Reasons to teach

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1. You learn to get excited about the small things that are big things.

I don't know why but my way of playing with one of the more serious boys is to wink at him. He is a great student amazing English but he is seven going on thirty. He is rock just answers the questions and moves on. So I started winking at this kid. Today I was standing in line at the grocery store and in walks Victor with his mom. I smile at him and wave as he passes he winks at me at smiles and me! It made me so happy. I want them to learn English so I am strict and we do repetition and chants and SPELLING but I want them to like English. So the more they think I am funny and silly the better. They are little and sometimes what I do that I think is normal they find hilarious. One of the students dropped his pencil box on the floor and I said Uh Oh. And every one erupted into laughter. Soon every student was saying Uh Oh over and over and over again.
I am sort of regretting teaching my first graders, what’s this? I am bombarded with, "what's this, what's this "until my ears burn.
But just like any American kid they love competition. Their English becomes ten times better when play games where they get to shoot another student if they mess up and get to continue playing until they mess up.

One thing I don't understand though is when you ask for volunteers to read a dialogue or come to the front of the class and demonstrate what we just learned every hand shoots up. At first I thought great they understand. On the contrary they have no idea what is going on. If I did not know how to read or answer the question the last place I would want to be is the front of the class. Not here they all want to be pulled to the front even if all they do is stare at me blankly.
Also with thirty kids who are so hard to tell apart and keep track of not mention they wear uniforms. I have a very hard time telling who has come to the front and who has not. Even if they have just finished reading they raise their hand and jump up and down to do it again! I have to ask," have you already done it?" Sometimes they lie but the class will yell and then and I catch them.

Last week for some reason all the students kept putting "the" in front of their names. The Trisha The Victor. I kept saying ,"NO NO don't put THE". I was having little success.
Finally when one student kept repeatedly using "the" another student shouted disgustedly, " Mayo the". It was so funny.


I have had Williams’s exercise book for three weeks. I finally found him. Every class I had been asking is there a William who is missing a book. No Chinese name no class no grade just William, always the same answer no. Finally when everyone had their exercise books beside one boy. I asked him where's your book and he said the one word I know in Chinese "buji dou" "I don't know" I said, "what's your name?"" buji dou?" I ask," Is your name William?" he smiles a really big smile and said "shi" "yes". I had found my missing student.

Me: Write your name
Student A: Stares blankly
Student B: teacher how do you spell peanut
Me: What?
Student B: how do you spell peanut
ME: puzzled spells P E A N U T
Student A: writes peanut


Can you guess what I am reading?

Quote of the week
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.

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Photos

Beijing Opera
The second weekend of my continual Saturday outings. We went to the Qianman Hotel and watched Beijing Opera, sort of. It was geared mostly towards foriegners. It mas more kung fu martial arts.

Beijing Opera
The Opera contained subtitles which was helpful even though the translation was often misspelled and confusing.

Beijing Opera
It was interesting to watch what I would consider to be clown costumes and someone similiar to mickey mouse stealing silver.

Beijing Opera
The elaborate costumes with little or no scenery made this kind of performance very different.

Beijing Opera
The music in the opera was not so bad. Maybe because I am used to the screeching, no rythm, of the chinese erhu. There is a man who plays the erhu everymorning in the park. It used to be my alarm clock. Now it is background noise.

Comments

[cheryl buford]

great blog this week!
jane austen of course- pride and predjudice. man, i feel like i am there. good writing trisha. i can't believe what you go through. just subbing in the states was too much for me! keep writing! note: just saw "stranger than fiction" get it, it's great. should be on the black market. normally not a fan of will ferrell but this movie is wonderful. cheryl ( i always suspected chinese opera had screeching)

[Gustavo]

what is this Opera show called
there are different shows every night, what is the title to this one?