I (Maria) never thought I would enjoy teaching as much as I do in China. I finally found my calling and what I'm good at. I teach English to Jr. Hight students. I know what you're probably thinking JR HIGH?! Yes, Jr. High. Jr. High in China is very different from the U.S. They are eager to learn, especially from a foreigner. They feel sincerely privileged to be taught by a native speaker, that they look forward to each lesson.
I've spoken to teachers from the U.S. that have taught Jr. High and I they can't believe how different Chinese students are to American students. First of all, most Chinese Elementary and Jr. High students attend school from 7am-5pm Mon- Fri. Not to mention they have tons of homework that takes them until 11pm to complete. When I told my class that most American students attend class from 8am-3pm they couldn't believe it.
In class students are very disciplined, they don't speak unless spoken to. Which can be a good and bad thing. At first it was hard to get them to participate. (To this day I struggle but not nearly as much as I did the first day. ) I would think to myself, " are they scared of me?" "Am I intimidating?" The truth is they were trained not to raise their hands for questions, brainstorm as a class or do games. I changed all that within a week and I could tell that it was different to them. At first I would get the "deer in the headlights" look, but I found that they enjoy American style lessons.
I prepare slideshows and they enjoy all the funny illustrations that I use to get my point across. I can't lie, it's nice to be called Mrs. Lagos. :) Some also call me Mrs. Teacher, I'm trying to fix that. lol
You can see how attentive the students are in the pictures. And nooo it wasn't just for the camera, my kids are so well behaved. :)
1 comments:
That is awesome! I bet that you really would be a good teacher, because you seem to be extemely patient (you need that to be married to your husband! ;) ) Life is about doing what you love. I know that here in the U.S., teachers are drastically underpaid, but do you think that in China, it's any better for the teachers?
The kids actually do look like they are learning. I see a lot of smiles in that room and they look very interested.
One small suggestion, however, being the computer geek that I am, I noticed that you are using MS Word 2007 for your presentation. Is there any reason why you aren't using Powerpoint, or at the very least, using Word in full screen (reading) mode? I've always found all of the icons and taskbars and other objects very distracting from what the kids should be focusing on, the content. Maybe that's just me.
I enjoy the updates very much. Keep them coming!
Tim
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