my teacher's class

This semester I taught one of Matt's classes.  It's a very informal arrangement (and a very informal class for that matter) and although it didn't work out quite as smoothly as I hoped, I'm still really glad I did it.

[The not quite so smooth part .... originally Matt thought he'd be able to watch the kids while I taught (2 hrs Friday afternoon) but in actuality he was rarely available and I scrambled for child care, which was somewhat stressful.  But, we're up for trying again next semester, depending on the class timing.  I really do enjoy a chance to do something outside my typical realm of responsibility, and I really really enjoy the students.]

So, my students were teachers - university teachers - with very advanced degrees in very skilled sciences like optoelectronics and telecommunications engineering.  It would have been intimidating to teach them anything BUT English - my engineering skills are limited but my English is quite good :)

The class is small, the students (teachers?) are eager to learn, and they already have strong backgrounds in English - but very few opportunities to practice speaking and listening.

I invited them to my house for our final class.  So fun!  It's a pretty relaxed classroom environment but even more fun to have them in our home! 

I prepared a sampling of food treats for them to try - yeast bread (and showed them how to spread butter), banana bread (almost always a hit), brownies (I knew they would think it was too sweet) and popcorn (popcorn here is lightly sweetened and I wanted them to know the salty goodness of hot popcorn!)

{Everything cut in small pieces so they could sample and then go back for more of the things they liked!}

I don't think I'm always this animated in front of a group of people, but maybe?!?!?  I do love things like this - I did a ton of public speaking when I worked for the UNC Admissions Office and a few weeks ago Matt and I did a lecture on campus to about 200 students. 

The woman on my left in the picture just got invited to be a visiting scholar at an American university.  She's so nervous, and excited, and full of questions!  She brought her 5 year old daughter to play with my kids during our 'class'.  The lady in the middle has a baby boy just a few months younger than Luke.  So neat to connect with those other mommas! 

But some of my students are much older than me - several of them have children in college.  It's a very eclectic group and we had a great time this semester.