Second Month of Teaching
Trying to actually teach things is hard
After a month of training I thought I could teach really well, then
I sat and waited at my previous employer for a while (about a month) waiting to
be placed and so I didn’t practice a whole lot, and now that I’m back in the
swing of things I have to remember how to teach again
I think kids for the most part get it, I’m still doing the whole 3
step approach of TFA lore (Introduction to New Material, Guided Practice,
Independent Practice) but the thing is that introducing new English terms to
these children is like trying to teach a 3-year old how to swim
You teach the 3-year old exactly where to put his arms and legs, how
to move his arms and legs, but every time you put him in the pool he just drops
like a rock
Not all of my students are like that
I would say 80-85% of my kids get it, then I have about 15-20% of
kids who just want to read bad Chinese anime through my class
At least I make those students cry
The taking of book bags is extremely effective
I have got to say, I’m so proud of myself for thinking of this
I can’t speak Chinese that well, so if I criticize a child he or she
is just going to laugh or not understand and if I send them to the home
teacher, they’re not going to respect me as a disciplinarian
So if I take their book bag as a punishment for getting 3 strikes
(not sitting properly, talking out of turn, and so forth) their parents must
come to my office to retrieve their book bag
Oh man so many kids cry but I tell them every day, if you misbehave
3 times in my class your parents have to come to see me if you want your book bag,
and they don’t believe me until I actually walk out of the room with their book
bag, and that’s when reality rears its ugly head
I feel kind of bad because I make students cry sometimes, but then I
remember that one of my students gave me a decapitated teddy bear eraser, so I
know they’re empathy isn’t quite as deep as the ocean
The lies these kids tell to try and get their book bags back are
priceless
One student, who misbehaves in a lot of teachers’ classes, first
told me that his parents’ were dead, then when I asked if he had any other head
of household told me his entire family was dead (which at that point I knew he
was lying), then when I asked him if his entire family is dead, how come his
brother came to school today, he literally said, “Oh, he’s only kind of dead”
Then I asked for his parents’ phone number, he got his lies mixed up
because he said, “I don’t remember it, they just bought it today” to which I
replied, “So you’re dead parents bought a cell phone today?” to which he
replied, “They’re going to beat me”
That’s when another teacher chimed in, “They should!”
That child stayed in my office until 6:30 pm (school got out at 4:05
pm) so when his father finally came to school wondering what had happened to
his child, you can imagine how mad he was
Then there was another child who enlisted the help of his buddies to
try and get his book bag back
The thing is that it would have worked if one kid wasn’t trying to
top another kid’s lies (because they're 3rd graders)
First they said he was from very far away (think of a place 30 miles
away from a school) which didn’t sound right seeing that I taught at a public
school, then they said he did live nearby but his mom and dad work 20 hours a
day so they can’t come in to get his bag, then about 10 minutes after they said
that his mom walks into my office and scolds that little child
Then we had mid-terms which went extremely awesome
Because I’m an oral English teacher, I have no grades, homework, or
tests (imagine the work involved in trying to individually grade 750 students’
oral English ability) so that meant no pressure and I just played jeopardy with every
single class to help them review
I don’t know how effective it was but the first graders got a 92% on
their English mid-term and I’d like to think the game of Simon Says I played
with them helped them at least remember their face from their ear
On a whole I’m not sure how the school did
We’re not the best school in Shenzhen but we’re not the worst, we’re
good but we can be better and I see our staff trying hard every day trying to
make their school the best school and it’s really inspiring
I do have some responsibilities though
Every day at the start of morning exercises (where every single in
the school lines up on the basketball courts) I teach them every day oral
English
For example, this last Tuesday I taught them
A: What happened?
B: I don’t know
I taught them this because they always want to say “I don’t know”
when I ask them an English question so at least now they can say “I don’t know”
in English
Then I’m also in charge of fostering a cross-cultural partnership
with an elementary school in an English speaking country
Basically, we’re looking for a school to start a partnership with
and it’s really cool so if you know any elementary school that wants to start a
partnership with a Chinese elementary school, let me know because I have some
good ideas
Food can drives where the loser has to send the winner something
that represents their country (like if we lost we would send you a giant 中国结)
Sending teachers or administrators over to your country to learn how you teach
students and you can send teachers to our school to learn more about the
Chinese education system and Chinese pedagogy
(this is a joke) Share recipes (I’ve learned how to make really good braised eggplant
since I’ve been here)， postcards, etc. (teachers or students)
