David-co1

On Tuesday I nervously walked in to room 409 where speaking fundamentals was supposed to be  about 10 min prior to class.  Two students were conversing in Arabic as I walked in and they stopped speaking.  From way they both looked at me I was not sure if they knew any English whatsoever.  Almost at once as if to dispel my fear they began to introduce themselves to me in English and ask how I was among other things.  I was blown away at how much English the fundamental students actually knew.  I was not sure what to expect and was positive that I was going to not be able to understand them and they were certainly not going to understand me.  After our greetings they asked if I minded if they spoke in Arabic to finish their conversation that my entrance had interrupted.  I told them that I did not mind and thus a lightning quick Arabic conversation ensued.  It was quite impressive how quick the different sounds were spoken by the individuals and I am not sure that I could even come close to that speed in English.

Once the teacher came in she wrote the agenda on the board making very clear what the class was doing for the day.  The first thing on the list was meet Dave.......

It was actually really interesting because the days lesson was on questions so for the first 15 or so minutes I actually got to answer of a ton of questions for these students.  They asked questions ranging from what my favorite hobby was (which I replied ultimate frisbee) to what was my phone number and address.  The funny thing is I actually gave out my real number and address and  I was wondering if they would actually call me up but alas to no avail. After the gamut of questions they worked in groups and I was able to observe them and how the teacher guided them through this time.

When the time came to go Majdi approached me asking if I would tutor him... And to his delight because I needed another tutoring partner I said yes.  We exchanged numbers and he finally got the answer to his most infamous question.  WHERE'S MY TUTOR??????!!!!???????

Overall I really like being in the classroom and the more that I do it the more comfortable and confident I am.  I am very glad for these observations.