What went well?

I had five students come to my first class today! Some of them were more willing to speak than others, but I was glad that they were all comfortable enough with me to introduce themselves and play some icebreakers. I’m surprised that they really enjoyed answering the icebreakers that were more job-interview-specific. They talked about their own experiences with interviews, either here in the United States (where they had to speak in English for the entire interview) or back home (where they could speak comfortably in their mother tongue).

What could have been done differently?

I ran out of time! That was so annoying—at first I thought I hadn’t prepared enough activities for today’s class. But I realize how excited some students are to speak and practice their English in a group setting—I need to factor in conversation time, alongside all the activities and class homework I have planned.

What did I learn about myself when working with others?

I learned that I need to be more patient. Although there were more talkative students, there were also students who were struggling and needed more time to figure out how to put sentences together before speaking. Also, the breakout room activity I had planned for today (write an interview dialogue using a few words from a given vocabulary list) didn’t really go as planned—some students find it really hard to use vocabulary words, and that makes them feel less confident about going through the activity. I either need to dedicate more time in the class to go through vocabulary, or allow for more flexibility during the breakout room activities.

What did I learn about leadership?

I learned about being more compassionate. Every student that comes to my class has their own background with English—some are less confident in their English speaking skills than others. I need to learn how to pause more, or allow for the more quiet students to take up space during the conversation activities.

What do I want to develop next?

I have been working with Terre and Jose (another volunteer coordinator at the International Center) to make my class more interesting and educational for students—I’m really grateful for their advice and feedback, as I sometimes feel like I’m way out of my depth when figuring out ESL lesson plans.