Teaching English in the ‘Most Depressing’ Week of the Year 😉

For some, learning English is a serious matter. 

But try telling that to Gema and Ion.

It’s a cold and grey Wednesday afternoon, but the moment Gema joins my Google Meet it is obvious today is not a day for negativity. 

She bounces in wearing a big beaming smile and a neon blue wig, and I’m instantly in a better mood.

“Did you remember our plan for today?” she asks, pointing at my rather drab grey jumper.

“Oh no! Sorry, I forgot!”

You see, last week we discovered that the 3rd week in January is the most depressing week of the year, at least according to the article we read.

“Screw that!” we both decided. So instead of letting the winter blues take control, we hatched a plan to dress up in our craziest, most colourful clothes this week in an attempt to cheer ourselves up.

But we would say nothing to Ion. 

“I just want to see his reaction.” said Gema, with a mischievous glint in her eye.

I quickly run to my wardrobe and grab the most colourful thing in there - 

a multi-coloured snood - and stick it on my head.

Sorry, it was the best I could do under the circumstances.

Seconds later Ion joins us.

He isn’t usually lost for words, but I think we managed it this time.

Five minutes later, as Ion is sharing some micronews, he suddenly stops in mid sentence and starts to laugh.

I’m busy writing something in our shared Google doc, so at first, I don’t know why he’s laughing.

I open the Google Meet window again and I see it. 

Gema’s grin is even wider now. Perched atop her head is a unicorn horn and an array of brightly coloured flowers.

I’ve spoken with these English students for a combined total of over 200 hours, but THIS is the moment we discover the special filters in Google Meet. 

For the next half hour we explore ALL of them.

After many “Oohs” and “Aaahs”, Gema finally settles on an aquatic background complete with an animated octopus resting on top of her blue wig.

Ion finally settles on the pirate filter. We all agree that the black beard really suits him.

I’m torn between the film noir detective and the handlebar-moustached cowboy, but it is the cowboy that wins in the end.

We spend the second half of the class completing a jigsaw puzzle while trying to maintain our conversation. It’s a good challenge that replicates the difficulty of many real-life multitasking situations, like driving and talking, cooking and talking, etc.

Gema lost her internet connection halfway through and had to start with a new profile, so we don’t know who scored the most points. It’s safe to say however that I came last. 🙁

This 300-piece jigsaw puzzle took us about 30 minutes to finish.

The final scores.

Being an English teacher sometimes feels like being a therapist, or simply like talking to friends.

And I’m lucky because I don’t have to teach a curriculum, so classes generally develop quite organically between each student and me.

But it’s days like this I realise how lucky I am to do this for a living.

Cowboy Derek