After a weekend of excitement, we had to go back to school and teach. On Mondays I teach at two schools. They are not in Yuli, so I have to take about a 20 minute train ride. Its not to bad. I am used to it already. My first school that I go to is Yung Feng (Pronounced Yung Fong) which is in a town called Fuli. The school is gorgeous. It was amazing coming back there after a week. I teach 3rd through 6th grade. So I do four classes before lunch and also before heading off to my next school. As soon as the 4th grade class came in they latched on to me. I was sitting in a chair in the back of the classroom because the teacher at the school has chosen to take on the bulk of the teaching (It varies from school to school how much involvement is needed) and all of the little boys wanted to sit at my feet instead of at the table. The teacher told them that they needed to get to their seats, but every chance they could they were back there with me again. All of the children that I get a chance to work with are all very nice. I know that I will enjoy this year. After all of the classes were over, it was time for lunch. School lunch over here is very different then it is back in the states. It is required that you bring a bowl and chopsticks to school. This schools lunch routine is particularly interesting. They different grades take turns serving each other. The food is put on the table on this big lazy susan and the kids fill the bowls for the other kids before they come in. It is really cool. They food is really good to. After lunch I headed off for my last two classes of the day at Heueh Tien (pronounced Shway Tien). This school I go to twice a week (Mondays for 5th and 6th grade, and Fridays for 3rd and 4th grade). This school is doing a school wide project. They are all learning the Chinese Yo-yo. Now this is nothing like what our yo-yo's are like in the states. It is this big round almost spool type thing that you propel with a rope and two wooden dowels. It is very hard. Last week the 4th graders were showing me how to do it. Maybe by the time that I come home I will be a pro. The English
speaking and comprehension ability at this school is pretty low. I had two activities planned (one for each class) and after I had tried the first one with the first class I decided to not do the one that I had planned for the next class. This totally threw me for a loop because I had 20 minutes that I had to teach and had nothing planned to do. The Lord put in my mind to do vocabulary word tic-tac-toe. This worked! It took up most of the class time. I was very happy. After classes were over I hung out in the teachers office because the train didn't leave until about an hour or so after that class is over. So my choices are wait at the train station for over an hour, or wait at the school. My choice is the school. Usually I will brain storm activities for the next weeks class. Sometimes, some of the teachers in the school will sit and talk to me to brush up on their English. And also, the principle will ask me how to say different things, or the proper usage of words. All-in-all it was a really fun day. Everything ran very smooth. The Lord is really helping me get through the classes when I just have to make things up on the fly. It is amazing what He will do when we trust in Him. I need to do some lesson planning for my lessons tomorrow that I just got emailed to me. I love you all!
After a weekend of excitement, we had to go back to school and teach. On Mondays I teach at two schools. They are not in Yuli, so I have to take about a 20 minute train ride. Its not to bad. I am used to it already. My first school that I go to is Yung Feng (Pronounced Yung Fong) which is in a town called Fuli. The school is gorgeous. It was amazing coming back there after a week. I teach 3rd through 6th grade. So I do four classes before lunch and also before heading off to my next school. As soon as the 4th grade class came in they latched on to me. I was sitting in a chair in the back of the classroom because the teacher at the school has chosen to take on the bulk of the teaching (It varies from school to school how much involvement is needed) and all of the little boys wanted to sit at my feet instead of at the table. The teacher told them that they needed to get to their seats, but every chance they could they were back there with me again. All of the children that I get a chance to work with are all very nice. I know that I will enjoy this year. After all of the classes were over, it was time for lunch. School lunch over here is very different then it is back in the states. It is required that you bring a bowl and chopsticks to school. This schools lunch routine is particularly interesting. They different grades take turns serving each other. The food is put on the table on this big lazy susan and the kids fill the bowls for the other kids before they come in. It is really cool. They food is really good to. After lunch I headed off for my last two classes of the day at Heueh Tien (pronounced Shway Tien). This school I go to twice a week (Mondays for 5th and 6th grade, and Fridays for 3rd and 4th grade). This school is doing a school wide project. They are all learning the Chinese Yo-yo. Now this is nothing like what our yo-yo's are like in the states. It is this big round almost spool type thing that you propel with a rope and two wooden dowels. It is very hard. Last week the 4th graders were showing me how to do it. Maybe by the time that I come home I will be a pro. The English
speaking and comprehension ability at this school is pretty low. I had two activities planned (one for each class) and after I had tried the first one with the first class I decided to not do the one that I had planned for the next class. This totally threw me for a loop because I had 20 minutes that I had to teach and had nothing planned to do. The Lord put in my mind to do vocabulary word tic-tac-toe. This worked! It took up most of the class time. I was very happy. After classes were over I hung out in the teachers office because the train didn't leave until about an hour or so after that class is over. So my choices are wait at the train station for over an hour, or wait at the school. My choice is the school. Usually I will brain storm activities for the next weeks class. Sometimes, some of the teachers in the school will sit and talk to me to brush up on their English. And also, the principle will ask me how to say different things, or the proper usage of words. All-in-all it was a really fun day. Everything ran very smooth. The Lord is really helping me get through the classes when I just have to make things up on the fly. It is amazing what He will do when we trust in Him. I need to do some lesson planning for my lessons tomorrow that I just got emailed to me. I love you all!
1 comment:
I bet the schools, teachers and kids are very thankful to have a native english speaker helping them learn. I can't imagine what that is all like for you, WOW!The schools look like they are really nice/new. I had assumed that they wouldn't look good. Spain has much more weight to throw around on the world scene but its schools (at least here) aren't so great--building and supply-wise. Emma <3
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