I am sorry that I haven't posted in over a week! I should begin by addressing some of the questions people have asked:
The next day we had practice lessons to present to our group. I felt pretty dumb teaching a kindergarten lesson to a bunch of English speaking adults so I didn't make mine very long. Later, we went to a place called Tianzifang. This area is made up of many small alleys with art galleries, stores, and small restaurants. It was very pretty, but they gave us a little too much time to look around. Once we were finished looking around, we went back to the hotel. We had our farewell dinner and then we all sang karaoke. It was fun, especially when Joe (one of our Chinese teachers) was dancing.
Sunday morning our school picked us up to move into our apartments. All of our apartments are very nice. However, our apartment happens to be on the first floor so it is very humid and there was a lot of mold. Even after bleaching everything, there is still mold, but it is getting better. We also have a very large TV, but when I finally tried to turn it on a few days ago I discovered it doesn't turn on. Hopefully we can get that fixed too. We went to the Club House for more orientation on Sunday as well. While everyone else besides Cheryl and me had received their books and CD's to begin planning lessons, Cheryl and I would not get ours until we arrived at school. However, some of the teachers made copies for Cheryl. All of the other teachers, including Cheryl, received their teaching schedules which told what age each class was and when those classes were. I was told that I would receive my schedule on Monday morning when I arrive at school. As you can imagine Sunday was not a very happy day for me. While I had to listen to all the other teachers complain about how stressed they were because they didn't have time to prepare, it took all my effort not to snap at them because I had no schedule, books, or anything to prepare. Additionally, I got placed at the school that was the hardest to teach. All of my classes are mixed ages from 2 and a half to 6 years old.
Monday morning, Touba met me at my apartment and we took the bus to my school. Touba told me not to worry and that she would help me through my first day. All of my classes are named after sea animals. I teach nine classes everyday. The six classes before lunch are 25 minutes long. The order is dolphin, seahorse, anemone, conch, seagull, and sea lion in the morning. My three afternoon classes seem a bit younger and are only 20 minutes each. Those three are coral, jellyfish, and starfish. The first day we just introduced ourselves and we asked them simple questions like favorite color, animal, etc. Angela, another Chinese teacher, helped me Tuesday through Thursday.
Friday was the first day I taught the whole day on my own. Although I had already taught on my own Thursday afternoon, I must admit that I am quite bad at it. I am not really a kid person so it is taking some adjusting. However, all of the teachers tell me that I am improving a lot already.
I have my own desk and the classrooms are very nice and large. It is not what I was expecting at all. My school also provides breakfast and lunch for me. The other teachers were a little cold at first, but after talking to them in Chinese and bringing them candy, they have warmed up to me. Now I am practicing my Chinese with them and they are slowly teaching me the Shanghai dialect.
If anyone has any advice or game ideas that could help in my class please send it my way. I am discovering it is difficult to teach only to the older students or only to the younger students because the opposite group gets bored and disruptive. Most of my students are well behaved. Some baffle me at how smart they are. I have learned that I cannot walk down the hallways because every class has windows to the hall and all the kids begin screaming Cary or Cary Laoshi (Teacher). They love giving me high fives too. They also like to tackle me with hugs now. Some of the girls kiss my hands or tell me they love me. One even told me, “Goodbye my love” on Friday. Even though I know I have a lot of improvement to do, these small gestures make me feel a little better. One girl even made me a card.
Cheryl and I work Monday to Friday while the other teachers teach Sunday to Thursday. This week has been very rainy and cold so we have mostly stayed in during our free time. Even though it is in the 40s, the weather is humid so it pierces right through your clothing. The area I live in has many small restaurants, a produce market, and a small store for groceries. I can usually eat for about 6 to 10 yuan for a meal. Seven yuan is about a US dollar.
That is all for now. Take care everyone.
- Training period for teaching: All last week the new CIEE teachers in China had an orientation. I wouldn't really call this teacher training but some things were useful to know. For my school, we were only given about a day and a half of training, which I will get to later.
- I also wanted to let Gabe know that I have been to the Great Wall twice. Although, both of those times were during my last visit to China.
The next day we had practice lessons to present to our group. I felt pretty dumb teaching a kindergarten lesson to a bunch of English speaking adults so I didn't make mine very long. Later, we went to a place called Tianzifang. This area is made up of many small alleys with art galleries, stores, and small restaurants. It was very pretty, but they gave us a little too much time to look around. Once we were finished looking around, we went back to the hotel. We had our farewell dinner and then we all sang karaoke. It was fun, especially when Joe (one of our Chinese teachers) was dancing.
Sunday morning our school picked us up to move into our apartments. All of our apartments are very nice. However, our apartment happens to be on the first floor so it is very humid and there was a lot of mold. Even after bleaching everything, there is still mold, but it is getting better. We also have a very large TV, but when I finally tried to turn it on a few days ago I discovered it doesn't turn on. Hopefully we can get that fixed too. We went to the Club House for more orientation on Sunday as well. While everyone else besides Cheryl and me had received their books and CD's to begin planning lessons, Cheryl and I would not get ours until we arrived at school. However, some of the teachers made copies for Cheryl. All of the other teachers, including Cheryl, received their teaching schedules which told what age each class was and when those classes were. I was told that I would receive my schedule on Monday morning when I arrive at school. As you can imagine Sunday was not a very happy day for me. While I had to listen to all the other teachers complain about how stressed they were because they didn't have time to prepare, it took all my effort not to snap at them because I had no schedule, books, or anything to prepare. Additionally, I got placed at the school that was the hardest to teach. All of my classes are mixed ages from 2 and a half to 6 years old.
Monday morning, Touba met me at my apartment and we took the bus to my school. Touba told me not to worry and that she would help me through my first day. All of my classes are named after sea animals. I teach nine classes everyday. The six classes before lunch are 25 minutes long. The order is dolphin, seahorse, anemone, conch, seagull, and sea lion in the morning. My three afternoon classes seem a bit younger and are only 20 minutes each. Those three are coral, jellyfish, and starfish. The first day we just introduced ourselves and we asked them simple questions like favorite color, animal, etc. Angela, another Chinese teacher, helped me Tuesday through Thursday.
Friday was the first day I taught the whole day on my own. Although I had already taught on my own Thursday afternoon, I must admit that I am quite bad at it. I am not really a kid person so it is taking some adjusting. However, all of the teachers tell me that I am improving a lot already.
I have my own desk and the classrooms are very nice and large. It is not what I was expecting at all. My school also provides breakfast and lunch for me. The other teachers were a little cold at first, but after talking to them in Chinese and bringing them candy, they have warmed up to me. Now I am practicing my Chinese with them and they are slowly teaching me the Shanghai dialect.
If anyone has any advice or game ideas that could help in my class please send it my way. I am discovering it is difficult to teach only to the older students or only to the younger students because the opposite group gets bored and disruptive. Most of my students are well behaved. Some baffle me at how smart they are. I have learned that I cannot walk down the hallways because every class has windows to the hall and all the kids begin screaming Cary or Cary Laoshi (Teacher). They love giving me high fives too. They also like to tackle me with hugs now. Some of the girls kiss my hands or tell me they love me. One even told me, “Goodbye my love” on Friday. Even though I know I have a lot of improvement to do, these small gestures make me feel a little better. One girl even made me a card.
Cheryl and I work Monday to Friday while the other teachers teach Sunday to Thursday. This week has been very rainy and cold so we have mostly stayed in during our free time. Even though it is in the 40s, the weather is humid so it pierces right through your clothing. The area I live in has many small restaurants, a produce market, and a small store for groceries. I can usually eat for about 6 to 10 yuan for a meal. Seven yuan is about a US dollar.
That is all for now. Take care everyone.
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