Ashlee's right, Olgii is nuts right now. Glitzy tinsel is strewn all over town, every store has practically quadrupled it's inventory of sweets, the local supermarket is selling Mongolian champagne (I'm intrigued), and my entire school is buzzing with excitement over the approaching holiday -- which makes teaching a little difficult.
I'm getting back in the swing of things though. I think my training session really helped me to focus and I'm feeling optimistic about the second half of the school year. I told myself that I'm going to be better at taking the initiative in projects I'd like to accomplish. I've already got a few things in the works.
I've realized that outside of the English department, I don't really know any of the teachers that work at my school. To remedy this, I have decided to offer free English lessons to any teacher who is interested. I'm starting next week with a 10-week beginner course.
I'm also interested in developing relationships with my older students, so I am now offering afternoon tutoring sessions specifically focusing on English-speaking. My students have been studying English for years, and while they can read it and their writing is impeccable, their speaking skills are seriously lacking. Depending on how many students are interested these tutoring sessions can be one-on-one or more of an English club-type activity. My sitemate Laura conducts similar afternoon sessions at her school and she says her students' progress is amazing. She has also made some really great friends and she regularly invites her close students to her home for dinner, which is something that is totally acceptable here in Mongolia. Heck, Bahtgul even told me I could have a bunch of her 11th graders come to our house to chop up our wood pile. Hmm, maybe I should take advantage of that...
The last thing I'd like to work on is better integrating into the community. I think one of the things that is really holding me back is my nonchalant attitude towards learning the language -- I really need to buckle down and get serious. To this end, Bahtgul has offered to tutor me in Kazakh. Starting this weekend I'll be joining Bahtgul at her home to study Kazakh and, in exchange, I'll teach English to her husband and three daughters.
So yeah, after a few weeks off, I'm getting back into it. Wish me luck!
1 comment:
Scottie, sounds like you are making a good plan and this should provide you great dividends in learning their language too, wish you guys a Happy New Year too as Mom and I are heading to the river to bring in the new year too, love you guys alot--Dad
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