Three months of training and pedagogy, for 6 weeks of it Mercury was in retrograde so you can imagine the present progressive slip ups. I smooshed in a trip to LA, and then it was me standing in front of twenty people 6:30 pm in Westchester, NY cold rain coming down hard against the windows that looked out into a dark evening.
I gathered pluck and good energy and off we went. Introductions in present simple all around, I am 27 years old, she is 49 years old, How old are you? She isn’t that old. then Past Simple. Where were you yesterday? Where were you last week? Where are you from?
I started lesson planning earlier in the week, and I was certain that I would start the class with some really good chocolate, but the day of I decided to hold my fire and not bombard them with stimulus. Food and flavor is everyone’s first language, so I know I will be able to communicate that way, but first I wanted to get an idea about the group’s English language needs. and skills Overwhelmingly it is to better themselves in their jobs, and their lives n this English-language country.
whiteboard game: I stuck on some emojis with matching verbs jotted underneath. I plotted out generative charts in technicolor splendor. making sure to leave room for random vocab and collocations: working out, hangry, subtitles
Thinking about next class: A pan full of brownies or maybe a batch of snickerdoodles or ginger cookies?
To illustrate Past Simple Irregular verbs: I made you cookies. I made them on Sunday, I did not make them today. But they are still delicious and chewy. Adjective emojis on the whiteboard.
