So much to learn

Once a week I volunteer for ESL classes.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not a teacher. I make coffee and then fill in as needed. Sometimes I just take a struggling student and try to have a conversation, or go over their homework with them. One day it would be nice to be of more help and to have the right skills to further their language skills.

There were almost too many volunteers this morning under a new structure we're trying, so I had time to watch and learn from two amazing volunteer teachers. One was for the higher-level students and I learned about the four types of nouns.

Did you know there were four types of nouns? I'm just glad she didn't put me on the spot and ask me what they were. I now know: Proper, common, abstract and collective nouns. And now you know. (Hey, I am a teacher!)

The other teacher taught the early literacy class. She is so great and able to get all of the students involved. Last week she brought them into the gym and taught them the past, present and future tenses of run, jump and sing. Apparently they all sang together in the gym.

Both of these teachers are in their mid-80s and I can only pray that I have as much energy and enthusiasm when I'm their age. I suspect that after 40 more years of this I will have the shrunk the gap between their current knowledge and mine, and I'll also have the inability to get out of bed.

I will not be publicizing this blog to the ESL students. They would learn nothing hear and they wood see two many terrible examples of bad writing skills.