My Triumph lasted till the Drums

{Emily Dickinson: 1212}

{Source}

It was such a great day. An excellent day. I got to really teach today. Really.

Not just help another teacher, not just take a group of students and play a game someone else planned, not just stand in the corner and provide proper pronunciation when asked. Because this is what my "teaching" has been for the most part, so far. It's been good, but far from real teaching. I've been using the time to get a feel for the classrooms here, for the way things are run, and for how much English my twelve classes know.

But now, I'm feeling ready to teach. And today, I got a chance to share a Thanksgiving lesson with six classes. Some went better than others. I had problems with time management, with explaining what stuffing is in French and with games that were a little too difficult.

But some of it went splendidly, and all of it felt fabulous. I'm not sure how to explain the surge of energy and joy I get when I'm in front of a class. It makes me think this is surely what I'm supposed to do with my life. Now to see if the feeling lasts or if it's just a new-experience-high.  I hope it's here to stay.

~

Then, after I was finished with my classes, I went to the school library to plan my lessons for next week and wait for my ride. As I was talking to the librarian, she corrected the pronunciation and gender of my use of the word "color." It was not le, it was la, and I was pronouncing the vowels incorrectly. Then she kindly explained (I think) that the word I had been using was an impolite one. A swear word. I didn't ask for specifics.

To review: Today was great, but I was quite possibly swearing at my classes all day. And that is kind of how life goes.