Caitlin’s Reflection On Teaching Virtually During A Pandemic

Caitlin Laska, United Planet Ambassador and alumni, shares her reflection on her recent virtual internship working with children in Jordan.

“I’m so thankful for this amazing opportunity, and one day I hope to visit Jordan and go to the English school in person to meet new students and continue sharing my love of teaching English.” – Caitlin L.

Nobody could have predicted the dramatic turn that 2020 took. I remember being in class on the last day of in-person school thinking this would all be over in a few weeks; our government would fix this and the world would return to normal. But it didn’t. COVID-19 cases kept climbing and the world shut down, leaving everyone stuck in quarantine. Every night the news would repeat the same facts and rising statistics. Everyone was trying activities like coloring, knitting, and cooking to fill the time. I needed to find something to do and I’m not that artistic– the days all felt the exact same. I also wanted to try to make a difference.

Why I Did a Virtual Quest

I decided to look into online activities and classes in areas of interest, as it was clear that I would not go back to school in person. I was really interested in teaching English, so I decided to take a virtual class called Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL). I didn’t really expect to use anything I learned in the course in the near future, but I am intrigued by how people learn a second language and this seemed like an interesting way to learn more about it. I realized that I really enjoy education and teaching as I got further along in the class, and I wanted to get some first-hand experience teaching English abroad.

Teachers are desperately needed in both America and abroad, due to the Coronavirus. As a result, I reached out to United Planet to see if they had any virtual volunteer opportunities. I had worked with United Planet before to teach at daycare and volunteer in a healthcare clinic in Ecuador. I loved forming relationships with kindergarten students and seeing their smiling faces every day.  I was curious if that type of teaching experience would translate to the virtual world.  I wasn’t disappointed. United Planet helped place me with an English school in Amman, Jordan, which offers classes to students of all ages. It turned out that United Planet put me on the path to an amazing experience.

Caitlin in Ecuador during her healthcare quest back in 2019.

Getting Ready for My First Day of Teaching

I remember how excited and nervous I was before my first day. It was hard to sleep, as I wondered what my new students would think of me. They were used to Arabic-speaking teachers, so would they mind that I couldn’t speak Arabic? What if there were Zoom problems? Thankfully, when I met my students all my worries were eliminated. They were so kind and eager to learn. I felt privileged to represent America as I was their first American teacher. We were introducing ourselves and I saw that they weren’t exaggerating when they said the program offers classes to students of all ages. The students varied greatly in level and age from elementary school to adults. As a result, I was stumped on what activities would go over well with everyone, especially because I had three different classes and all levels of students.

How I Created Lesson Plans

After my first day of introductions, I spent hours working on lesson plans about grammar, storytelling, and thematic projects that would fit all my students’ needs and interests. I pulled the information I learned from my TEFL class and my own experiences taking Spanish lessons in school and in Ecuador to create an optimal curriculum. For example, one of my first lessons was on the importance of education, which I had done in Spanish the year before. Every day was a new adventure of testing out lesson ideas, topics, and activities to see what the students liked. I learned so much through this experience about teaching English.

In addition, I learned how beneficial it can be to have online language classes. In everyday life, my students did not get to interact with an English native speaker and as a result, their speaking skills were not as strong. Through many conversational exercises, the students were able to increase their vocabulary, fluency, and accuracy. In non-COVID times, it would be significantly harder to get a native English speaker to come to the classroom in person, so online classes were extremely beneficial for English exposure.

Examples of My Curriculum

My Favorite Part of Teaching

Just like my experience in Ecuador, my favorite part about teaching virtually in Jordan was seeing my students every day. I learned their stories and what makes them passionate about learning English. After all, these were supplemental English classes and not part of their required schooling. The students I worked with wanted to improve their English beyond the levels that the public schools offered and therefore enrolled in the English school. They also varied greatly in their goals for English learning. Some students were Jordanian and wanted better English education because their public schools do not offer the same curriculum. Others had fled war-torn countries and wanted to learn English to have more opportunities. No matter the student, I felt a connection and wanted to do my best to help better their education. I felt proud to be a teacher for an amazing Jordanian organization.