Back in the classroom

Some of my good kids

My Chinese students are very curious about their new English teacher and others are just downright excitable. As I walk through the school to either get to class or to the print room you will always hear kids yelling out 'hello!' or 'teacher!' and then start waving madly to get my attention. The others (especially the really young ones - grades 1 and 2) will just stare and giggle.  In class I have to make sure I keep and eye on my bag as some of the kids (girls mainly) like to go through it and check what I have. They also like looking at my iPhone and are amazed that everything is in English.  I definitely have to keep tabs on my Blu-Tak as that is a bit of a novelty here. The first day I used it I remember one of the teachers was really worried that the pictures I stuck to the wall were now permanent. When I showed her how it worked she was impressed and wanted to know how she could get some. I haven't seen anything like it here in my town but I haven't had a chance to check out the city yet. So maybe they have a similar brand in the bigger cities, but if not maybe I could be a distributor for Blu-Tak here in China as a side job hahaha!

These two are hilarious!

Every class has designated students who are regarded as the leaders. Before every class they will take the roll and make sure everyone is present. A couple of times a day the whole school (excluding the teachers) will do these eye exercises. This seems to be common throughout all Chinese schools as I know of other teachers in middle and high schools who also do the same thing in different regions. Over the sound system you will hear counting with some background music. The kids will sit at their desk close their eyes and for the next 5 minutes do these finger movements around their eyes, eyebrows and nose.  While this is happening the class leaders monitor the students and anyone misbehaving is quickly told off and their names recorded. I would say 90% of the time the kids will toe the line but there is always a few who can't stop talking, fidgeting or like to annoy their friends to try and get them in trouble first.

For most of my classes I will have a Chinese teacher present to either provide instruction in Chinese when the kids don't understand or to keep an eye on them to make sure they behave and don't get out of hand. Sometimes chaos can occur in my younger grade three classes but that all depends on who their teacher is. Some of them are really strict and could take you down with just a look, this makes teaching these classes fun as we can get through all the material and we rarely have to stop to bring kids back into line or to keep them focused. Some teachers will sit in the class but will play on their phone, normally on Wechat, which is a popular APP everyone, including myself is on here. It's like a text and voice messaging combined with Facebook for your phone and is so cool. There is only a couple of teachers that don't show up to my classes. One of them teaches the advanced students so these kids are generally good and easy to teach and I have no problems with them. She is only next door in the teachers office so if there is any issue I just pop in there. However, I rarely see the other teacher, but luckily I haven't had many problems with her class so far (touch wood!).

Eye exercises after lunch

More eye exercises

Class leader in action