It was quite an exhausting week at Inkreadable. I love intensives because I don’t have to think much beyond that week, I was right in that it was a little bit difficult to coordinate between four different teachers. I just decided that I wasn’t going to give my lesson plans to the teachers so they could see what I was doing when what I was getting in return was General comments about what still needed working on. Arina was a challenge because she is quite advanced in her English and so it had to be quite idiom and vocabulary focused. She didn’t make too many grammatical mistakes and I think what she got out of the lesson is that she felt more confident after the week. Which I think is exactly what she wanted. I did check in with her at the end of the lesson to see how she was feeling and she expressed very positive thoughts about the whole week. I did tell her that if she had a problem with anybody’s teaching to tell the teacher directly and give positive feedback to the school because it impacts how we get our work. And she was receptive.
Friday was tough because I was with her for the whole day and even though we managed to finish some of the stuff that I had planned, there was a whole lesson that I didn’t even get to because we just kept talking. What I found difficult about the week generally was trying to stay focused on all of my lessons because I also had other lessons. While I managed to prepare lessons for everybody that I needed to, I found it unexpectedly difficult. The intensive also threw off my week because I had to move two of my students to Saturday in order to accommodate the intensive. So while I had a weekend, I did barely any speaking outside of my classes. I think I spoke three words to Jasper the whole weekend. I binge-watched mindless trash TV for all of Saturday and part of Sunday. Which is something that is sometimes necessary. Key takeaways from this intensive: C1 level students need more talking and video-based best lessons are fun and they really help in a pinch. Also, working wit multiple teachers is tough.
The week was tiring enough that I actually let everything go in terms of my social life. That meant there was no writer’s group or hanging out of any kind. I pushed everything to this weekend and balance is not a word that I am currently familiar with. I’m having a dinner lesson with Shinwei on Friday, and I am cooking dinner for a friend and her partner on Saturday. Sunday hasn’t been scheduled but I will likely figure something out for after teaching.
I was not as proactive as I could have been about my own business the whole week. On Sunday I sent a message to Fuse (the digital marketing firm) to remind them to give me a marketing proposal as I hadn’t heard from them in a week. I’m giving them a little bit of leeway because I did tell them that I was a small potato client and it wasn’t a rush, but I still shouldn’t have to chase you. One of the biggest challenges currently is that my website will not load in my house unless I use a VPN. I contacted my provider and made sure that they could see my website which they can and so can other people who have the same provider when I asked them. The problem seems to be in my house with my computer and I don’t know how to fix it. It’s kind of ridiculous. My next step with digital marketing beyond trying to figure out why the hell my ISP does not allow the loading of my own website is to get a Dutch translation of my website up and running as I think that’s what people are going to see once we start marketing. I need to talk to a couple of people to see if they’re willing to help and of course, I’m willing to pay them.
This week I start with a new English Center client, and that is accent reduction. I have my last lessons with Slava and Isabelle. Isabelle will pick lessons back up in the spring and possibly bring me more TEC business with the addition of a group course or a least a semi-private.
That’s all she wrote for this Inkreadable installment. But stay tuned. As always, there is more to come
Inkreadable 