You? A Teacher??

Everyone back home came to terms quite quickly with my decision to leave the country.  But it took many people a long time to get around the fact that I wanted to be a teacher.  "You don't have the patience to teach" was the common refrain.  And, in fact, I was very worried about this problem as well...could I be a teacher??  Only time would tell, and with my "you only live once" mentality, I ventured over here to try.

So, after that first week where I was basically thrown into the pool and told to swim, I got the routine of teaching at WSI down pat.  I wish I could say that teaching came naturally to me.  In some ways it has, but I definitely have a lot to learn - the fact that I'm really enjoying it tells me that I have a long time to perfect this new venture of mine!  And let me tell you, there is nothing more rewarding than seeing the look on a student's face when they finally understand something! 

Let's talk about WSI for a minute - Wall Street Institute is not an average school.  It is not a grammar drill and classroom based school.  It focuses on natural language acquisition through conversation and listening.  I am not required to stand in front of a classroom of 30 kids and teach.  I am not even required to prepare classes or mark tests or anything.  All that is expected of us as teachers is that we show up a half hour before our first class, that we make sure the day's students are up to date on their self-studying, and that the class folders have enough materials for each student in that particular class.  Our classes are very small - one to five students for Encounter classes and 12 to 14 for Social Classes.  Our students are university aged and older - mostly professionals - with a need to learn English.  So, they are already interested and willing to learn.  I was a bit apprehensive having to face unruly children and dissinterested teens - but I don't have to deal with any of that!!  In fact, its quite an easy gig which suits me just fine after my stressful sales job back home!! 

This gig was so easy that when an opportunity to manage my own centre was presented, I took it just to have some stress in my life again.  It seems stress is addictive to some people...like caffeine...I thrive on stressful and high paced competitive environments.  WARNING:  Turkey has no stressful, high paced, or competitive teaching environments that I've come across...if you're looking to relax, talk some English and pick up a regular pay cheque, this is the country for you!!  There is no real rush to get anywhere here and time has no real value.  Living here has really changed me from a "rush rush rush" kind of person to a more laid back "don't worry, be happy" person.  So much so that my best friend C, during one of our marathon Skype chats, once commented that she'd never seen me more happy and relaxed.  I guess that's a good thing!