Eighth Graders in UB

Yesterday one of our students from our practice teaching called us to see if Kevin and I could come be a part of her English class. She teaches English to Mongolian 8th graders (13-15 years old) at a school less than a kilometer from our home (5-6 blocks away). She called us at 2 pm and wanted to know if we could come at 3 pm. We were excited, even though we didn't know what we would be doing. So, we threw ourselves together, taking a break from studying our Mongolian and making supper.

When we got to the school, we found out that Kevin would go with the woman we know as our past student, and then she introduced me to another English teacher at the school. I went with this sweet woman. After a few questions, I came to realize that this teacher was going to stay in the classroom, but she wanted ME to take charge of her class of 30 students to help them get ready for their upcoming English oral exams (Kevin had the same experience in the classroom he was attending). My mind started racing and thinking of how WE had taught our students to teach their students English. So, I began making plans to implement some of those methods.

The class was called to order and all the students stood together and said something like, "Good Afternoon, Teachers!" Then, these 13-15 year olds took their seats quietly. Their eyes sparkled with admiration...after all, they were in the presence of a native English speaker (I guess this is their dream!). I hoped I could come up to their expectations. The teacher introduced me and then I shared a few facts about myself. They then took turns raising their hands to ask questions of me. "How long will you teach us?" "Well, at this time, our plan is just for today." A collective sigh of sadness echoed in the room. Oooh! Now I was really feeling pressure to measure up! One boy asked me in disbelief, "Did you really live in America?" I went on to say that I was born there and grew up there, and didn't live outside the U.S. until just these past two months. "Oh, I would like to study there someday." I told him his English was very nice. That's a very high compliment here. It truly was nice. I understood everything he said.

The teacher had given me a list of topics that her students were to have prepared for the oral exam. So, I dove into the list. I had the students line up in two lines so that each person had a partner. One partner was to ask the question: "If I were president of Mongolia, I would _________________." The other student was to share his/her answers verbally. Then, the partners would switch roles. This method which we taught in our class to our "adult teacher" students is called "Double Lines." I was thankful to have this little tool under my belt for such a large group. This gets half the students talking at the same time, so that many are practicing their English speaking at once, rather than having a class discussion where only one student at a time can share his/her ideas.

We did a few other things during my time there. We had 90 minutes of teaching time, and it went by quickly with so much to cover. This school is only about a kilometer from our apartment, so perhaps we'll see some of the kids on the sidewalks when we're out. My heart was knit closer to these sweet English speakers. I'm looking forward to getting to know more of them in a deeper way!