Back to EFL Remedial Teaching: Better Than Ever!

I really can't believe it. Yes, I am overwhelmed by how well I'm doing back in what's considered one of the most difficult teaching "specialties." My students aren't retarded; it's not a school for that sort of "special education." The students in Yeshiva Tichonit (High School) Ahavat Chaim are average and above average intelligence, but they have various issues and learning problems, like dyslexia, dysgraphia etc. My sons both studied there and are grateful that I discovered the school when it was in its infancy, when nobody including my older son's 8th Grade Guidance Counselor.

Just like when I first began as an English Teacher close to twenty years ago, this year, too, I was asked to take the very weakest students in the 9th and 11th Grades. Then I hadn't a clue as what to do, but this time, after a very long break from teaching, I discovered that my reputation was still excellent, even though I hadn't left under the best of circumstances.

I accepted the offer, because I really wanted to leave Yafiz, the clothing store where I had worked for almost six years. The night shifts which had become my regular "gig" were just too late for me, and the store manager said that her bosses had insisted that was my main shift. I'd get so hyper in order to work well, that I'd fall asleep very late. Also, there is no salary raise or extra bonus for veteran workers. A seventeen year old high school student got exactly the same salary. But I really loved the job. It was fun seeing lots of old friends, former students etc.

It was pretty traumatic getting back in the classroom, and I still haven't gotten my salary stuff taken care of. The Education Ministry insists I never existed, have no file, and my degrees aren't any good. My students started off as students in name only, and I had to use a form of threat/bribery to get them to bring even a pencil to class. With the agreement of the Principal, I was able to make a rule that anyone who shows up without minimal writing implements and book is considered "absent."

Luckily they hadn't yet been assigned textbooks, so I started off checking their levels and teaching by my own methods. For the 9th Grade I did find a good book, UPP's Entry Point 2, which they got after I taught them to read all of the letters, but the 11th grade ended up on too low a level for the simple A Bagrut prep books I offered them. So, began giving them much easier work, and they are having fun and working hard.

My biggest challenge was keeping their attention during the last lesson of the week. The principal told me to "play games." Honestly, I was never a "game person." I hadn't a clue of what to do with them. But I've always been creative, so I asked for ideas and made up games.

They taken turns pulling out from a bag either a word, or letter, depending on what I've prepared, and then they have to read and translate if it's a word, or say a word that has the letter.  If they don't know the answer, someone else gets a chance and the paper. The one who has the most when we finish gets a bigger prize, but they really don't care and just have fun. And I've discovered that these games are the best reviews, better than a quiz, and the kids are overjoyed at getting a couple of inexpensive candies.

Believe it or not, the kids are actually thanking me for teaching them! I don't remember that ever happening before!!!!

Never Say Never!

It has taken me a few weeks to blog this. I really can't believe what I'm working at, yet, again. After leaving teaching almost ten years ago, I'm back in that difficult, uncomfortable saddle. Yes, I'm back to teaching EFL high school English to boys, weak students, "false starters," according to the still popular euphemism, MLD* or just plain ornery** and disinterested.

Boys like these had been my specialty about fifteen years ago, and recently when I've run into some former students and told them that I've returned to teaching they are my biggest cheerleaders and fans.

No, I'm not back in the same school, where I had taught for over a decade. I'm now teaching in Yeshiva High School Ahavat Chaim, which is in Kochav Hashachar, southeast of Shiloh, and the alma mater of my two sons, who graduated in the second and fourth graduating classes.

Why did I leave my easy job at Yafiz, selling clothes, which I really did enjoy even though the salary was the bare minimum according to law?

There are many reasons, which I can't go into right now. But the main one was that I couldn't sleep well working night shifts. I'm a morning person by nature, and working, getting myself in a "hyper mode" until 9:30pm to deal with customers plus and then having to stay awake and alert until I was home well after 10pm, meant that frequently I couldn't fall asleep until well after midnight.  I was not hired as a night shift worker; it was just to do it "sometimes."

Is teaching EFL here in Israel better today than it was when I agreed to be fired?

To be honest, no! The things that irked me then are worse now. And now there is no, even mildly, convenient way to travel between my home and Kochav Hashachar by public transportation. Every night before teaching I have to call other staff members to arrange a ride. So far, it hasn't rained when I've had to travel, so the mile, kilometer and a half, between my house and the pickup point is a nice morning's walk. Going home also requires similar logistics. But there is one thing I enjoy now, which I didn't have in my former teaching job. The staff I work with now really makes an effort to go out of its way to help me and others. It also helps that my teaching hours are morning and afternoon. In my former school it was only afternoon/evening, I'd finish as late as 7:15pm, and nobody cared if I was stuck waiting an hour for a ride in my direction.

Teaching is a talent I have. I can pretty much teach anything I know and have. I don't mind having to "change a lesson plan" on the spot, because the kids just don't know one of the prerequisites. That's a key for success as a Remedial Teacher.

Because I have to travel when others need to get to work, which is earlier than me most days, I take advantage of the computers in the Teachers Room for my lesson planning. One of the reasons I didn't want to return to teaching is that it can take over your life. I only teach two classes and have very few students.

I don't know if my salary will actually be much better than the one I had gotten from Yafiz, but I did need a change. I also don't plan on doing this very long and told that to the department head. But as we all know, life is full of surprises. May Gd give me the health and humor to continue and succeed.

*Mild Learning Disabled, normal to high IQ suffering from one or various conditions like dyslexia, dysgraphia, ADD, ADHD, poor motivation etc.

**If at first you don't succeed, just give up and disrupt the class so efficiently nobody can learn anything.