Lesson 2: Elections

As of last Thursday I made it through my first cycle of classes. Yesterday I started the cycle again, returning to the level three students I met with my first week.

During the third week of teaching it occurred to me that I'd have to start planning the second lesson. As I explained in a previous post, I meet with a total of 39 classes (one was just added yesterday) on a rotating three week cycle. So I teach the same lesson for three weeks and then I change it and teach a new lesson for three weeks. I meet with third level students the first week, then second level students and finally in the third week of the cycle I meet with the first level students. I modify the lesson as needed based on the level of the student. We focus on conversation so it's flexible. One teacher asked me to follow the book more closely but the rest of the teachers have been amenable to letting me plan my own lessons. I agreed to email the teacher who wants me to follow the book a few days before her class to find out if there is specific verb tenses or vocabulary she wants me to work into the lesson. I can do that and she seemed satisfied.

I began planning a lesson on the fifty states. I was flipping through a book the Fulbright Commission provided called, "About the US." It has a lot of worksheets but none that fit the lesson I was working on. I found a list of questions about US elections and it dawned on me that the next few weeks is the best time to talk about elections in the United States. Ecuador has their own elections coming up in February. The night before class I changed all my plans and formulated a new lesson. The worksheet has nine questions ranging from the timing of the election to questions about the electoral college. I came up with nine questions about elections and politics in Ecuador like, "What are advantages and disadvantages of mandatory voting in Ecuador?" and "How can students become involved and influence politics in Ecuador?"

I've taught the lesson twice and I've been making a few tweaks here and there but so far I'm really happy with how it's going. I divide the class into nine groups and give them two questions - one about US elections and one about Ecuadorian elections. I make sure each group understands both the questions. I tell the group the answer to the question about US elections and describe it a little more in depth as needed. I then ask them to discuss the question about Ecuador and come up with an response to present to the group.

We work on this for about 20 minutes then it's presentation time! I call the groups up one by one. They read the US election question and answer. I provide additional background as needed, especially about the electoral college since they use a system based solely on popular votes. Then the students read their question about elections and politics in Ecuador and they give their group's answer. I was really impressed with the thought the students put into their responses yesterday! It worked so much better than just asking the students to participate in open discussion with their peers as I did in the first lesson. Now they are required to produce something to present to me and the rest of the class so they stayed on task a lot better than before.

I have class from 3:00 to 8:00 tonight. I have a minor adjustment to make but I'm basically going to repeat what I did yesterday. I'm not expecting any miracles. Every class is different and I could do the exact same thing in two classes and find it incredibly successful with one group and falling utterly flat with the next.

Teaching is hard work but I'm finding it rewarding. I know this will sound cheesy, but now that I've met all the students it's so fun to see them the second time around, smile at them and see them smile back! A few of them, the engineering students in particular, still seem a little nervous around me but I'm working to let them know they can relax around me, be themselves and have fun - as long as they're doing it in English!