I *heart* Teaching

I just realized that I haven't posted since this weekend! I guess there really hasn't been much to report back on, the weather here is cold, windy, and rainy.  I feel like a bit of a wimp admitting that I've already turned the heat on in my apartment, but it was cold in here!  Actually the apartment was pretty cold even when it was 75 and sunny outside, so it's not that surprising that it was freezing in here when it was 50 outside.
         I'm hoping to get out and do something this weekend.  Maybe meet up with some other TAs in the area, or go visit friends near Graz, or go hiking around Bad Vöslau and Berndorf.  As of yet I don't really have any plans set in stone, so we'll see what comes up!  The weather this weekend is supposed to stay cool, but it should at least be sunny.
         The best thing about this week has been the students.  I'm still having some trouble adjusting to the lack of a plan that the teachers seem to have.  I've also had a few lessons that I've planned, and then the usual teacher sort of takes it over, or they continually interject.  I really miss being the teacher, not just a guest in the class.  My lessons so far this week have covered a wide range of topics, from free time activities, to race and gender relations in the U.S.  I've also taught quite a range of ages, from 2nd (12) form through 8th (18).  In the 7th and 8th form classes that I taught on Monday we had really good conversations about pretty difficult topics.  In the 2nd and 3rd form classes I taught yesterday they were so excited to have me there, even though their language skills are a lot lower it was still a lot of fun.  Today I was with classes in all different levels, but in each one the kids were really happy to have me there and they were interested in the lessons.
         It's been so fun to see their enthusiasm to speak and learn English with me as their teacher.  All the classes know that I know German, but I won't speak it in their class, so a few of them were saying they'd just have to talk to me in the halls.  Of course I tell them I won't speak German, but then inevitably something slips out in German!  It reminds me of Waldsee (where the languages were switched), and it always makes me smile.  I've also found that a lot of my classroom management vocabulary is in German, which isn't really something that I thought about before now, so sometimes I really have to stop and think of what I want to say and how to say it.  Another thing that's surprised me is how much German some of the teachers use in the classroom.  I understand when they're talking about administrative things, or maybe some difficult homework or a test that they do it in German so that the students understand, but some of the teachers, even in the upper levels, speak mostly German in class.  To me, having learned about the latest greatest world language teaching and acquisition methods, this is all kinds of wrong, and it's no wonder that the kids in those classes have a harder time with the language.
       Anyway, it's been a good week thus far! I teach 2 lessons tomorrow, and then the weekend begins! To end this post on another high note: Some students on my bus home smiled and said hi when I got on.