Hello from Xingtang County!
Sorry I haven’t posted for a while – we’ve arrived at our final location for the internship, in Xingtang County, but there’s no regular internet access! Anyways… so much to say but not much time to say it! We arrived here on Friday night, after having a very delayed plane flight. It was pouring when we got there, and we literally had to drive through a flood just to get to our hotel! At one point, after we got to the hotel, the wind and rain were so bad that windows and doors were banging and the electricity went out. A bit of a whirwind start for an experience that I was already quite nervous about! Even though I had already had (only a bit!) of experience teaching the migrant workers children, I still had no idea really what to expect with my upcoming class. I would be teaching 4 classes a day, each with 25 English teachers from around Xingtang County. This would be the first time I had to teach on my own, and although the topic of the class was given to me (I’m teaching about Daily Life), I had to come up with the lesson plans. I’m now on day 3 of teaching, and every day has been filled with ups and downs. The first ay I did mostly discussion activities, and I know that the teachers were just as nervous as me! I felt a bit strange, standing up there with little teaching experience and teaching students that are not only older than me, but also have much more experience teaching than I do! Although there’s a lot to say that I know I won’t cover, there are a few things that stand out the most. First, I’m learning howto approach the teaching in a way that will encourage the teachers that most. I’ve found out, even in just these three days, that these teachers are capable of a lot, but if I don’t put in effort into lesson plans and thinking up activities that will support them properly, the experience won’t be the same. I can understand their intimidation in speaking, being a language student myself. I will say that being a language student has been a great advtange in connecting with the teachers. Not only can I help them be less intimidating by throwing some of my bad Chinese (and showing them that I can’t speak well at all!), but I also can recall moments of language intimidation in my own life. I will be honest that there are some moments when I get a little frustrated and think “I know they can do it! Why won’t they just speak!” But, then I have to remind myself that not only have I had the same intimidation as them, but that they also have not had the same opportunity to talk to native English speaker, and that even their English teachers are generally not native English speakers. I have had the opposite experience, where my Chinese teachers have come from China, as well as my Chinese tutor. But, I have to run now, my internet time is up!