Well.
......
Teaching today did not exactly go according to plan. My enormously huge Business English class took only 20 minutes to introduce themselves. Wow. Twenty minutes for 55 people. That's a record right there. So... we spent the rest of the time (two very very looooooooong hours) reading ridiculously boring dialogues from the ridiculously boring book and playing word games. Getting that class to speak English is like pulling teeth. It was painful, it was long.
However, my secretary class turned out to be great. I figured out that I just needed to ask the kids (who are all my age, by the way) to answer more questions. It took 1 hour and 15 minutes to get through a class of 22. Oh... and I have two girls auditing my class. So, yes, in secretary class we all introduced ourselves, I had them ask me questions, and we talked about some things in the book. Their English is much better than a majority of my Business English kids and they are all girls. Which is so much more pleasant.
I know you're really only reading this to hear the interesting names I have in my classes. So far the best are Piano, Jeans, Happy, Elient, Fairy, and Paper. I also have two Candy's.
Some of my secretary's do not have English names so I told them I would make a list for them to chose from.
I have my nightmare Business English class again tomorrow. Gaaaaaaaaah. I've prepared power point presentations (took me many hours) because, at least for this week, we've got media in our classrooms. Huzzah. Their level of English is, quite honestly, upper beginner for a majority of the class. I just... I'm at a loss. They are not at a level where I can teach them anything really relevant to their book. In fact, the book (the one with 50,000 dozen) is way too advanced for them.
Health exam tomorrow. Hopefully the squirts will all be cleared up. Been fine all evening.
P.S. I did my laundry today. I'm am so over the overly complicated washing machine. You have to plug it into the faucet and the sewer? Honestly?
Full day tomorrow. Bed for now. Love love.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Urgh
Posted by
Jiexi
at
11:57 PM
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6 comments:
So good......
Congratulations on getting through your first day, it sounds as if you did a bang up job and it will get easier I promise. The Business English class was always going to be difficult and it sounds as if you handled it well and you have made 55 new friends who will remember you for the rest of their lives (well their school lives at least); the word games were a good idea.
It sounds as if the Secretary Class balances out the Business English (swings and roundabouts come to mind)and I really like the sound of Fairy - did she get it off a soap packet?
If you need names for the Business English boys you could always fall back on Word, Excel, Mac, WYSIWYG, Vista as just a few suggestions....
Just as a last point your washing machine is not so different from the one that Grandma and I had when we first married. It was a twin tub - washer and (attached but separate) spin drier - so that you could wash and spin dry at the same time). It was filled from the cold tap, emptied into the sink, had a built in heater and was a very quick way of washing your mum's nappies. Don't knock it until you've given it a good go and at least it is going to be cheaper that taking all your stuff to a DIY laundrette. (Do they have those in your town?)
OK hope you are sleeping well and good luck tomorrow, I have sent you an email with a couple of links to getting Vista to work on your notebook and I have sent you a copy of my Vista disks in case you need them.
Love
Grandpa
xxxx
I'm proud of you for surviving the first day. I have no doubt that you'll get into a rythmn soon and figure out what is feasible. My guess is that at some point this week, you'll come home and be asleep at about 4:00pm just from exhaustion. If I find any interesting resources, I'll send them over. Love you lots, Mom
Congrats on your first day of classes! Hopefully things will get easier, though probably not at first.
That Business English sounds about par with a lot of university English classes in China. Their reading and writing might be a lot better than their speaking.
Hahaha, you have some wonderful names in your class! I particularly like Jeans. Very cool. Maybe you should call hear Jean, since that's an actual name? Or not. I always called my co-worker Box.
Is the Secretary Class smaller? I always found smaller classes easier to handle, and that the students talked a lot more in them...
Congrats on surviving.
I recommend using television and film to help your business class understand the English-speaking workplace. Viable options include "The Office" (both British and American versions), "Office Space," "Newsradio," and "Waiting."
-my
My advice is to listen to all those comments listed above. I am not a teacher and dont envy you one bit. You are handling everything very well. Soon those young people will be speaking much better English, thanks to you and you will be very proud of yourself. Keep up the good work
By the way, my first washer was a tub with the motor on top of the lid. You filled the tub, screwed the lid on which had the agitator attached and plugged the thing in. There was an on, off knob. I had to rinse by hand. We lived in a converted barracks with one room, kitchen the size of yours and tiny bath. I charish the memories and you will too.
Lots of love my big angel, Nana
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