Busy Week

We’re continuing to learn  more every day about our teaching duties.  Basically we are the “skills” teachers and the other English speaking teachers who are Turkish are the “main” teachers.  Essentially that means they teach grammar and we concentrate on speaking.  I may have mentioned this before but it’s not unusual for people to understand English but won’t or can’t speak it.  Since they can’t fall back on Turkish in our classes the hope is that everyone will practice their speaking.  I’ve been pretty impressed with the curriculum so far.  Jerry is already planning his lessons using the computer video technology.  I’m sure he will be a hit.  I’ve been observing the orientation sessions for the kindergarten and first grade this week and I must admit I am a little anxious about working with the little ones.  They are a bundle of energy.  I’ve been spending time looking at ESL websites for kids and reminding myself how to sing the Hokey Pokey, Head Shoulders Knees and Toes and a few other easy songs that emphasize language.  More next week after I’ve actually taught a few classes. 

Jerry met a family today who was enrolling their 5 year old in kindergarten.  The husband is from England and the wife is Turkish.  They lived in London for quite awhile but wanted to raise their daughter in Eskisehir.  He said it is an undiscovered gem.  We’re looking forward to going out to dinner with them Friday night  and learning more about our area.  He also confirmed that there is no expat community.  It was also nice to hear that they picked our school, Ted Eskisehir Kolegi for their daughter.  He said the school has a good reputation in Turkey.

The school picks us up on the corner 3 minutes from our door at 8:15.  Most of the teachers get picked up which is a nice benefit especially since we don’t have a car.  The van makes about 5 stops after picking us up and there are probably 7 or 8 people on the van when we get on. We get dropped off about 5:30.  So far the days have gone quickly.