studentsineurope

Finishing on a High

School in Trnava Hora

My final week of teaching in Slovakia was certainly one of the best. After teaching for a while you are able to reuse some of your lesson plans and you seem to have a bit more of a feel with the kids as well. My last class of students in Trnava Hora was a small class in their early teens. Their English was good enough for some more conversational classes. Not only did I not have to spend nearly as much time preparing classes, but I found myself more able to make a connection with the children and help them to enjoy the classes a fair bit. They really got into the some of the lessons; the turn out for “bring something Slovakian” day was fantastic! I ended up with an entire feast of local goodies, with even a tiny bottle of alcohol that I was told to hide from the other teachers.

Some presents

After running through a few games and exercises for the week. I left the last day as a relaxing day where we would have a bit of fun. We translated some DVDs and I borrowed a guitar so we could go through some music in English. But I was not prepared for how much my students had brought in! The kids insisted on giving me a whole bunch of touching presents before I left. Including the couple of goodies the staff gave me, I ended up with a huge haul of: two lots of chocolate, two bracelets, a necklace, a teddy bear, a flower, a pen/bubble blowing thingy, a whole litre of slivovice (the local plum based spirit) and one of the girls even wrote a song out for me! They all signed the song and insisted that I try to put a melody to it off the top of my head, which they insisted on recording and followed with a probably somewhat undeserved rowdy applause. The photos, written messages and email exchanges went on for several minutes, even some children that I hadn’t taught at all wanted a photo with me.

A feast from my kids.

I am happy to be moving on into proper travelling again but that last day is one I will never forget. A great bunch of kids and a minor celebrity status certainly goes a long way to helping you enjoy your job.