Being a teacher is to assume a position of power. I like being a teacher. Actually, I love being a teacher. It's an extension of all the experiences that I've accumulated over the last ten years in high school and in university where I can be a real agent of change in the education of youth. It's a discipline I feel very passionate about and while I take it seriously, I also like to have fun. Here in Week 12 of Chinese teaching, I must admit the fun has dwindled. I am not the confident and fearless teacher I was when I began.
Teaching primary ESL is probably not for me. It presents a number of daily challenges but they are not the sort of challenges that I find great satisfaction in overcoming. But I don't want this to come off as negative. Chinese students are more fun and entertaining then I could have possibly imagined. The students have an extremely high level of academic ability, which speaks to the quality of the system of education in China. Chinese teachers are very serious, and expect the highest level of behavior and work ethic out of their students. They are strict, and their expectations are evident in the manner they speak to their students. Granted, I understand very little of the conversation when the Chinese teacher steps in to deliver the hammer on the students, but it doesn't sound friendly.
From Monday to Thursday my schedule is packed, but not overbearing. I teach 5 classes (Grade 3 and Grade 4) on Monday, 5 classes (Grade 1) on Tuesday, 6 classes (Grade 2, 4 and 5) on Wednesdays, 4 classes (Grade 1 & 3) on Thursdays and only 1 on Friday, which comes at the end of the day (and my week).
From Monday to Thursday my schedule is packed, but not overbearing. I teach 5 classes (Grade 3 and Grade 4) on Monday, 5 classes (Grade 1) on Tuesday, 6 classes (Grade 2, 4 and 5) on Wednesdays, 4 classes (Grade 1 & 3) on Thursdays and only 1 on Friday, which comes at the end of the day (and my week).
When I began teaching I was full of confidence and was willing to try anything and my students responded well. I wanted to ween the students off of powerpoints and present in unique and different ways. I haven't kept that goal. I am my own toughest critic, but recently my lessons have gone stale. Because my students were doing so well and were excited at the beginning of the semester, some of the Chinese teachers have decided they no longer need to attend my classes to keep the kids in line. This has not worked out in my favour, but it's not something I can fault them for.
My classroom management has somehow gotten worse. In Canada, I rely on misdirection, enthusiasm and creative planning to keep the students engaged and attentive. I want to be able to administer my lessons while maintaining a fun atmosphere that has them active, but not without making them so excited they yell over eachother and cause even more distraction. It's a fine line to walk, and I hope I can fix it before it's too late.
There are a lot of very effective things I've incorporated into my lessons, but what works for one class may not necessarily work for another, even if they are back-to-back classes of the same grade. I can plan an excellent, fun and engaging lesson, but if I walk into the class and the students are just not up for participating that day then I'm sunk. Giving the ol' teacher lecture on "respect" and "using your time wisely" is extremely ineffective when the students cannot understand what I'm saying. It's a rollercoaster.
My classroom management has somehow gotten worse. In Canada, I rely on misdirection, enthusiasm and creative planning to keep the students engaged and attentive. I want to be able to administer my lessons while maintaining a fun atmosphere that has them active, but not without making them so excited they yell over eachother and cause even more distraction. It's a fine line to walk, and I hope I can fix it before it's too late.
There are a lot of very effective things I've incorporated into my lessons, but what works for one class may not necessarily work for another, even if they are back-to-back classes of the same grade. I can plan an excellent, fun and engaging lesson, but if I walk into the class and the students are just not up for participating that day then I'm sunk. Giving the ol' teacher lecture on "respect" and "using your time wisely" is extremely ineffective when the students cannot understand what I'm saying. It's a rollercoaster.
Not all classes are difficult and within that, not all students are difficult either. The high performing students will usually be attentive and participate, but because the noise level of the class is too high nothing can get done and I find myself attempting to manage the 6 students who disrupt the whole class.
I am reminded of my old French teacher Mme. Hall. Mostly, we just wanted to play bingo and slack off while our classroom teacher was away. Granted, we enjoyed Mme. Hall's lessons, but very few of us took them very seriously. My French suffered greatly as a result, but how am I to blame? I was only a kid.
This is the same for my students now. They are 7, 8, 9, 10 years old and my impatience is only that and I cannot let it turn into anger that affects my teaching. They are only kids, and they mean well. Of course they have a low attention span. Of course they use the fun English lessons to have fun. Of course they will see what they can get away with for the foreign teacher who they know will not lay a hand on them, can't meaningfully discipline them and is only there for 35 minutes one day a week.
I am reminded of my old French teacher Mme. Hall. Mostly, we just wanted to play bingo and slack off while our classroom teacher was away. Granted, we enjoyed Mme. Hall's lessons, but very few of us took them very seriously. My French suffered greatly as a result, but how am I to blame? I was only a kid.
This is the same for my students now. They are 7, 8, 9, 10 years old and my impatience is only that and I cannot let it turn into anger that affects my teaching. They are only kids, and they mean well. Of course they have a low attention span. Of course they use the fun English lessons to have fun. Of course they will see what they can get away with for the foreign teacher who they know will not lay a hand on them, can't meaningfully discipline them and is only there for 35 minutes one day a week.
I maintain my professionalism and my belief in myself that I am a good teacher and am only facing a sour patch in my time in Shanghai as an ESL teacher. A rough couple of weeks does not a bad teacher make. I know my students like me, and they are eager to hear what I am trying to teach them, but it would be nice if they were able to verbalize those thoughts once in a while.
Next year, I have accepted a one-year contract for teaching position in Beijing, China. The school is a Nova Scotia International Program that teaches Nova Scotia curriculum, which is conveniently where I'm certified to teach. I will be teaching Grade 12 English, Grade 12 Social Studies and am also afforded the opportunity to have control of curriculum development, guidance and university placement in North America. There is also the chance that one of my social studies classes be swapped out with Phys. Ed. (which would be incredible).
I get to have control over my own course and curriculum and can deliver the material how I want to do it. It's going to be vastly different from my experiences teaching in Canada but I look forward to the challenge. It's a new program, which means that there will be a lot of experience gained in helping establish and build the school's program for future years. I've been told that everything will will be documented and checked with a fine tooth comb. No doubt this will be positive for my development as an educator, and to have this occur in my first year of teaching will be extremely beneficial to establish good habits early in my career.
1.
OTHER STRAY OBSERVATIONS ABOUT TEACHING IN CHINA:
Next year, I have accepted a one-year contract for teaching position in Beijing, China. The school is a Nova Scotia International Program that teaches Nova Scotia curriculum, which is conveniently where I'm certified to teach. I will be teaching Grade 12 English, Grade 12 Social Studies and am also afforded the opportunity to have control of curriculum development, guidance and university placement in North America. There is also the chance that one of my social studies classes be swapped out with Phys. Ed. (which would be incredible).
I get to have control over my own course and curriculum and can deliver the material how I want to do it. It's going to be vastly different from my experiences teaching in Canada but I look forward to the challenge. It's a new program, which means that there will be a lot of experience gained in helping establish and build the school's program for future years. I've been told that everything will will be documented and checked with a fine tooth comb. No doubt this will be positive for my development as an educator, and to have this occur in my first year of teaching will be extremely beneficial to establish good habits early in my career.
1.
OTHER STRAY OBSERVATIONS ABOUT TEACHING IN CHINA:
- Chinese students usually call their teacher "Teacher".
- No surprise, the ability of the students is directly proportional to the quality of their Chinese English teacher. The better the teacher's English, the better the students'. The more active they are, the better the students are.
- Every school is gated and has dedicated security guards.
- Every school has a kitchen staff that provides lunch to all the students, staff and faculty.
- Parents drop off and pick-up their children every day. Parents are not allowed to enter the premises in the morning or during school hours, but often meet their children right at their classroom door at the end of the day (if there are lessons still going on, they peer in the window to watch).
- Teachers can wear whatever they want. Some dress very professional, others opt for a more casual style. They usually go by their first name.
- Physical education is very, very regimented. Seems to mostly about following directions than health education. Nothing like the free-form physical education taught in Canada. But the teachers and students still seem to have fun and take their work seriously.
- Primary school is grades 1-5, middle school 6-9, high school 10-12.
- Every primary school in China has daily physical activity, the students do a short dance routine in their classrooms in the afternoon, and do eye exercises twice daily.
- There are different musical bells throughout the day, one of them is "Jingle Bells".
- The students take turn weekly performing a short dance or Chinese play to be performed in front of the whole school during the morning flag raising ceremony.
- As my brother-from-another-mother Colin will agree, Chinese kids, without a doubt, are the cutest out of any kid.