This semester is ending, and I will be changing classes.
Teaching Immersion is hard. Because it requires so much thought. Because I have to plan. It takes time, time, time, and creativity.
I was not perfect. There were times I used English, especially once my students began to assert themselves as active learners.
I give myself a seven out of eight. Seven students committed. The eighth cannot be saved because he's not ready yet to save himself. It goes deeper than the immersion. For him it's personal. I have to be aware of that, and separate it out from my own self-critique.
I could have continued to try harder, but my patience gave out. I am rejuvenated this week. Three new classes, all full speed ahead French.
I'm more stressed out about the physical structure of the class than I am about using the French. How much credit to assign? Which documents to use?
That is the source of the stress. There is no fear now, only stress.
Thankfully stress can be identified, hacked up into little pieces, and then annihilated step by step.
as my exiting students tell my entering students, the first two weeks are tough, but it's not hard. You got this.
:)
