*Also, thanks to everyone who's been sending me encouragements. I'm starting to get used to the idea of teaching fifth grade, have been dreaming about lesson planning, and am hoping it goes well.
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Getting Paid
I've never worked somewhere where I got paid for vacation. Yesterday, I was paid for two months of it. Added to the fact that our stipend comes to us in the form of 100-yuan bills, and getting paid this time was quite the experience!
*Also, thanks to everyone who's been sending me encouragements. I'm starting to get used to the idea of teaching fifth grade, have been dreaming about lesson planning, and am hoping it goes well.
*Also, thanks to everyone who's been sending me encouragements. I'm starting to get used to the idea of teaching fifth grade, have been dreaming about lesson planning, and am hoping it goes well.
Monday, March 2, 2015
Thwarted Expectations
One of the things I thought would help me this semester was knowing what to expect, and perhaps more importantly, what not to expect. But even with that in mind, I've been thrown for a loop. Because starting a new semester wouldn't be hard enough, I have to perform again on Sunday. Which means practicing for two periods a day all week (if I had classes, they would be forfeit, but all my classes are earlier in the day, so I get to do this on top of my teaching load).
And once I survive that, next week I will begin teaching fifth grade English. Unfortunately, my American co-fellow was unable to return to Jietou for this semester and the school was unable to find a replacement at such short notice. So schedules are being shuffled and I will be teaching third grade and fifth grade English (no more music for me). I understand why this needs to happen--it makes sense to have the American teach as much English as possible--but I'm sad that this means less time with my third graders who I've already gotten to know. Now I get to learn another set of 200 students!
On a brighter note, though, it should be fun to work with slightly older students. The major challenge is going to be figuring out how to adjust my teaching. Since my school combined with other schools last summer, some of the students have had almost no English before. Others have had a couple years of it. But none of them have been speaking English for the last four months. So I'm planning on starting simple with the third grade curriculum, since that's what I know already, and we'll adjust from there. Right now I'm extremely apprehensive. I had thought this semester would be easier than the last since I've settled in already, know the routine, and can improve based on last semester's experience. Now I feel like I'm back and the beginning. Hopefully I'll feel better about it once I get started.
And once I survive that, next week I will begin teaching fifth grade English. Unfortunately, my American co-fellow was unable to return to Jietou for this semester and the school was unable to find a replacement at such short notice. So schedules are being shuffled and I will be teaching third grade and fifth grade English (no more music for me). I understand why this needs to happen--it makes sense to have the American teach as much English as possible--but I'm sad that this means less time with my third graders who I've already gotten to know. Now I get to learn another set of 200 students!
On a brighter note, though, it should be fun to work with slightly older students. The major challenge is going to be figuring out how to adjust my teaching. Since my school combined with other schools last summer, some of the students have had almost no English before. Others have had a couple years of it. But none of them have been speaking English for the last four months. So I'm planning on starting simple with the third grade curriculum, since that's what I know already, and we'll adjust from there. Right now I'm extremely apprehensive. I had thought this semester would be easier than the last since I've settled in already, know the routine, and can improve based on last semester's experience. Now I feel like I'm back and the beginning. Hopefully I'll feel better about it once I get started.
"Welcome back!"
Today was the first day of the new semester. Over the course of yesterday afternoon about 850 students and their families flooded campus. The students themselves carried much of their school supplies, but most of the parents carried their bedding. It felt like a great migration.
This morning, in typical Chinese fashion, was used for sweeping the school, a couple of school-wide assemblies, distributing books, and some other tasks, the purpose of which I couldn't discern and didn't ask. This gave me all morning to, yes, prepare, but also to worry about teaching again. Then I discovered that the textbook that I was given in January is not, in fact, the textbook that has been distributed to the students. Luckily, I also had time to chat for a few minutes with some of my students, which was a good reminder of why I'm here.
This morning I had to teach the whole school an English phrase, so I chose "Welcome back." Last semester I was rather skeptical of this weekly ritual. Not only is it difficult to choose an appropriate phrase for first through sixth grade when some of them have never learned any English and some have had several years of it, but they don't have much time to actually practice or use the phrase, so mostly they don't remember it for long. But today I felt the value of it. Do they actually learn any given phrase, no. But they get the chance to chant English in unison and interact with the strange foreigner. And honestly, it's quite fun to hear 1,200 students shout "Hello", "Good morning", and "Welcome back" back at you!
This morning, in typical Chinese fashion, was used for sweeping the school, a couple of school-wide assemblies, distributing books, and some other tasks, the purpose of which I couldn't discern and didn't ask. This gave me all morning to, yes, prepare, but also to worry about teaching again. Then I discovered that the textbook that I was given in January is not, in fact, the textbook that has been distributed to the students. Luckily, I also had time to chat for a few minutes with some of my students, which was a good reminder of why I'm here.
This morning I had to teach the whole school an English phrase, so I chose "Welcome back." Last semester I was rather skeptical of this weekly ritual. Not only is it difficult to choose an appropriate phrase for first through sixth grade when some of them have never learned any English and some have had several years of it, but they don't have much time to actually practice or use the phrase, so mostly they don't remember it for long. But today I felt the value of it. Do they actually learn any given phrase, no. But they get the chance to chant English in unison and interact with the strange foreigner. And honestly, it's quite fun to hear 1,200 students shout "Hello", "Good morning", and "Welcome back" back at you!
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