Today was day 1 of teacher training. I am so grateful for this training. Already I'm feeling so much more prepared to face a class of 70 Chinese middle school students in a few short weeks. The training class is structured to be very applicable for us as English teachers in a Chinese setting. We will be covering topics relating to teaching methods and activities, lesson planning, and classroom management. The course will be followed by teaching practice in real Chinese classrooms. This practice time will be for us to work out any kinks and feel out our personal teaching style before settling into our year long posts. At first I was really nervous about teaching; I'm now becoming really excited to begin.
After training, another volunteer and I went for a run at a nearby track. We went in the classic post-dinner work out time so there were actually hundreds of Chinese people, of all ages, walking around the track, dancing in the middle of track, singing, jamming, ping ponging, flying kites... what a social scene. I felt a bit precarious running around the track in my very obvious work out clothes (most people were walking in slacks and jeans), but I gave up trying to blend in a long time ago. We started running and immediately 2 little girls joined us and ran along side us. At one point I had 4 girls running with me, ages ranged from 8 to 17. It was one of the most delightful runs I have ever had; can't wait to go back and see my new friends. Perhaps next time I'll work up my nerve to join the dancing circle.
After training, another volunteer and I went for a run at a nearby track. We went in the classic post-dinner work out time so there were actually hundreds of Chinese people, of all ages, walking around the track, dancing in the middle of track, singing, jamming, ping ponging, flying kites... what a social scene. I felt a bit precarious running around the track in my very obvious work out clothes (most people were walking in slacks and jeans), but I gave up trying to blend in a long time ago. We started running and immediately 2 little girls joined us and ran along side us. At one point I had 4 girls running with me, ages ranged from 8 to 17. It was one of the most delightful runs I have ever had; can't wait to go back and see my new friends. Perhaps next time I'll work up my nerve to join the dancing circle.
You should definitely join the dancing circle, and I think you should try to bring Gangnam Style to rural China since it's taking over the rest of the world anyway. For reference,
ReplyDeletewww.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0#t=1m02s
Best of luck with that class size of 70... it's like having all of IES at once. O_O