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Meet the Teaching Team
In the middle, Golden Courage founder Dr Lu & his wife Katka flanked by his parents. Yellow T-shirts are "helper bee" staff, and my friend Pam in black/white flowered dress.On July 1st I flew through Vancouver en route to China. Good fortune followed me - joyous Canada Day celebrations filled the airport’s Int’l Transfer lounge with singing, dancing, free flags and pins! Then, on the long flight across the Pacific I passed the time catching up on movies, choosing from a wide selection to view on a personal screen embedded in the headrest of the seat in front of me. Ah! Such luxury!!
Landing at Beijing’s PEK airport, I was met by representatives from Golden Courage International (GCI), an educational foundation for gifted students with limited resources. For the next two weeks, my dear friend Pam & I were to be wined and dined, cared for and accompanied by GCI employees and volunteers. Our “helper bees”, dressed in bright yellow shirts, carried our bags, grabbed our arms crossing streets and even assisted us climbing up and down stairs. We were treated like porcelain!
Prior to our arrival in China, Pam and I knew very little about the program we were embarking upon. We expected to be housed in a dormitory setting on the school campus. Arriving
First Day of Classes
These 15 and 16 year old students were so eager to learn and excited to be taught by a native English speaker! at the school we were pleasantly surprised when we saw our lodgings; a brand new building with individual air-conditioned rooms, each with a private bathroom. The GCI staff had thoughtfully stocked our rooms with cases of drinking water, toothpaste & toothbrush, bar of soap, sandalwood comb, and shampoo (at least I think it was shampoo - the label was entirely in Chinese!). A roll of local toilet paper (no cardboard tube in the middle and a stretchy, spandex-like texture) was esconced in a cutesy covered plastic dispenser. I soon realized that the dispenser was essential for keeping the paper dry, since the shower head was almost directly over the toilet!
Dr. Yun Lu founded GCI about 6 years ago and now lives in Michigan. His Slovakian wife, Katka, was the third volunteer teacher in our “pilot” group. For the next 10 days we each taught three groups of 15 & 16 year old students, about 35 kids per class, who had been chosen for this special summer school program. Every morning the kids would rotate through one-hour lessons with each of the three volunteer teachers from America. Their regular English classes (taught
Teaching a Food Unit
In each classroom, the teacher stands up on a platform behinds a metal podium desk. The kids were always surprised when I hopped down and moved among them! by Chinese teachers with a very basic command of English) rely heavily on reading texts followed by written response exercises. Our challenge was to introduce interactive, communicative activities with a focus on listening and speaking.
Before we arrived we knew nothing about the students’ language level or abilities. While still in Ecuador, I had prepared some basic lessons on the assumption that the students would be beginners. In fact, they had a fairly significant base of English and were eager to activate their latent knowledge. We had feared that the students might be reticent to participate, but they willingly took part in the creative activities we had devised to stimulate meaningful communication. The kids were always, smiling, cheerful and impeccably polite. They threw themselves fully into the sometimes wacky games and lessons we had prepared. Almost without exception, they showed high motivation to take part in this teaching and learning adventure.
We teachers were given Chinese names (mine was “Teacher S. - Sai Lao Zhi - pronounced “sylousher”) and our students all chose English names (like Jack, Hank, Harry, Bob, Laura, Nicole,
Nice to be back in the classroom!
We weren't sure how outgoing and forthcoming the students would be, but they were amazing! So friendly and warm and welcoming!! Ashley, etc). In the mornings before teaching and during the short breaks between classes we were permitted to use the computers in the teachers’ office. We were able to sign onto the internet, but were limited as to which sites we could navigate. China continues to have a national firewall which blocks Facebook, You-Tube, My Space, Twitter and more.
Our Chinese counterparts, the three English teachers whose classes we took over, were patient and helpful if not overly eager to implement new methodology. The oldest of the three teachers had taken a summer course in Canada and had the most fluent English. We were told that she had been assigned by the government to keep an eye on us. She was our constant companion, following our every move. Her role in our visit made me aware of what an uncommon situation and rare opportunity it was for American teachers to enter into Chinese public education. We were reminded, more than once, not to say too much about anything that could jeopardize the Foundation's foothold in this school. What could I possibly say that would cause problems??
Classroom Buildings
The school, with over 2,000 student looked more like a college campus! Aging structures, but great playing fields! The classroom buildings were square, concrete hotboxes, clearly built duing the Communist era. Even with all windows and doors open, it was a sweltering environment. At regular intervals, the students would splash water on the floors, ostensibly to cool us down. In my view, it just made the tiled halls and floors precariously slippery! During classes the office staff would circulate on a regular basis to top off our cups of hot tea from a thermos. I'm still not convinced that hot drinks help you cool down! Everybody talked about the weather and the excessive heat. We were supposed to have daily excursions in the afternoons, but they were cancelled during the first few days for fear of heat stroke. In a way it was a relief for me -- I had not been sleeping well at all and I was grateful for afternoon naps. Perhaps it was just prolonged jet lag, but it was frustrating to awaken each night and lie there for 4 or 5 hours trying to fall back asleep. I had never suffered from insomnia like this before and my exhaustion seemed to mount day after day. Why did it take so
Learning the Tones in Mandarin
All good teachers know how important it is to also be a learner. After just a few lessons, I was speaking fluent Chinese (NOT!) long to readjust my brain clock?
In spite of my zombie-like sleep-deprived state, I managed to take a couple of Chinese lessons in the afternoons. No, I didn't learn much Chinese language, and my brain was not up to the task of retaining more than a few dozen words, but it was an interesting exercise. I have always loved being language learner while I'm teaching so I can put myself in my students' shoes and empathize with their challenges! I learned about the four tones and the potential pitfalls of a tonal language - you could be trying to say "I love my dog" but with the wrong tonality it could come out as "that hooker ate poop"!
I also learned how to tell about my family (I always travel with family photos). I was surprised that there's a different word for older brother (go-go), and younger brother (di-di), that paternal grandparents had different names than maternal ones, that a first born son or daughter uses a distinct term from any offspring that might follow. Actually, since the 1980 the "one child" law
Interactive Activities
The kids loved the lessons that got them up and out of their seats. Breaking out of the traditional classroom setting was novel and fun! limits urban Han Chinese (who represent 92% of China's population) to only one son or daughter. As this first generation of "only" children marries and has their single child it becomes patently obvious that the intrinsic fabric of the Chinese extended family is falling apart. There are no more cousins or aunties or uncles, although increasingly neighbors and family friends are referred to as such.
One day the classrooms were not available for our use since the school was hosting a huge standardized exam session. SO, we took the kids to the park for classes. We started off early to beat the heat, looked for shady areas and moved slightly as the sun shifted the shadows. We were interrupted by lawnmovers (which were politely shut off once they realized we were having lessons), surprised by sprinklers, and joined by mothers and grandmothers with small children who were amused and fascinated by these large white Westerners (very few foreigners visit Yanqing) singing, dancing and making fools of themselves. Pam taught the body parts and somehow "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" managed to include the word "ass" (?!) I led the Hokey Pokey (Is that
Working in Groups
Here the students are interviewing each other to find out what they all like (and don't like) to eat at meals. Then, they reported their findings to the whole class. really what it's all about?) and taught "If You're Happy and You Know It Clap Your Hands". All in all, a good time was had by everyone! I've always maintained that teachers are just frustrated actors, and if you're easily embarrassed, teaching is NOT the profession for you!!
Alas, with just ten days of lessons there was not really enough time to get to know very many of the kids on an individual basis but more than a few of them found their way into my heart. One sweet boy came up to me on the last day of class and said, "You are so kind - I will never forget you!" We had to prepare a final presentation...it's all about the ceremony and group photos! How about coordinating 60 kids getting on and off stage to practice doing "The Preposition Dance" in unison. Or maybe 100 students singing a Chinese song, complete with sign language. There was a power point presentation that needed editing (LOTS of editing!) and a few students presented martial arts and dance. All in all, both the school and the foundation were very pleased with the results
Conversation Practice
One of my favorite activities, Butterflies and Wallflowers, encourages students to have meaningful dialogues with one another. of our summer language program.
As you can tell, I was glad to be back in the classroom again after 5 years of "semi-retirement" from teaching. Sorry you had to put up with lots of pictures of me in this entry (they were taken by staff and others). In the up and coming blogs about China there will be less text - mostly captioned photos, separated into themes and topics (food, transportation, quirky customs, bizarre signs with humorous English errors, etc. Stay tuned for a wild ride! Thanks for following my adventures!!
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Greg
non-member comment
ooh, china!
Hey Jill, I didn't realize you were headed to China! How long will you be there? Are you going back to Ecuador? It's cool seeing your teaching in action in China :)