The very serious business of teaching English as a foreign language:

Despite what you might think, yes, I do actually teach English here!

The program is curriculum based and much of the preparation is already done for us so we spend our planning time finding ways to make the given materials more fun! For example, I helped Chris with his "S" pronunciation class today with suggestions of "She sells seashells by the seashore" and a game of "Simon Says."

I enjoy "planning time" quite a bit... listening to my iPod and brainstorming.

I have three rules for my students:

1. Only use English.
2. Use complete sentences.
3. Ask helping questions.

So far this works surprisingly well! We always find a way to understand one another without speaking Chinese, even if it does mean writing every synonym for a single word on the board before the connection is made.

I also teach kids. This is where (ironically enough) I will need the most help. I had a class of three on Saturday that were bored out of their brains as we approached the end of the three hour class. It is very hard to cover the entire lesson plan (they way I'm supposed to) and keep them entertained. I train on how to do this more effectively tomorrow.

The most rewarding moment so far was with Julie, age 6. She did not like the fact that she had a new teacher and was not afraid to show it. However, halfway through class she just got up, walked to the board, took one of my markers and wrote the word "HAPPY" with a heart underneath it. Then she returned to her seat with a smile.

THAT'S why I love working with kids!

I was going to take a picture of her note but in my typical "everything-must-be-perfectly-clean-and-in-order" way that I am trying to work on, I accidentally erased it.