Stephanie on Being a First Time English Teacher

Simon says ...

Well, you’ll have to forgive me if this teacher-fact post lacks the usual flowagocity and flourishes, not to mention pics of vast countryside, lion dancers, and neon-lit caves. Cody and I now find ourselves back in the daily routine here in Chengdu, but the daily routine is still packed with surprises and revelations. These are just a little harder to pick out, now that things like being alert to stay alive when street-crossing, and finding and enjoying various animal “trotters” (feet) in our lunches, just compose another day in the life.

The campus where I teach, in the city of Wenjiang, is an hour commute from the main campus in Chengdu where we live, so my day begins at 6:20am when I board the shuttle bus provided by the school. This ride is the only time I see Chengdu deserted. The only other people awake and milling are the taxi-drivers preparing for the day, who compose massive lines at fill stations, cluster their cars at street corners, and cluster themselves around garbage-can-fires. Most teachers sleep on the dark, warm bus ride, and once at school, we all file into the cafeteria for our breakfast of mantou, baozi, something pickled, a hard boiled egg, and alternating soy milk and cows milk (oh how I live for those cows milk days …)

I teach oral English to over 800 13/14yr olds. These students are divided into 14 classes of 60 kids, which I teach Tuesday - Friday. Before this position, I had never taught a day in my life. Here are some details:

Teaching Challenges:

• The range of skill level of the students is vast. In each class there is a handful of students who understand everything I say and find the material easy, alongside students who don’t understand a word. This makes activities (especially some games) a challenge, because it takes half the class period to make sure everyone understands what’s going on.
  
  
• There are 60 kids and one teacher (me) in each class!
  
  
• Oral language training absolutely requires one thing, speaking. There are a few barriers to this. My Chinese students are shy and are used to a different teaching style, one that requires attentive listening, memorization, and regurgitation. The students at my school are preparing for one thing, to pass their standardized exams which are based on
  
  Preparing to Climb
  
  their text books. Some of my students memorize and recite entire paragraphs of text from their English books, but cannot successfully complete a “hello, how are you?” verbal exchange. A fellow Chinese English teacher told me that the exams are designed in such a way that a native English speaker couldn’t pass them if she/he hadn’t memorized the specific examples from the text (“Jody Franklin is a business woman from San Francisco. Her favorite food is shrimp …” etc.) The emphasis on creativity and actual communication in the real world is lacking.
  
  
• It is really hard to measure progress. I see each class only once a week, and by the last class on Wednesday, I have no idea what happened in my first class on Tuesday, much less which students need extra help.
  
  
• Sometimes I feel like a big hypocrite. I feel terrible getting frustrated with students or classes, when all of these students are much more advanced in their knowledge of English than I am in my knowledge of Chinese. Who am I to tell them they need to know the sentences in my lesson, when I live in China and don’t know the same
  
  The Women Who Made it all Possible
  Pretty sure you can tell who "group leader/inspirationalist" is.
  sentence in Chinese?
  

Teaching Victories (or at least semi-victories):

• In lessons, I have started spending more time encouraging the kids to participate. These lessons aren’t necessarily information packed, but they at least get the kids making some noise and raising their hands. I have three rules in my class: 1. Don’t be shy! 2. Make mistakes! - to combat the fact that really bright students are often reluctant to speak out loud for fear of getting a word wrong, and finally, 3. Don’t be cool! - to combat the inevitable “too coolness” that comes with being 13. I set a really good example of non-coolness, for I am as geeky as they come :)
  
  
• On Tuesday nights, I now hold an extra discussion for students who truly want more English conversation practice. In this class we discuss topics like poetry and music. This has definitely helped me get to know more students, and the students who attend have some wonderful and creative ideas (though because there are so many kids interested in attending, the same topic is repeated 5 times/Tuesdays before I get returning students). My first topic is "Where the Sidewalk Ends" by
  
  Me and Star!
  She shares my love for candles, calmness, and embarassing questions.
  Shel Silverstein, and is going really well. This class requires me to spend Tuesday nights in my dorm room in Wenjiang, so I am exploring more of Wenjiang as a result.
  
  
• I have started jotting down notes after my classes (good kids, naughty kids, what went well, etc.) to help me prepare more for each class.
  
  
• Slowly, but very slowly, but surely, or somewhat surely, I am learning Chinese. Sentence by sentence, phrase by phrase, character by character ... to involve some of the kids who do not understand my classes, I have them teach me the Chinese version of the sentences we are learning.
  

The education environment at my school is definitely different from the states. Students are in classes from 7:30am-9:30pm and they stay at school all week, sleeping in dormitories Mon-Fri. A Chinese friend I met over spring festival described her high school years as "hell on earth". They have SO much homework, and they work extremely hard. I now strive to make my class one place where they dont have to think about homework and exams. If I can't improve their English fluency, I can at least provide a little mental solace and some fun.

For any fellow ESL teachers out there, here are some websites that have helped me with lesson planning
www.iteslj.org
www.eslflow.com
Dave's ESL Cafe
Also, 'Simon/Stephanie Says' is a godsend, and is great for teaching body parts and commands.

So the adventure continues -- Cody and I have both been trying to dig out a little niche here in the city. He began practicing with the Chengdu rugby team, and I met with one of the creators of Chengdu's first secondhand market, which I will be volunteering at on March 22. (secondhand stores are not nearly as popular here, and this market is a great way to cut down on waste, and provide some great deals, plus all profits will be used to create more community cultural events and all goods not sold will be donated to impoverished communities surrounding Chengdu)

I spent this weekend, exploring some shopping districts in Chengdu (my travel jeans are just about threadbare) and today (Sunday) I went hiking on the Taoist mountain Qing Cheng (about 1.5 hrs outside of Chengdu) with my friend/co-worker Star and some friends (see photos). None of these things included Cody because he is currently on his way back from his first rugby tournament in Beijing!! But I'll let him tell you more about that ... Lots of love to all. Thanks for reading.

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