Everyday, I wake up 7:00 to get ready for the day, and I leave for work around 7:40. My first class is at 8:40 and generally is one of my less favorite classes of the day. The kids are generally still half asleep and it takes a lot of effort on my part to get them excited about pretty much anything. Some days, they're really excited and great though. Friday, I got hug tackled by a mob of them when I left. (I think it's because I gave them stickers today, so they were just very excited.)
I have a short ten minute break and then have five back to back classes of either 2.5-3 year olds or 3-4 year olds. I just really don't enjoy teaching the youngest classes. Dont' get me wrong- they are so adorable and most of them are very sweet. I have one student, Ryan, who follows me around. He comes up and stands right next to me during songs and mimics everything I do. (Including, scratch my head or yawn, or whatever extra I do.) But, I just have the worst time teaching them because it's just so repetitive and difficult with the language barrier. A week's worth of material for a beginner's class is usually one (maaybe two, if I'm lucky) songs and three to four new words. This weeks new words: Teacher. Child. Friend. Explaining some words, like "friend", to babies without using Chinese is a little tricky.
When the morning classes finally finish, I have a three and a half hour lunch break. I hate this break because it is just too long. It does give me (plenty) of time to lesson plan for the afternoon classes and the next day's morning classes, at least. In this break, I generally take a walk around the neighborhood if the weather is nice (I'm pretty sure I will be still exploring for the next half a year), take a nap if I'm tired, respond to e-mails at my awesomely slow desktop computer, or lesson plan. I could go home, but generally I feel it is a waste of time unless I want to take a taxi. Needless to say, I'm always full ready for my afternoon classes to start and get done with.
My afternoon classes are the highlight of my work day. The kids are all 5-6 years old, and their maturity and English level is just so far beyond the younger kids. I generally have the most fun in their classes, and I don't generally have to discipline them much. I can play more complicated games with them and explain things a little easier. I sometimes feel like I'm not teaching Chinese students. They let me know if something is confusing or too hard (or their blank stares give it away. The baby classes have blank stares probably 90% of the time.) My last class ends at 3:50, and generally I rush out of work to avoid the mobs of kids leaving. Its so much harder to maneuver out of the school with gobs of kids who want to say goodbye to you.
After work, I generally don't do too much. Maybe a walk, make or go find dinner, relax and unwind. Until this week, the weather really hasn't been nice enough to do much besid I'm usually pretty tired after working with the kids all day. I'm learning to cook slowly, since the ingredient here are a bit different, and I'm not used to not having a stove. Mostly, I've just been perfecting stir-fry and rice/noodles so we don't have to eat out all the time.
Here's a bunch of random pictures from the last week:
I have a short ten minute break and then have five back to back classes of either 2.5-3 year olds or 3-4 year olds. I just really don't enjoy teaching the youngest classes. Dont' get me wrong- they are so adorable and most of them are very sweet. I have one student, Ryan, who follows me around. He comes up and stands right next to me during songs and mimics everything I do. (Including, scratch my head or yawn, or whatever extra I do.) But, I just have the worst time teaching them because it's just so repetitive and difficult with the language barrier. A week's worth of material for a beginner's class is usually one (maaybe two, if I'm lucky) songs and three to four new words. This weeks new words: Teacher. Child. Friend. Explaining some words, like "friend", to babies without using Chinese is a little tricky.
When the morning classes finally finish, I have a three and a half hour lunch break. I hate this break because it is just too long. It does give me (plenty) of time to lesson plan for the afternoon classes and the next day's morning classes, at least. In this break, I generally take a walk around the neighborhood if the weather is nice (I'm pretty sure I will be still exploring for the next half a year), take a nap if I'm tired, respond to e-mails at my awesomely slow desktop computer, or lesson plan. I could go home, but generally I feel it is a waste of time unless I want to take a taxi. Needless to say, I'm always full ready for my afternoon classes to start and get done with.
My afternoon classes are the highlight of my work day. The kids are all 5-6 years old, and their maturity and English level is just so far beyond the younger kids. I generally have the most fun in their classes, and I don't generally have to discipline them much. I can play more complicated games with them and explain things a little easier. I sometimes feel like I'm not teaching Chinese students. They let me know if something is confusing or too hard (or their blank stares give it away. The baby classes have blank stares probably 90% of the time.) My last class ends at 3:50, and generally I rush out of work to avoid the mobs of kids leaving. Its so much harder to maneuver out of the school with gobs of kids who want to say goodbye to you.
After work, I generally don't do too much. Maybe a walk, make or go find dinner, relax and unwind. Until this week, the weather really hasn't been nice enough to do much besid I'm usually pretty tired after working with the kids all day. I'm learning to cook slowly, since the ingredient here are a bit different, and I'm not used to not having a stove. Mostly, I've just been perfecting stir-fry and rice/noodles so we don't have to eat out all the time.
Here's a bunch of random pictures from the last week:
On Tuesday, we had an impromptu assembly during my 3rd class to welcome our giant stuffed Haibao to the school. Haibao is the mascot of the World Expo 2010. It was pretty sweet to not have to teach though. =)
This is Mr. Cat. He lives in our complex area. There's actually probably like 10 cats that live in the complex, but Mr. Cat is the most friendly. When I call to him he meows back and purrs and stuff. He's super cute and always perched at this spot.
If you cannot read this, it says: 'Watch your steps, Please use the zebra crossing' Apparently, the zebra crossing is the pedestrian crossing lines.
On Saturday Night, we went to Bandu Music to watch a traditional instrument performance. This guy played a mean flute. I wish I could link the movie file. =(
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