know this, it's even more important that what I give to them--all of those little bits and pieces--are bits and pieces that will shape them into not only better English speakers, but also better people.

Here in Ecuador my students call me "teacher." Not Amanda. Not Ms. McCarther. Just "teacher." I think some people might find this impersonal but I think it's a wonderful thing. It reminds me of my purpose here, of the fact that I have people who I have a responsibility too. It reminds me of the significance of the relationship between teacher and student and all that it entails. And it reminds me that I belong here. That I am part of a wonderful little learning community that is actively working towards making a difference in this big, wide world of ours.