Eating Korean food in China sat on the floor not having a clue what we had ordered.
The little guy behind was cute though.
We had no idea what to order having neither yet perfected our Korean or Chinese. We had BBQ but to be honest, the meat we ordered was far too fatty and gristly. (Sirloin steak? No way!)
I caught a cold last night. To be honest it would have been a perfect opportunity for me to try out the freezing cold,wet sock hydro-therapy treatment again but I was just too knackered and today I have been really snotty and really deaf and dizzy.
This, along with having been given the wrong timings on our programme, were just two reasons why yesterday's showcase lesson was the toughest of them all. We were taxied off to a model school with over 2000 senior high students, that's age 16-19. The astro turf centre piece was surrounded by the students' high rise dormitories. Studying for the Gao Kao ( university entrance exam) is taken SOOO seriously, especially in Jiangsu province. In this show case school it was even more apparent. tthe building had just been re built out in the suburbs to free up the city from congestion and to give the kids a bit of fresh air. if this were the west, this school would have been private. Students work hard to pass the entrance exam and parents pay more to pay for their weekly boarding. China says it has state funded schooling only. BULLSHIT. This system actively rewards parents money, dedication and commitment to their children. In Key Schools, parents can pay for a parallel international programme of study which focuses on English tuition and the IELTS so students can apply for university in the west. This gives these students the luxury of not having to study so hard for the uber competitive Gao kao fight over the limited places in Chinese universities.
The lesson we saw today given by my twin named Chinese teacher, Jane! (who I taught in Oxford last year, )was fantastic. She was the first teacher we had seen who was trying to incorporate methods I had shown her into the lesson. She was on it!
Being here it is so apparent that lessons are mostly not engaging, that teaching 50+ students IS manageable,that the majority of Chinese people are seriously myopic and can't read a power point, that teachers need to engage all students more and that every morning between 7 and 8 am all students do a preview reading hour, taking notes on the part of the lessons which will be taught that day. Hence the lessons planned by myself and my colleagues back in Oxford have not been rigorous enough or analytical enough. Everything I have prepared has been 1. Too easy and 2. Not appropriate for their military training approach to English. All I have tried to do is demonstrate to all the teachers watching me how I try to motivate the students, especially the ones at at the back, how I smile, encourage, give praise, make it fun, try to Get the students to SPEAK ,and little techniques which evolve everyone in the class. It has been seriously knackering though and today, with my spinning head and seriously dedicated students and teachers, I felt like a performing monkey. I wasn't on top form and it showed, but hey, move on, I'm not gonna be too hard on myself! Today would have been a killer for even the most DELTA prepared teacher!
Highlights today were watching the 15 minute military style running on the astro turf evolving music, flags and banners and every student running in tight circles. trying to take photos of Carmel as she ran off into the medley to join the students in their running regime was hilarious! We missed the tai chi regime before the running because we were busy getting the equipment ready for the lesson. Shame.
We didn't do our afternoon sessions of teacher training today due to all second year students having to sit Provincial exams all daytoday and tomorrow.. THAT is all day SATURDAY and SUNDAY. Teachers were planning on two days extra work and stress and this weekend is known as mini-Goa kao weekend. Fucking mad.( Sorry for my language Seren if you are reading this)
photos of our last (and toughest) school assignment of the week.
Another large welcoming sign
The clock tower.
Morning break running is about to begin.
Carmel joins in.
Love it!
The accomodation blocks.
The school canteen. looks great!
The school moto.
We never told them that this word is more associated with dodgy hearts in old people.
Anyway we were quickly ferried off to a school taxi and taken to Wuxi train station. My God, everything runs like clockwork here, massive style, spot on organisational skills here! The train, the queuing system, the ease, the speed, meant we were in Central Shanghai in under an hour. The train was up to 252 miles per hour. We met Luuki and Ting,two women who seemed really giggly and air headed , but over dinner it became apparent that they were not. This hotel is good, impersonal but I had a lovely over 6 hour sleep last night. For the first day I feel like the stress has lifted and that my holiday has begun! Just wish the snot would dry up! In a couple of hours I will be off to Shanghai. We are going to take two open decked bus rides. I think I am going to take my ipad outwith me so I can post some photos on here. I just wish it took better quality snaps and also the stress of having it out with me might ruin my day. Let's see!
Wuxi train timetable
carmel on the swish platform.
Everywhere was so clean.
No comments:
Post a Comment