TEACHING
Extracts from various letters and emails.
I have 16 lessons a week none of them are the same class. The students are so lovely (mostly!). I especially liked my class today - Junior 1 the youngest of the school and willing to listen and learn.
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Junior I class. Mask making for Halloween, courtesy of Mum's Spooky Things book. Hope there's no copyright problems cause we photocopied about 700 of them!! They all just looked so cute colouring and cutting away at their masks. |
The ages of the different classes are so mixed its hard to work out but so far we think that Junior 1 is about 13-14, Junior 2 is approx14-15, Senior 1 may be 15-17 and Senior 2 17-18, but have yet to mark their work. Also there is Junior 3 and Senior 3 that we don't teach and that mess up the age ranges. Basically there are 6 years with mixed ages and ability all really interested in anything foreign.
There are huge ability differences in each of the classes and in some cases ages too. In one senior class there were students from 15 to 18 in the same class. The average size of my classes is 55 and this makes it quite difficult to do 'oral English' as I am meant to. If I want to hear everyone it takes a long time and means that everyone starts talking.
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| Me and my Senior I Class 9 plus Rob [from HK] at the back. |
Thank your lucky stars you don't study in China. They begin at 7.30 am, have 3 hours for lunch, finish at 5.30, then have to be back for 7.30 when they have evening school (or homework time) til 9.30-10 pm or later. I still can't get over how much time thy spend studying - even holidays are reduced when you get to Senior 3 and have exams to pass! Not quite your average British attitude to college - eh?
Tuesday was a nightmareishly long day with 5 lessons and nutty students. However in my last class I was promoted to famous celebrity as all the students wanted me to sign their books. I also now get a warm welcome from my vast array of pupils as I march across the playground trying to be on time to class. I am an official teacher and everyone says, "Hello Miss Lucy" when I walk past.
I've devised a lesson to use the postcards we're getting - descriptions and make up a story by looking at what is happening in the pic. We get some really good and imaginative things out of it.
I think that future lessons will include: the British school system, English/Italian food and how to eat it - knives and forks and plates! - also London, the weather and other things. Christmas will be really exploited throughout December.
This week did a directions lesson with the Juniors which leads on from what they are doing in their book so they know most of the vocab already. I am just consolidating it in a more fun way - get up and walk around the classroom to someone directing you. With the b----- of Junior 2, I did the shopping lesson that I had originally planned for the Junior 1 but they had found it all too difficult. (I'd spent ages planning it too.) It went much better with the J2 as they knew most of the vocab and so got something out of it. Also as it involved some acting and looking at flash cards they seemed to be slightly more interested and remained at least slightly attentive which is more than can be said for them normally.
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| Junior I masks-for-Halloween making class. Note large PLEASE on board! My attempt to stop them shouting "Give me! Give me!" at me whilst handing them out. The Junior I classrooms are much neater with less pupils than the others because they are new. |
With the Seniors I am doing about me, you and Kingston and England in general. This involves putting the map of Britain up and pointing out London then telling them about home and showing them some photos which they absolutely love - and it keeps them entertained for a while. Then I get them into groups of 4 to do a role play - 2 English teachers and 2 Chinese students having a conversation and wanting to know about England. This shows their current knowledge of the country and if they get things wrong I can explain how they are different. Seems to work quite well but we will see how I feel by the end of the week - normally the point at which I am bored stiff of it all and never want to see another photo/sheet etc.
I am now taking a more relaxed view of the teaching which means that if things don't go 100%, I don't get so upset and the students enjoy the lessons more.
Everyone very interested in Italian connections and one class asked me if I could teach them something about Italy and some will see how things progress!!! One girl in another class is already mad on Italian and trying to learn it so comes to me for help with pronunciation. Oh yeah and for a while now I have been giving a boy called Serious short French lessons every Friday lunch time. He is a total languages freak and is also in the process of learning Japanese because he has a Japanese friend via the internet!!! Anyway he has a book with some conversations in them and we just go through them with me translating and helping with his accent.
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Junior I - more intensive mask-making activities. |
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Me and some of my Senior I Class 8 students who came to do some Trick 'n Treating with the masks we made in a previous lesson. |
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Junior I - the final products. Look at all those lovely masks! |
We had a great Halloween. After teaching all the kids to apple bob in the lessons and play pin-the-arm-on-the-skeleton, we went out and scared them all whilst they were at evening school. We had our flat all decorated up with blue lighting and spiders hanging from the ceiling so a great effect to introduce trick or treating to all our students - those that called got some sweets and an explanation. Then when they all had to go off to study, Alex and I got out the black make-up and clothes and did our best to be wicked witches. We had also made some great pumpkins. So when everyone stopped studying for a break in their evening school, we were outside waiting with pumpkins and loud screams. It was great fun and we got a huge crowd of followers. Then we decided that the upper floors were missing out so we headed up and appeared suddenly at windows with a loud scream causing hundreds of kids to jump out of their skins!!! At the end of school we wished them all a Happy Halloween and gave out some sweets. Overall a good effort I think!
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| Alex and I decide it's time to scare some poor innocent children. Break in evening school. |
This week we have been making Christmas cards in lessons - you know anything to avoid having to plan a real one - so have consequently been inundated with cards from all our students. They are all so sweet. We are planning to have a big Christmas party for all our senior students next weekend - i know its early but we are going to meet up with all the other china girls in another city for the actual day so can't do it then. Anyway planning scottish dancing and karaoke Christmas carols to keep everyone entertained. Should be a good laugh.