Practicum

Practicum week was very long for all of us, and we're glad it's over. Teaching in classrooms without AC was pretty tough, especially when the classes were 2.5 hours long and we couldn't wear shorts and t-shirts! But meeting the students and helping them learn some English was fun. I taught one class solo, co-taught 2 classes, and observed two classes. I needed to put in 12.5 hours of classroom time to get the certificate. At the end of each class, we had our teacher-mentors give us comments and feedback on what we did right and wrong.

The class I taught solo had low intermediate students who studied to be secretaries. One of the classes I co-taught had very advanced students who were studying International Relations, and the other had advanced English majors, who were studying to be future diplomats and interpreters. It's interesting to know that one of these students may someday end up to be Vietnamese embassadors in some foreign countries.

Most of the students were very motivated to learn English. Some were very bright. I was not as nervous in my very first class as I had thought I would be. Up until the day I taught (Tuesday), my stomach has been hurting very day since I came to Hanoi. I was worried that I would have to run to the bathroom in the middle of class. But, for some unknown reasons, Tuesday was the very first day when my stomach did not hurt at all. And it has not been hurting since. How about that!

At the start of each class, we generally introduce ourselves and have the students introduce themselves. I had around 20 students in my classes, although the roster showed around 40. Some didn't bother to show up probably because it was their first week of school and that it wouldn't count toward their grades because it's taught by foreign teachers-in-training. So, those who showed up were there probably because they really wanted to learn. As part of the VNese culture, most students came to class late. Sometimes the classroom was totally empty at the start of class (see the picture).

In each class that I taught, the one questions all students asked was my ethnic. Looking at my face they knew I didn't look like the rest of the foreign teachers. I had them guess, and they generally got as far as me being Asian. Some thought I might have been a mix between Asian and American. When asked which Asian country I came from, they listed China, Korea, Japan, India, Indonesia,... but never Vietnam. And they would be totally surprised after they've found out. Then they would start asking questions like whether I could speak VNese, when I left VN, why I came back, my age, ... One class even asked me to say something in VNese, and they got a kick out of hearing VNese coming out of my mouth. In one class where we taught on the topic of Advertising for Toursim, we had each students say which country they would like to go visit. I was caught off guard (not part of the lesson plan!)when my co-teacher turned to me and asked me which country I would like to go visit. I thought and thought, and I have been to a lot of countries already, so I answered, "Israel". The students were sursprised and asked why, and I had to give them an answer. That came out of nowhere!

I also had a chance to talk with four of the Vietnamese English teachers who were observing our classes. Like the students, they were surprised to learn where I was born, and asked me why I came back. My looks and my ethnic made for interesting conversations. And knowing some Vietnamese helps sometimes in the classroom when the students ask for a definition of a word they don't now and it's really hard to explain in English, I would just say it in Vietnamese and save some class time.

I never knew there was so much to teaching and lesson planning, especially in a cross-cultural context. Establishing a safe and comfortable learning environment for asian students is tough, not to mention lesson planning and classroom management. In one of my classes, a student sitting in the back was texting on her cell phone while I was teaching! Some were chitchatting and giggling, some were just zoning out.

I am glad Practicum is over, but a whole year of real teaching is still ahead and coming up soon. I am going to need some serious grace and mercies.