4 May- the day of perfect attendance



morning post-secondary class

Back row: Michaela, Jindra, Kristina, Helena, Zuzka, Mira

Middle row: Petra, Jana, ME, Mila, Roman

Front row: Michal, Vojta, Petra, Klara

afternoon post-secondary class

Back row: Isabela, Katerina, Vladia, Vojta

Front row: Michaela, Julia

It was an IJV miracle. A once in a lifetime experience. ALL of my post-secondary students attended class today!! Luckily I brought my camera to school to snap a class picture for our year-long 'travel logue' project we've been working on for my afternoon class. I never would have guessed that I would need it for my morning class as well-- I absolutely HAD to document the whole group together. So feast your eyes on my 19-21 year old groups of post-secondary students who are lucky enough to have 3 hours of English lessons everyday!!   

Dresden, Germany- Mission: complete

On Wednesday morning two co-workers and I had a 9 am meeting at the Czech Embassy in Dresden to apply for our one-year work visas. This was great since you technically are only allowed 90 days in Europe as a 'tourist'. I arrived on 6th August, meaning I have until early November to get a permanent work visa. In order to apply for the work visa you need a number of documents, including a work permit from a certified employer. So, in order to have this work permit you need a job. Luckily, I have a job, a great job, that has helped me throught this long and complicated process of paperwork and pleasing the Czech office workers.

With less than a month left on my 'tourist' time, I am lucky to have made it to Dresden, Germany on Wednesday to apply for my work visa. They informed me that after the foreign police finishes my 'background check' that I will be able to pick up my official work visa (to cover the temporary stamp I now have in my passport) in a few weeks.

IJV not only helped with all of the paperwork but they also PAID for the work visa! I am extremely lucky to have such a cooperative and legitimate school to work for because there are a lot of places that don't even tell you where to begin.

I am thankful that all of it is over, especially since the process began at 2:30 am Wednesday morning when my alarm clock didn't go off... but I woke up at 2:53 am, threw some clothes on and was out the door to catch the 3:03 am tram that left my apartment so I could make the 3:30 am train that left Prague for Dresden. Talk about an early morning.

Since IJV arranged substitutes for our classes that day, Melissa, Tyler and I decided to stay for lunch and explore the city. Dresden is beautiful and I even got to use some of my sparse German vocabulary! Very impressed by the reconstruction of the city after it was completly bombed in 1945, it's clean public transportation, and of course their efficiency.

bad blogger remorse

I have been a very bad blogger, and for that I apologize.

Here is a recap of my first full week at IJV:
Monday- 7:30 am company course, followed by 3 hours of teenagers, then after 3 forms of public transportation was at another company giving tests
Tuesday- made a 19 year old girl cry during my class
Wednesday- 3 hours of post secondary students, extra lesson planning
Thursday- substituted for another teacher, got lost in a surprisingly modern office park
Friday- taught all of my students "TGIF"

Hello, Goodbye, and standardized testing

I started life as an actual teacher on Monday...but then my first class got cancelled...

...so then I re-started life as an actual teacher yesterday with my "first" class at a medical supply company, OZP. There were 6 very kind students eager to start the course again after a 3 month break, only to find that I had to give a standardized test on day 1 to assess their level. After brief introductions and an intense 75 minutes of testing they were very happy to go home and I didn't blame them. After grading them I am happy to see their results and hope that they can indeed move up a level to Upper-Intermediate.

Back at IJV I received a revised schedule and it looks like I have two post-secondary classes which each meet daily for 90 minutes. These classes are composed of 16 (!) students ages 19-21 who need to pass the English exam to get accepted into University. I will be teaching from a regular textbook for the first semester, then doing exam preparation for the Cambridge exams starting after Christmas break.

For the rest of the week I am creating supplemental coversation lesson plans for IJV, saying goodbye to fellow TEFL classmates who are leaving Prague for various reasons, and meeting the rest of the English teaching staff!

GOT THE JOB!

I am happy to say that as of Monday, September 6th I will be a full-time employee at IJV!

They are a fantastic language school right off of Wenceslas Square in downtown Prague. It wasn't my initial plan to stay in Prague for the year, but France is being a big pain in the rear when it comes to getting a work visa so this is my best option right now. I am so relieved to have found a job that starts right away... now I just need a place to live :)

Interview!

I had my first real teacher interview this morning!

Yes, I missed class to go, but it was totally worth it. The school is called IJV (Institut jazykového vzdělávání, to be exact) and would be an excellent opportunity to teach both in a classroom and business setting.

I'll keep you posted on the outcome :)