The First Term

I can say I've now taught a full semester of classes as a university teacher. Here's how it went down:

All of the students in my classes had, supposedly, taken years of English before. That's kind of the point, since I can obviously only communicate with them in English. It didn't take long to notice that there was a wide difference in my students English ability. I think some of them did know the language better than it seemed, but they were so shy in class that it was near impossible to tell. I don't really think Chinese students are used to a lot of open discussion and talking in class, so the idea of having to speak English in front of their classmates made them clam up a bit. Sometimes it was frustrating, but I would push them to at least say something.

That's kind of what my whole teaching strategy was, especially with students that have such differing grasps of the language. I know I'm not really a teacher, and my school knows that too. I didn't focus too much on grammar or language construction, especially since I have no real way of knowing how much they already know (especially when they don't use what they know). I figured the best way that I could be of service to my students was to prompt them to practice their English, allowing me to help them with things like pronunciation. That's not to say I didn't introduce new things to them.

A few weeks in my classes took a standard shape. Class would start with a discussion question, such as "What is your favorite movie? What is it about?" or "What do you usually eat for meals?" I would give the students time to come up with answers, and then I would always ask for volunteers. For the most part, no one would ever volunteer. (This did start changing slightly towards the end of the term, a sign that they were more comfortable speaking to me and in front of the class). So instead I would randomly call on students. This worked well as a warm-up.

Sometimes I would do other language activities. For example, we frequently did tongue twisters, which helped them practice pronunciation. Some of them were especially difficult for them, like "Throw the thick stick." The "th" sound is very foreign to them. On these difficult twisters I would sometimes go around to each student individually and have them say it for me. This way I could give them more attention and help them better their pronunciation.

I also taught them some American slang, which they seemed to really enjoyed. I couldn't help but notice that after I taught them that they could say a good thing was "cool" they liked to use it a lot, at least to me.

The meat of most of my classes was using a Powerpoint to introduce some new vocabulary and topics while also teaching a bit about American culture. I did presentations on everything from holidays and food to music and American college life.

I taught five classes each week. I am technically a teacher in the business school, so all of my students were business majors. Four were Oral English classes, but one was Management English. Apparently I was supposed to teach this class management topics in English. For one, I've never taken a management class and no pretty much nothing about the subject. The text books they gave me to look at were kind of terrible, and the few times that I tried using their information in class the students barely understood what I was teaching. I ended up teaching similar things as my Oral English class, but tried to put more of a business bent on it. I was able to teach them about things like writing resumes, job interviews and sending proper business emails, all in English.

I also did a few unique activities with my classes. We took two weeks to watch "Forrest Gump," a film some of them had seen before but all seemed to enjoy. I bought a DVD of it in China, so I was able to put on Chinese subtitles for the students. Perhaps the best activity I did was have the students create commercials that they would perform in front of the class. I brought in items that they could use like Advil, toothpaste, air freshener and dish soap. All my classes loved the idea. They really came alive during the activity, and some of them created genuinely funny and interesting commercials.

At the end of the semester I of course had to assign grades. For my Oral English classes, it was pretty easy. I told them that 80% of their grade would be based on attendance and participation, which pretty much guaranteed everyone a good grade. For a final, I did brief individual talks with each students, where I prompted a conversation using similar questions as my warm-up activity. This meant most students got some grade in the 90s.

My Management Class was different. I was required to give them a final exam that would serve as their entire grade for the semester. Thankfully my teacher contact in the business school sent me an example of exams past foreign teachers had used for the class, so I had an idea of what they were looking for. I wrote a 40-question test with multiple choice and true/false questions. I thought it was fairly easy, and the week before the exam I did a thorough review process.

Grading the tests gave me a new perspective as a teacher. As I was grading I was basically rooting for each student to do well. Most got 90s, a few got 80s, and there were two 70s. I definitely felt a bit disappointed for the two students that got the low scores. But on the flip side, one of my favorite students who frequently talks to me outside of class had expressed his strong desire to get a perfect score. When I ended up grading his test, I was somewhat anxious to see how he would do. So I was excited that he did get a perfect score on the exam, only one of my two students who did.

I currently am not sure what my teaching schedule will look like next semester. My contact in the business school said that, for them, I am only scheduled to teach two Oral English classes, and that I would only teach for the first 9 weeks, or the first half of the semester. That would be quite a difference, but I think there's a good chance more classes from other schools could be added to my schedule.

But before that is my trip during the Chinese New Year holiday. On Wednesday I will leave with some other teachers for Hong Kong. Our plan from there is to head to (maybe) Macau, then Guangzhou. From there we will travel through Vietnam, spending time in Hanoi, Hue, Nha Trang (beaches!), and Saigon. Then we fly to Malaysia, where we will see Kuala Lumpur, Melaka, and Penang. Finally we'll fly back to Shijiazhuang. It'll be a long and likely tiring trip, but it should also be a ton of fun.

I'll be sure to take a lot of pictures during the trip, and I'm sure I'll have some stories, so you can look for another post sometime in late February or March.

I'm Still Here

HEY

So it's been a few months, but I promise I have not forgotten this blog. Or, at the very least I've just now remembered it. I'm currently done teaching my first term at Hebei Normal University. I now have a bunch of free time before I spend weeks traveling to Hong Kong, Macau and Guangzhou (China), Hanoi, Hue, Ngan Trang and Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam), and Kuala Lumpur, Melaka and Penang (Malaysia). ...I'm already tired just writing that.

SO, before I leave I have tasked myself with writing a substantial blog post that will cover the past few months. But right now I intend to update my Flickr with new photos. So I encourage you to check that out.

Be back soon...