Teachers

Whenever I meet other teachers at my school the subject of teaching always comes up. After the usual questions I get asked 50 million times, they ask if I like teaching. Yes, I do (even if sometimes I don't). I ask them the same question, and I have yet to get a yes answer. Every teacher at my school always says they don't like teaching. Which again, begs the question, then why are you teaching?!

Which, is exactly what I'm contemplating at the moment.

Studying Chinese has really changed the way I teach

Before studying Chinese my prep work before classes was pretty poor. I was the kind of teacher who winged it most of the time. These days, I am planning a lot more and trying to use more visual aids. I've also insisted on using the microphone so everyone can hear me clearly, and power point so students can read what I say. I think it's definitely helped the students focus more.

The other cool thing is, I've gained a lot more respect now that students can send me simple messages in Chinese and I can respond to them. I still have a lot of trouble with speaking and listening but reading is getting better. Just think, 2 months ago I could not understand a simple text message in Chinese. I have learned a lot in a short period of time, but I have a long way to go.

I have been slacking with my studies more than I should be, listening to English music a little too much, watching a DVD here and there in English. But, I try to stay on track by reminding myself it's just a waste of time. I already speak English, so what's the point?

Learning a foreign language in a classroom doesn't work

I told my students our second class that learning a foreign language in a classroom doesn't work very well. They didn't believe me. It's a good thing for my bank account, but a bad thing for them. It should be obvious after 5 or 6 years of study and they can't even put together a simple sentence. Instead, they blame their teachers or themselves for not being good enough. How sad. They don't even realize it's the fact they are trying to learn English in the classroom that is the problem. Then I proceeded to tell them how to teach themselves. I had to simplify it a lot since their English is at such a low level. Hopefully, they will try some of the things I suggested, primarily listening and reading 24/7, non-stop, ALL DAY LONG with a good dictionary in hand.

I'm not here to teach.

I came here to teach, but I have lost interest in teaching. It's not very satisfying anymore. My sole purpose for being here is to learn Chinese. Of course I'm not going to tell people that, but it's true. Teaching these students is pointless, and quite frankly boring. They don't want to learn English, just like I don't want to learn Korean. So, why does the school force them to come to class? I have to take attendance every day and the kids get punished if they don't show up, how stupid is that? Just let them learn the hard way what happens when you are uneducated.