Tomorrow Comes Mighty Early in the Morning

(Students of Grammar & Composition Level 6 - from Saudi Arabia, Korea, Libya, Israel, Mexico, Japan, Taiwan, China, Vietnam, and Thailand)

Here is the photo of my final Grammar and Composition Level 6 Class at the English Language Institute (ELI) at California State University, Sacramento.  It has been a tough class, but the students have put in a lot of work and it's going to be over tomorrow when they take their grammar final. They took their Composition final yesterday, and I have every confidence that each student who took the time to do the homework assignments and took the time need to complete their final portfolio will pass on to the next level.

My students will tell you that I'm a hard teacher; and I am. I am this way because I had a teacher, Dr. Fiona Glade, who was hard on me. I didn't like the class so much because it required that I do twice as much work as the other graduate classes I was taking at the time. With that said, I was amazed at how much I learned during that class, and I now hold the maxim that when things are hard they're often more valuable. When education is demanding and requires you to develop problem solving skills and engage in cognitive processes, the payoff is well worth the effort. For these reasons I am hard. I think my students will come away from my classes having learned a lot and developed their writing in a way that will prepare them for the next level of English Composition.

Not all students are able to meet my demanding requirements, and some of them give up along the way. That's okay too, they will have chance to take the class again and meet the requirements, ultimately engaging with the level's material twice as much, which I should hope will also prepare them for the next level. My method is not stopping those students; it is ensuring them adequate skills for the next level and ultimately success. This may not be all my students' perspectives, and it may not be 100% true for all of them, but it is my teaching perspective and the reason why I require so much work out of my students.

Tomorrow will be my last day here at ELI. Tomorrow will be my last day in this job, which has been a wonderful experience. Tomorrow will be my last day in Sacramento, and tomorrow comes mighty early in the morning.