Leaving/Follow Up

"How was student teaching?"

"How was Malaysia?"

I've been asked this twice, and my initial reaction is to stare, then blink, wide-eyed, with an open mouth until my reflexes save me by uttering something generic, like "good", or "great".

And in all honesty, depending on my position in processing, my answer may vary.

One of my close friends just spent the past 6 months in the Philippines, on a rural island doing an internship. An email full of re-entry tips was sent out to all interns, one of the tips was to "practice short and meaningful answers".

You can't sum up these experiences into short answers. You can try, but how do you answer those questions?

My answers come out in stories, over a long period of time, and in photos, in impressions, and feelings. My own family still has not heard all of the stories of my times in China, or Chile.

But for the purposes of this blog, I will try to summarize.

I had a wonderful experience student teaching this semester. I could not have asked for better cooperating teachers, classes, or situations that happened. I am incredibly grateful for those who have kept me in their thoughts and prayers, for while it was a great semester, it was not without great difficulty at times!

The last week of student teaching was full of grading, and last minute end-tying. I did "comments" for all the ESL students, which is an evaluation on their quarterly report card of strengths and areas of improvement. There were Christmas parties and goodbyes.

I ended the semester by going to the Philippines for a week. I returned to the US on December 23rd, ready to relax and spend time with family before going back to NY.

In my first blog post of the semester, I mentioned not seeing myself as a teacher. I see myself as owning more of that title now.

I hope to continue to write about ESL and the world, for they are full of adventures.

Happy New Year!