The last two days of observation have been much the same. Wake up early, find something for breakfast and get cleaned up for work. The bus ride across town is proving to be comfortable enough, although when the weather turns dismal, the buses become very, very crowded. Even when packed shoulder to shoulder, another half dozen people try to force their way onto the bus at each stop.
Tuesday, I had the opportunity to sit in on one of Tom's story-teller classes. This course is oriented towards the youngest age group, four to six year olds, and is made up of familiar English nursery rhymes like “Hickory Dickory Dock”, “Three Blind Mice” and “Baa Baa Black Sheep.” The students are encouraged to memorize the stories and are expected to be able to perform them as a group by the end of each class. By the final day of the course, the students will have chosen one of the stories, helped to create props, and perform for their parents, who are invited to attend an open-door session.
Philip's classes are progressing as well. I have just about memorized the names of his students and try to help participate in the classes rather than sit idly observing. Whether I'm helping him operate the whiteboard as he speaks, or helping the kids sound out words for their written work, I feel that participating during the training process will ultimately help me be more successful when it comes my time to take over a class.
Phonics continues to be difficult for most of the students, but there are a few (typically those who complete their homework exercises) who are picking up on the lessons more quickly. As such they both speak and write with more confidence. There are a handful that write very well but are afraid to speak up, and there are one or two highly kinetic children who excel at being distracted and distracting those around them. But sometimes their class-clownery eases the tension that some of the more timid students feel.
Philip's higher-level class is going much more smoothly. The older children are not so easily distracted and are a little less likely to act out during the class period. On Tuesday, Philip, a teacher's assistant, and myself herded the children down the street to visit a nearby pet shop in the hopes they would be able to practice some of their vocabulary. The children enjoyed the opportunity to leave the classroom and were well behaved on their short field-trip. While the pet shop was more a small grooming salon, there were a few opportunities to practice vocab with them. I pointed out small decorative trinkets in the shop (elephants, frogs, Disney characters) and asked them to identify the animals. There were also a few retractable pet leashes with animal print motifs. So I could ask them “What kind of animals has spots, or stripes, etc.)
Yesterday we continued our lesson on animals by discussing zoos playing a few video clips of tours around the San Diego Zoo. Once the kids had the gist of the concept we used the whiteboard to draw a map of a zoo, allowing the kids to pick animals from their list of vocabulary to populate the various “enclosures.” We then reorganized the seats in the room into a facsimile of a tour bus, and while I traced the route the bus would take through the map of the zoo, Philip would ask the kids questions about the various animals we were “observing.” All in all it was an entertaining and very well-rounded lesson.
I stuck around at the school after Philip's classes ended, because the schedule noted that I should be observing Tom later in the afternoon. As it turned out, his demonstration for a prospective parent was canceled and I was allowed to head home. Before I left I was given my log-in information for the school's computer network as well as directed to complete a handful of online training assignments. Thankfully, by the time I actually left the school, the inclement weather that had persisted all afternoon had finally died down and the bus ride home was not as crowded as it might have been otherwise.
Back at the apartment I sat down and started on some of the training sessions until Lee returned from work himself. Not long after he received a call from Peter, (PJ) one of the Irish teachers from Lee's school to join them at a bar a mile or two across town. Many of the various teachers had gathered at "The Beer Nest" for after-school drinks, including Philip, Cameron, Margret, Jenny, Zoey, and Emmet (another Irish chap from Dublin). Everyone toasted Margret and I a happy independence day, and the festivities commenced.
After we had a few beers there, we then decided to pack up and relocate to another bar close by. While the Beer Nest is a small, loud, concrete, first-floor setup, the Haka bar was on the top floor of a nearby shopping center and was much more charming. With cushioned lounge benches, an open air patio, and a small, friendly terrier as a mascot; we spent the remainder of our evening there, talking a bit of politics and toasting our absence from the issues of our native countries. I spent most of the time chatting with Zoey, one of the British girls from Lee's school. She's very friendly, and one of those people who are quick to smile and always a pleasure to be around.
Still slightly jet-lagged at the tail end of my first week in China, and not having the alcohol tolerance of many of the Scottish and Irish teachers, I caught a cab back to the apartments, and settled in for the night.
Tuesday, I had the opportunity to sit in on one of Tom's story-teller classes. This course is oriented towards the youngest age group, four to six year olds, and is made up of familiar English nursery rhymes like “Hickory Dickory Dock”, “Three Blind Mice” and “Baa Baa Black Sheep.” The students are encouraged to memorize the stories and are expected to be able to perform them as a group by the end of each class. By the final day of the course, the students will have chosen one of the stories, helped to create props, and perform for their parents, who are invited to attend an open-door session.
Philip's classes are progressing as well. I have just about memorized the names of his students and try to help participate in the classes rather than sit idly observing. Whether I'm helping him operate the whiteboard as he speaks, or helping the kids sound out words for their written work, I feel that participating during the training process will ultimately help me be more successful when it comes my time to take over a class.
Phonics continues to be difficult for most of the students, but there are a few (typically those who complete their homework exercises) who are picking up on the lessons more quickly. As such they both speak and write with more confidence. There are a handful that write very well but are afraid to speak up, and there are one or two highly kinetic children who excel at being distracted and distracting those around them. But sometimes their class-clownery eases the tension that some of the more timid students feel.
Philip's higher-level class is going much more smoothly. The older children are not so easily distracted and are a little less likely to act out during the class period. On Tuesday, Philip, a teacher's assistant, and myself herded the children down the street to visit a nearby pet shop in the hopes they would be able to practice some of their vocabulary. The children enjoyed the opportunity to leave the classroom and were well behaved on their short field-trip. While the pet shop was more a small grooming salon, there were a few opportunities to practice vocab with them. I pointed out small decorative trinkets in the shop (elephants, frogs, Disney characters) and asked them to identify the animals. There were also a few retractable pet leashes with animal print motifs. So I could ask them “What kind of animals has spots, or stripes, etc.)
Yesterday we continued our lesson on animals by discussing zoos playing a few video clips of tours around the San Diego Zoo. Once the kids had the gist of the concept we used the whiteboard to draw a map of a zoo, allowing the kids to pick animals from their list of vocabulary to populate the various “enclosures.” We then reorganized the seats in the room into a facsimile of a tour bus, and while I traced the route the bus would take through the map of the zoo, Philip would ask the kids questions about the various animals we were “observing.” All in all it was an entertaining and very well-rounded lesson.
I stuck around at the school after Philip's classes ended, because the schedule noted that I should be observing Tom later in the afternoon. As it turned out, his demonstration for a prospective parent was canceled and I was allowed to head home. Before I left I was given my log-in information for the school's computer network as well as directed to complete a handful of online training assignments. Thankfully, by the time I actually left the school, the inclement weather that had persisted all afternoon had finally died down and the bus ride home was not as crowded as it might have been otherwise.
Back at the apartment I sat down and started on some of the training sessions until Lee returned from work himself. Not long after he received a call from Peter, (PJ) one of the Irish teachers from Lee's school to join them at a bar a mile or two across town. Many of the various teachers had gathered at "The Beer Nest" for after-school drinks, including Philip, Cameron, Margret, Jenny, Zoey, and Emmet (another Irish chap from Dublin). Everyone toasted Margret and I a happy independence day, and the festivities commenced.
After we had a few beers there, we then decided to pack up and relocate to another bar close by. While the Beer Nest is a small, loud, concrete, first-floor setup, the Haka bar was on the top floor of a nearby shopping center and was much more charming. With cushioned lounge benches, an open air patio, and a small, friendly terrier as a mascot; we spent the remainder of our evening there, talking a bit of politics and toasting our absence from the issues of our native countries. I spent most of the time chatting with Zoey, one of the British girls from Lee's school. She's very friendly, and one of those people who are quick to smile and always a pleasure to be around.
Still slightly jet-lagged at the tail end of my first week in China, and not having the alcohol tolerance of many of the Scottish and Irish teachers, I caught a cab back to the apartments, and settled in for the night.