"Dont forget those CCQ's!" A TEFL Tour of Duty

And so it finished. I'm back in Rhyl now after finishing the summer school in Bristol on Saturday. I'm just too exhausted to write anything in detail now, with the chaos surrounding the new staff, the last talentshow and tidying up, I'm knackered. I think I'll write something in more detail towards the end of the week with photos. This boy needs a rest.

So it's Friday night, 70 students are heading home to their native countries the next day. At 10.30pm we gather them up to ask them to retire their sleeping quarters but of course there are plenty of tearful snoggy goodbyes and a general reluctance to go to bed. All of a sudden there is a big shout from one of the French lads and students are seen scarpering in all directions. It was obviously pre-planned. Eric and the security guard had the wise idea of chasing them which culminated at one of the tennis courts and ended up with them getting a fair dose of verbal abuse from the determined 100 or so students who must have been having the time of their lives. Kate (leisure co-ordinator) had better ideas and told us all to stay put. Dont play the game basically. We all sat under the smoking tent whilst thinking of a suitable punishment. Some of the students came back and stood around chatting wondering what to do. We just ignored them which seemed to bewilder them a little. The game was up. They all slowly came back from their little runaround and finally we got them to bed. Tomorrow was their trip to London. The flagship event of their stay in England. The one they all talked about.
At 9.00 am the next day, 70 excited students were sat in the bus discussing where they would go. Ross boarded the coach and informed them that due to their appaling behaviour the previous night they would instead be visiting the picturesque stunning seaside resort of Weston-Super-Mare. Game set and match to the teaching staff.

One week to go here now. Thankfully, I was promoted to senior teacher last week which meant I dont have to teach this week but give advice to other teachers and generally do some of the paperwork that is needed in the office. Happy days. I head off to Rhyl next week for a well deserved break with Hils. We've got a wedding in Scotland the week after and then off to Ireland for a few days tro meet the family, I think Hils is planning a few days in Donaghal as well. I need a holiday. Flying to Seville on 4th September, the show goes on.

Another tough week at Badminton draws to a close. Last night we experienced our biggest test yet when 100 of the students decided to do a runner when they were supposed to go to bed. The week has been dominated by discipline issues as usual and unfortunately Will leaves today which means a huge part of the enjoyment factor of working here goes as well. But I'm still here, still alive and not entirely burnt out.

This week I've had my toughest class yet to deal with. Advanced Class A is composed of one German student and six Russians including Anastasia and for a couple of days, Patrick. I gave Patrick and Katrina a chance to be able to work together (they've been dating for 2 years apparently) bvut unfortunately they repeatedly tried to kiss in class, exchanging dialogue in Russian and Patrick kept on making comments about inappropriate topics (usually drugtaking in Moscow) regardless of what we were talking about. Patrick was switched to Adam's Advanced C by Wednesday morning. However, the big issue occured on Wednesday when Anastasia arrived at class 20 minutes late. Her excuse was that she had overslept because none of the female staff had woken her up. After thinking for a few seconds I decided that she would have to do an extra half hour of homework that night, which she refused to do. I warned her that she would have to do an extra hour the following night to which she replied "I will speak to Ross." I spoke to Ross in the the break and explained the situation. He agreed with my belief that Anastasia had been here long enough to know when she was supposed to get up. As far as Ross was concerned, the punishment fit the crime. I didnt think more of it until Anastasia came up to me during the time she was supposed to be doing her extra work to gleefully announce that Ross had let her off the punishment. I went to Ross' office to ask what the hell was going on and he simply said that she was upset and he felt that a bit of leniency was needed. Oh give me a f*g break. I was furious to say the least. What is the point of having punishments if you cant carry them out? I have lost a lot of confidence with discipline now because there doesnt seem to be any boundaries, no structure to follow. All the other teachers have had the same problem. It's no surprise that the students ran riot last night. And it will happen again unless we all agree on an organised, uniformed discipline structure. But more importantly we need to have the backing of our superiors as well. More coffee, more cigarettes needed.

Unfortunately, the internet filters here at Badminton School are absurdly strict so I've been unable to retrieve my drafts from the previous three weeks. Anyhow, it's exactly halfway through the summer school now. To summarise, I'm fairly satisfied with my teaching so far. The first week was messy. Confusion, disorganisation and a lack of materials for my advanced classes meant that I wasnt fully able to follow the OISE syllabus to the book. However, I seem to have found a routine despite the chaos but no way am I following the rules of CELTA to any degree. Concept check questions are limited and I cant remember the last time I confirmed any instruction checks with my classes. Teacher talking time is still way too high and my timing is still a little haphazard but this is partially attributed to the unrealistic syllabus from head office. Who the f**k can teach all three types of conditional sentences and explain the differences whilst rounding off with an exercise in 30 minutes??!

The Esseghari sisters have gone, along with the French poseurs and the Italian stallions. Zeineb and Dorra from Tunis were by far the best students I've ever taught. Enthusiastic, hard-working and enormous fun. Often they would tick off the other students for speaking their native tongues. What more could you ask for? The French lot were an arrogant lot but certainly had character and the Italian crew were boisterous but fun-loving. I will miss Marcello a lot. This was his 6th summer school and he behaved like a student who knew how to play the game. Do what you're told and your life is easy. Gregarious, laid-back and always up for a chat. The words "blind" and "eye" come to mind when we noticed him casually heading towards the girls sleeping area for a late visit to his girlfriend. So for the last three weeks who are we left with? A few French, a handful of Germans, a couple of Saudis and a large group of stuck-up, lazy and rude Russians who have quite simply more money than sense. Anastasia and Patrick come to mind. I remember meeting their parents on the first day. They arrived in separate limos avec chauffeurs, all of them with cigarettes dangling out of the corner of their mouths which they stubbornly refused to remove despite the polite signs that are displayed throughout the school. When it came to banking for their children, both fathers left each child the sum of £2500 spending money (to last 3 weeks) plus credit card (for "emergencies"). The teenagers themselves see their English classes as a way of improving their "street" language, that is, they seem to think it is cool to swear as much as possible in class. It seems that good times have hit the streets of Moscow for a select few but I do wish the parents would send their offspring to the States for their English tuition. It seems more appropriate.

Hopefully, I'll be able to get to a non-filtered PC in the next week or so. Three weeks to go. Hils came down for the weekend, she is totally sold by Bristol. My little plan certainly worked.