Friday, May 7, 2010

5 Weeks Down, 5 More Weeks to Go!

Wow! I can't believe I am half way through with my time here in Serbia! I wish I could say that class attendance was as high as it was in the beginning, but it's not. Class attendance is actually my biggest frustration right now. I used to have about 6 young kids, now I am down to one. About 6 older kids used to come, now only 2-3 come each class. My teen class has gone from a high of 10-12 down to 4 regulars with sometimes a fifth if I am lucky.

This is just really frustrating because I really thought I would be teaching more kids. I know kids are unpredictable and you can't expect them to attend an English class three times a week in addition to school, but you think there would be more than a handful of kids in this town that want English lessons. It's just hard knowing that I had to quit my job to come here and have such small classes.

Luckily, the teens are really great to work with and really want to learn. I especially love the adults - they are making this trip totally worth it. I don't know what I would do if it wasn't for them. The adult classes are also really small, but they are just such a joy to work with.

I have talked to Liljana about the small class size. She talked to the kids to see if it would be better to have the classes on the weekends, but they said during the week is still the best. She even made the comment tonight that the adult classes seem like the only thing that is worth being here for. I suggest that we put a sign in front of the Church advertising free English classes. I don't know if that will help. I tell the kids everyday that they can bring friends and kids from school, but no one knew has come yet. Keep your fingers crossed that next week will be better! At least we know now that an English teacher is probably really only needed in the summer.

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