What I want to achieve in my first week of classes

Take two… Last year, I had the very new experience of teaching an AP English Language and Composition class to 11^th and 12^th grade students. Being in El Salvador, English is a second language for my students, though I was happily surprised by their advanced level of written and oral expression.

I had to face some very special challenges. I was amazed by the lack of punctuality. It was a big class for the type of course-work we were doing. Some students were unmotivated. But perhaps the biggest problem was “me.”

I do not want to get into details or subject myself to a public flogging, but over the last few months, I have reflected on what I achieved and what I would still like to do. I think there is a lot of room for improvement, at the same time that I feel I can be very proud of what we accomplished this past year.

But as far as my own attitude is concerned, I will be working on empathy. I am very clear that my principal goal for the course is to teach critical thinking. “In this course, we learn to think, by writing.” Because, at the end of the day, it is really a writing course, and a good one at that.

Nevertheless, on a personal note, I will be working on empathy. I want the students to know how much I want to do for them. I want them to learn to write well, think well and argue well. But at the same time, I want to be the teacher they remember because he cared enough to make a difference.

So, we will engage in some different activities the first week of classes. This should help to grab their attention and to establish a personal rapport with me. Hopefully, at the end of the first week, we will know each other well enough in order to be able to work well the rest of the year.

I hope it goes well.

For the students, I want this to lead them to find their own voice. I am thinking of a few different ways I can get them engaged in learning by proposing themes that are important to them. I want to empower them so as to make them professional learners in the time I have them before moving on to senior year and eventually college. The world would be a different place if these young men and women really take it upon themselves to learn according to where their passion wishes to lead them.