When do we become teachers?

Blog entry #7 

Long have I thought about our jobs as teachers. 

I used to believe that we didn't really become teachers until we finished our majors and received the document that endorses us as such. That makes sense when you think about that Mexican phrase that says "papel habla". 

On Friday 3rd, I gave a Third Conditional class as part of my professional practices and received feedback after. My tutor liked the way I presented the topic and her students seemed to have a good impression after my presentation performance. On Saturday, March, 28th, I finished my course at my job and my student told me that I do a good job and he likes the classes I give. That makes me feel joy because of the fact that others reckoning your work is hardly comparable to other feelings. 

So...

Now I believe the opposite. I'm sure that one becomes a teacher, regardless of the subject, at the moment he/she starts to plan classes and give them ;)

Welcome to Richie's horror show!!!

Blog Entry #6:  Master Richie's Show!

Come on, come in!!! Welcome! Welcome!

Take a seat, make yourselves comfortable!

...

*silence*

...

*the curtain opens*

...

and here we Go!!!!!

                               

Act 1: Create a plan.

Monday ... So there he was. Trying his best to adapt his routines to his days in "quarantine", doing his best not to send school to Hell ... and there he is! HE MADE IT!!!!!

And now he was free to turn his attention on his work stuff. He received a message and was told to get ready because the end of his student course was upon us and I still had one entire unit to teach. But another thing was missing: The final exam ... No problem, teacher Richie said, 'cause he had agreed to apply the exam only after covering all the topics in the course.
...
Still ... Teacher Richie's spidey-sense was tingling! But why? ... Hmmm ...

Everything was ok, teacher Richie made his lesson plan and everything was ready to face HIS 3 HOUR FIRST ONLINE CLASS EVER.

And so the week went by and finally, Saturday 28th  arrived. The end of the course was upon us.

Act 2: Stick to the plan

Saturday, 9:00 am.
So, teacher Richie woke up and immediately went to check the final details about the class when he received another text asking him how he was going to apply the exam, so I reminded my coordinator that we already agreed on finishing my classes but he answered that the last day of the course was on Saturday
WHAT!!!??? NO!!! That was not the agreement!!!! Still ... In all his time working (Richie used to work in other things before becoming a teacher) he knew he couldn't ignore a direct command but he also understood the importance of the situation at hand and decided to follow his lesson plan so carefully planned.
Saturday, 12:00 pm
And so there he was! Teacher Richie made his incursion to the world of Online Teaching by means of Zoom. Everything was ok but then  Lord Trouble made his appearance.

Act 3: Get rid of the plan

Teacher Richie's coordinator insisted on applying the final exam and Richie had no other choice. An hour and a half of the class time were left and, luckily, all the topics were covered by that moment. 

Richie threw the rest of his lesson plan away and applied the exam by following his spidey-sense: the day before, teacher Richie has scanned the final exam in case that something happened

Richie applied the exam by sharing his screen an asking his student to keep the audio and the camera on at all times. 

The exam consisted of me zooming every section of the exam and my student writing notes on it. Then, I made a screenshot on every section and saved it for later evaluation.

...

I don't know what happened. I can only say that my student never cheated because I had been looking at his facial reactions and his eyes to make sure that he was focused on the exam. Besides, I know him to be an honored man. Against all odds (because of the general situation) he approved the Intermediate course with an 8 as a final grade. 

Moral: I think this was possible because of my alternate plan and I encourage every single person reading this to have a backup plan at all times in the classroom and in life.