So far teaching is going great. Overall, the students are eager to learn, their English skills are good and they pay attention in class. It is fun having the freedom to teach whatever I want and to design the class however I please. Here's a taste of what we have covered so far:
Week 1: Greetings, Introductions, Getting to Know you, Explanation of class etc.
Week 2: How to make "Small Talk" in the U.S. When, where, with who and topics to avoid
Week 3: How would you describe yourself? Personality tests and fortune telling with the Zodiac
Week 4: Active listening as an English speaker - How to say the right things to keep the conversation moving
Week 5: (rough draft) Professions and Careers - Acing an interview at a mock job fair
If you have any ideas for class that would spark conversation, provoke problem-solving and critical thinking and shed some light on popular U.S. culture I am all ears!
However, there are some things that surprise me about teaching at Jiangsu Teachers University of Technology such as:
1. Most of my students are girls because careers like education and interpretation are considered jobs for women. Most men study science, math and engineering.
2. Sometimes the students get up and erase the board for me during a break in the class. The first time I literally watched open-mouthed (never has an OSU student erased the board for me on his own volition) as the student carefully cleared the chalkboard of my English scratchings.
3. The students giggle and laugh hysterically if anything is mentioned about relationships, the opposite sex, dating, marriage or having children. Other teachers here have calculated their emotional maturity to be that of students in high school (and I agree).
4. It is a constant struggle to get students to volunteer in class, ask questions and think for themselves rather than simply side with the group or spit out an answer that they have been trained to repeat instead of critically thinking. Thus, lesson planning often involves new ways to "trick" them into thinking about things in new ways or force some imagination or creativity.
5. The students study and work a lot. Most of them are in class for over 24 hours a week and do loads of homework on top of that. That being said, there is not much to do on campus besides study, play a few sports, eat at the cafeteria and maybe obtain a part-time job.
6. The students all have the same classes together for all four years and are usually roommates to boot. This means that they move as a cohort all the time and know each other very well. Thus, my go-to stack of ice-breakers and get-to-know-you activities are rather pointless.
7. Some students randomly give me gifts. Yesterday I received some moon cake from a student named Edison and today a student gave me some traditional candy from her hometown of Suzhou.
8. Most of my students study an additional foreign language like French, Japanese or German. Since they can already speak Mandarin (the national dialect), the dialect of their own city and English, by the end of their four years many will be proficiently multilingual.
9. In every class there is a class monitor who takes attendance and gives announcements to the class. If I ever assign homework, the class monitor always has it collected in a pile for me before class.
10. The students have all chosen English names which is a huge help considering remembering and pronouncing their Chinese names seems impossible. The funny thing is their names are often very creative, unusual and just plain amusing. Have a look at a few:
Cabbage, Dandelion, Monkey, Simple, Doris, Cookie, Scollop, Miley, Avril, Eunice, Penny, Trina, Fiona, Angelina, Jefferson, Edison, Vivian, Sunny, Season, Daisy, Apple, Moon, Sky, Dolphin, Candy, Sheep, Blue, Rabbit, Lucky Lou, Lanky, Eagle, Twinkle Star (male), Sunjolly, Happy and Rainy
I'm still pushing for my talking on the phone idea. They can practice talking on the phone with a friend (and what do you say when you call to leave a message, or how to ask if someone is there), and then talking on the phone to a company (they have some problem they need to resolve). I'm still thinking of more ideas!!!
One time one of my students plugged in the projector cart and pulled down the screen for me as I was walking into class. I was aghast.
Also, those names are hilarious (esp. Lanky and Twinkle Star). It sounds like the cast of an 80's cartoon show about small animals.