A horrible snafu!!

The Agricultural Engineers did start today, so they wouldn't be too far behind the Vets I suppose is the reason, though one never really knows for sure around here. They decided they could in fact integrate the groups and split them according to the test scores they received. At first they said that there was a political difference and therefore were unable to combine them.

I went to class and was told to start with the beginner book. Therein lies the problem! It seems that most of these people did some of their studying in English, and some actually lived many years abroad. The fact that they scored low on the test does not mean they don't have the knowledge. One of them wants grammar because he wants to be able to take the TOEFL Test soon, and wants to use this class to prepare for it. These students are all well educated (many with Ph.Ds). One is the head of sanitation at slaughter houses!!

Well, my lesson plan was built around the first book, and when they opened up the beginners book I had given them, I thought they were going to lynch me! They were so upset that we would insult them with this English level. I asked them to introduce themselves, and they told me their job, where they went to school, hobbies, and why they were taking the class. These were not the answers of beginners.

I had to come up with something on the spur of the moment. Unfortunately, I am not good at this sort of thing. I tried to have them talk about something they had done in the past, but only one actually did it. I spent most of the time talking about America, myself, and what I have done and where I have traveled to. I am sure they were bored out of their skulls!! One student was in the back of the room sleeping. I let him sleep because we weren't really doing a lot anyway. I ended class about 15 minutes early and told them that I didn't want to waste anymore of their time. They said they want the other book, and they want grammar (we have a book for that as well). One said she wanted science, but I told her they would have to teach me! After I finished talking, one of the students asked if I had any homework for them. I said that since we really didn't do anything, I couldn't assign homework. He wasn't too happy with this.

I quickly thought, and I told him that he could go home and write a summary of what he now knows about me. I said that since I talked most of the time, this would be a good way to see if he understood what I had said. (Part of the work we did before I just gave up, was to have them read the sentences and tell me the nouns. This was very easy for them, so I told them I wanted to hear how they sounded when they read!)

Many of the students told me they could understand what I said, they just wanted to sound like me. I guess I will have to do a lot of speaking activities as well as try and make all of this stuff seem relevant to them. We shall see how that goes.