The course was really challenging for me, but also inspiring. We had a good mix of trainees and all of us were immigrants, so we're all familiar with learning a second (or third or fourth...) language. I love this method because it introduces children to English as though they are native speakers, so they begin with listening and speaking and only move to reading and writing when they are older. I realized that I am hesitant to speak different languages (even with my international friends) simply because I lack the confidence and am afraid to make mistakes. In this course, we learn how you simply encourage and engage children, which gives them the confidence and motivation to want to speak English. I wish that I had experienced this in my education.
Here is a picture of my training group:
l-r top: Naama, Corey, Tami
l-r bottom: me, Shira, Sephie (our trainer), and Sherry
My "office" before the last day of class.
I will not work with glittery paper on my yoga mat in the future.
This teaching method goes far beyond what I imagined and I'm so pleased that I am joining this group. It is building on all of my Grinberg work because now I will really have to express through body language and gestures in order to engage and communicate with the students (and to not panic when teaching). Our teacher trainer remarked that my demo lessons were like coming to a yoga class because my voice was so low and calm!
I also realized that this will benefit my singing performances as well and that I can hypothetically take this skill set anywhere in the world where my singing career may take me because there are franchises all over the world.
Isn't it nice how the universe just opens up for us? All we have to do is accept the challenges with grace.
Elephants and tortoises,
Daniella
