My apologies for the lack of updates this last few weeks, for whatever reason, my ability to access the weebly.com website has been intermittent So quite a bit has transpired since my last update.
On Monday the 14th I, along with a few other teachers including Lee and Nick were required to complete China's Teacher Knowledge Test at a hotel conference room near the Shawan branch of EF. I borrowed a T.K.T. study book from Nick that made it seem that at least part of the test would focus on English grammatical structure. I spent most of my study time reviewing English grammar because let's face it, when a native English speaker is learning the language, they are repeatedly corrected as to grammar structure without the different parts of the structure specifically defined to them. How many native English speakers know of the top of their head what an intransitive verb is, or a modal, or a collocation for that matter? As it turns out there was no focus on English grammar and the test itself only dealt with classroom management and different types of teaching techniques, most of which were common sense. I don't know when I'll get my results back, but I can assume that I did pretty well.
Thursday the 17th, I made a return trip to the Global Center, this time with Rodrigo, who had never been there. In the time since Lee and I visited the building, many more of the storefronts had been completed and there was much more to see. We spent most of the time searching for the Baskin Robbins stand because Rodrigo had coupons. While we searched we came across several interesting sights, and some blatant false advertising... The storefront "Dinosaur Paradise" sounded very promising, and my nerdy, inner 12 year old couldn't resist investigating it, only to find that it was a storefront that sold mattresses and bedding. Eventually we did find the ice cream on the basement level, after searching the upper four floors. Here are a few of the interesting decorations from around the mall, showcasing the "global" nature of the businesses.
On Monday the 14th I, along with a few other teachers including Lee and Nick were required to complete China's Teacher Knowledge Test at a hotel conference room near the Shawan branch of EF. I borrowed a T.K.T. study book from Nick that made it seem that at least part of the test would focus on English grammatical structure. I spent most of my study time reviewing English grammar because let's face it, when a native English speaker is learning the language, they are repeatedly corrected as to grammar structure without the different parts of the structure specifically defined to them. How many native English speakers know of the top of their head what an intransitive verb is, or a modal, or a collocation for that matter? As it turns out there was no focus on English grammar and the test itself only dealt with classroom management and different types of teaching techniques, most of which were common sense. I don't know when I'll get my results back, but I can assume that I did pretty well.
Thursday the 17th, I made a return trip to the Global Center, this time with Rodrigo, who had never been there. In the time since Lee and I visited the building, many more of the storefronts had been completed and there was much more to see. We spent most of the time searching for the Baskin Robbins stand because Rodrigo had coupons. While we searched we came across several interesting sights, and some blatant false advertising... The storefront "Dinosaur Paradise" sounded very promising, and my nerdy, inner 12 year old couldn't resist investigating it, only to find that it was a storefront that sold mattresses and bedding. Eventually we did find the ice cream on the basement level, after searching the upper four floors. Here are a few of the interesting decorations from around the mall, showcasing the "global" nature of the businesses.
On Wednesday the 23rd, the EF schools in Chengdu had Halloween festivities in place of evening classes, with each school hosting different age groups. Yopindao hosted the Small Stars children, so various age-appropriate activities were organized including face painting, dancing, cookie decorating, and a "haunted classroom". In true EF fashion most of the materials for the event were delivered only hours beforehand, and a last-minute dash to get everything else together ensued. Thankfully for the sake of organization, the staff was required arrived early in order to decorate the school and choose our costumes, We spent a few hours hanging yarn spiderwebs and taping up jack-o-lanterns and other creepy set-dressing before being treated to KFC catered from the restaurant downstairs.
I was in charge of the face painting activity. But rather than normal face paints I was given boxes of hard, unyielding makeup "crayons" which were much more difficult to use effectively. The children were divided into groups of seven or eight and guided around the various activities, spending less than ten minutes at each station. In the end, due in equal parts to the lack of time and the quality of the face painting supplies, the extend of the face painting I did consisted of simple shapes; hearts, butterflies, spiders, snakes, jack-o-lanterns, stars, etc. We did have fun though, and the students enjoyed the activities.
As we were winding down from the party and taking down the decorations, we agreed that the best course of action following work was to get some beer and shao kao at the street corner outside the apartments. And as if via some telepathic link, we arrived to find more than half of the teachers had come to the same conclusion.
I was in charge of the face painting activity. But rather than normal face paints I was given boxes of hard, unyielding makeup "crayons" which were much more difficult to use effectively. The children were divided into groups of seven or eight and guided around the various activities, spending less than ten minutes at each station. In the end, due in equal parts to the lack of time and the quality of the face painting supplies, the extend of the face painting I did consisted of simple shapes; hearts, butterflies, spiders, snakes, jack-o-lanterns, stars, etc. We did have fun though, and the students enjoyed the activities.
As we were winding down from the party and taking down the decorations, we agreed that the best course of action following work was to get some beer and shao kao at the street corner outside the apartments. And as if via some telepathic link, we arrived to find more than half of the teachers had come to the same conclusion.
On Monday this last week, I had my first round of parent-teacher meetings for one of my Small Stars classes. I was a little apprehensive at first, but the process itself wasn't very complicated. Basically we take the records for each individual student and fill in columns on an existing Excel document, formatted to include all the necessary information. Attendance, progress, participation, homework completion, and action plans for continued development are scored based on each students activities and the printed forms are then presented to the parents in a face to face meeting during the normal class hour. The Office assistant for the class acts as a translator for the meeting, although some of the parents were able to speak enough English to ask a few questions themselves. On the whole everything worked out well, with the exception of the one meeting that had to be put off to the following week. The student in question for that particular meeting being one of the single most uncooperative children in any of my classes. But in the end there was no drama. As it turns out most of the students, and vicariously their parents, really like me. One of them in particular requested that I teach their child when they graduate to the next level here at EF. So I feel more relaxed for the next round of PTMs tonight.
Outside of work, I invited my teaching assistant, Monica, to join me for some coffee after work at the nearby Starbucks, and we had a pleasant time talking about school and travel. I hope to take her out again soon. I also shared dinner and drinks with Ella last night, catching up after a few weeks without seeing one another.
For whatever reason, I had no trouble accessing my site today. God knows I've tried to several times a week for the last two weeks with no success. Hopefully my updates won't be so few and far between in the future.
Outside of work, I invited my teaching assistant, Monica, to join me for some coffee after work at the nearby Starbucks, and we had a pleasant time talking about school and travel. I hope to take her out again soon. I also shared dinner and drinks with Ella last night, catching up after a few weeks without seeing one another.
For whatever reason, I had no trouble accessing my site today. God knows I've tried to several times a week for the last two weeks with no success. Hopefully my updates won't be so few and far between in the future.