Teaching in Xiaolan is great stepping stone into China. Teachers have come to Xiaolan with varying levels of experience and some have disagreed with the methods of teaching. The best thing to do is to adapt to the situation and work with Chinese colleagues. The classes should be interesting, fun, relevant to the students if possible and to keep to the school curriculum. Its OK to ask for help or advice because we all need to be reassured or to express our problems and to find solutions.
The main thing is to be yourself and enjoy it, you will find that the children will too. Make sure to plays games at the end of class and allow for questions, this will help to understand the class and to find out what they want to learn. The first few months are difficult as teachers have to create many lesson plans and materials but after a while you can recycle the lessons and only need to write a few new lessons. Always have an extra lesson plan prepared as sometimes the students may not like the lesson or it has already been covered.
We should all try to maintain a good relationship with our designated school, try to be available for them and be flexible with class schedules as they can change very quickly and we normally are informed at the last moment.
I hope you all have a happy summer camp and see you when I get back.
Taz |
