Friday, April 6, 2007

My student Elektra

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I decided to write this although some of my other students will get "jealous"!!!
There are few students that I can call my "favourites", although I've been working as a teacher for almost 15 years.
One of them is Elektra and this post is dedicated to her...
It was 8-9 years ago when we first started lessons. I had just moved to this neighborhood and she and her family had just moved from Germany. She needed English lessons to catch up with her new school. Not an easy task... We had less than a month to cover a whole year's material...
Elektra was 10-11 year old. A very witty child, with a real talent in picking up languages! We made it!
Nevertheless, we continued having lessons. She was very bright with a lot of interests, an excellent student, a good athlete, a sensitive person, a real delight to talk to. I remember, we used to talk about many things (in English of course) besides the boring grammar and vocabulary...
The years passed. Elektra passed her FCE exam, she continued for the proficiency exam. And although they moved, she kept coming over here for lessons, no matter that she was on the other side of the city.
She passed the proficiency exam with a very good grade. We stopped having lessons. It's been a couple of years now.
But... what I love about her is: she always gives me a call, to ask something or to see how I am doing. She even called me on my birthday!
Today she came to visit! She invited me to her highschool graduation!
Sometimes I consider myself a burnout teacher (with the things that happened to me personally and profesionally, sometimes I think about quitting). But at times like today I feel really proud. I feel really proud of being part of the "evolving" of some people.
Elektra, I feel really honoured to have been your teacher...

PS. The tribute to my students will continue!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Well, I guess students like Elektra are giving you the kick to keep on with your work and let you know that you are doing something very good! You are helping kids on their way becoming an adult!

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