day one: broken voice
so day one of my classes went better than expected. at the moment my throat feels like bleeding and my voice sounds like burning, but other than that, no major casualties. in response to todd's inquiry: can i slap the children? yes. in fact, today my teaching assistant (they put a chinese-speaker in with the little kids as a teaching assistant, in case they need to communicate) slapped a couple around. i believe it is rather commonplace at home, and it's not as if they clock the kids; just a light hand to the head.
will i slap the kids? no. there are other methods of manipulating them. really, most of these kids aren't so bright. there are a few exceptions, but as with anywhere else, the majority of them respond to shame, guilt, and similar psychological traps. they don't like being made to look ridiculous in front of their peers, so most of them can be yelled into compliance. if not, teacher sharon will be around. i dont know her methods (i havent seen her yet; she comes back from the states tomorrow. mysterious, eh?), but i assume they are more 'involved' than mine. i think she will also talk to the kids' parents, who i assume have relatively good control of the children, and may actually take a firm hand to the head.
surprisingly, i actually don't mind one of my classes. the last one, Saturn class, is old enough to be remotely reasonable. they can follow short strings of logic, and have outgrown that state at which, when bored, children start doing weird things such as picking their noses and poking their neighbors with their snot. in fact, so far taiwanese kids are cleaner than american kids. they always grab a tissue when they need one; snot rarely hangs from their noses. and in taiwan, you must take you shoes off before going in an apartment, classroom, house, etc. this keeps lots of dirt out of the classroom to begin with.
so anyway, day one is over. im going to go read a book and plan a vacation. chinese new year is in february, and we get an entire week off. im still considering staying here, but i thing it's more likely that i go to the philippines or okinawa. right now i'm leaning toward the philippines because i don't plan to travel there after this teaching gig is done, but i am open to other suggestions, should you have any. so let me know in the comments below.
will i slap the kids? no. there are other methods of manipulating them. really, most of these kids aren't so bright. there are a few exceptions, but as with anywhere else, the majority of them respond to shame, guilt, and similar psychological traps. they don't like being made to look ridiculous in front of their peers, so most of them can be yelled into compliance. if not, teacher sharon will be around. i dont know her methods (i havent seen her yet; she comes back from the states tomorrow. mysterious, eh?), but i assume they are more 'involved' than mine. i think she will also talk to the kids' parents, who i assume have relatively good control of the children, and may actually take a firm hand to the head.
surprisingly, i actually don't mind one of my classes. the last one, Saturn class, is old enough to be remotely reasonable. they can follow short strings of logic, and have outgrown that state at which, when bored, children start doing weird things such as picking their noses and poking their neighbors with their snot. in fact, so far taiwanese kids are cleaner than american kids. they always grab a tissue when they need one; snot rarely hangs from their noses. and in taiwan, you must take you shoes off before going in an apartment, classroom, house, etc. this keeps lots of dirt out of the classroom to begin with.
so anyway, day one is over. im going to go read a book and plan a vacation. chinese new year is in february, and we get an entire week off. im still considering staying here, but i thing it's more likely that i go to the philippines or okinawa. right now i'm leaning toward the philippines because i don't plan to travel there after this teaching gig is done, but i am open to other suggestions, should you have any. so let me know in the comments below.
posted by bethany at 08:04
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