Learning to Teach

When I decided to move to Asia, I worried about things like the language, the food, moving from family, and getting used to a foreign county. Teaching preschoolers? Mah! Piece of cake! Piece of crumb cake! These are toddlers for crying out loud…how hard could that be?! I think I hear the faint but distinct chuckle of all you mothers, fathers, and nursery teachers half a world away…you know. Let’s see how my first week went. Day 1: Teacher Amy comes to class with the expectation of doing animal yoga with the preschool kids for forty-minutes. Wow, that was an adventure. Day 2: Teacher Amy guides the class in making journals. Uh huh. Day 3: Teacher Amy plans to organize forty toddlers in a make-believe grocery store, complete with homemade paper money, plastic fruit, and grocery lists. You get the picture. Needless to say, Teacher Amy has been humbled.

I teach four hours a day and create roughly forty lesson plans a week. Considering the fact that I have no experience in preschool teaching, this was quite the challenge at first. It still feels like I am constantly planning, but I have developed a basic routine which helps lessen the load.

Despite the stresses of the creating curriculum and working with other teachers, the affection of forty beautiful Asian children has been enough to make my heart melt. I am growing deeply in love with these little friends. It is deeply satisfying to see them learn. I am discovering the world again through their innocent eyes.

Teaching began to click when I started focusing on loving my students instead of having effective lesson plans. It has taken awhile, but I think finally, Teacher Amy is learning how to teach.