4ever Discovering
The Struggle is Real: Report Cards are No Joke
All Finished Unit 2 with Some of my Sanity Intact
It seems crazy to think that we have already finished Unit 2 in our curriculum here and almost at the end of the semester. With Christmas quickly approaching, let me tell you that it’s not just my students who are getting excited! Believe it or not, a lot of the families celebrate Christmas here; I think it’s because they have family living in the Western countries and are influenced by their traditions. All of my students know who Santa is and can’t wait for Christmas morning. I guess we all lucked out that the holiday fell on a weekend this year. I didn’t want the students coming to school waiting for Santa to deliver the presents. I don’t think Miss Santa Lehman would look as good as the real Nicholas Claus.
This past month was filled with a lot of new and exciting (and somewhat scary) learning opportunities for both, me and my students. We were focusing all around our families and how they are important to us. I will be honest, it was a little sad to always talk about my family and not be able to see them. I find the students are most engaged in class when I am talking about my personal life. They love to hear all about what Canada is like and what I do at home. With that being said, talking about families sparked a lot of conversation about my family. It was great because it got the students asking questions in English and practicing their oral comprehension! I showed them many pictures of my family and they were loving it. One student even remembered that my mom’s name is Crystal. We were focusing on describing our parents and went on to say ‘my mother has brown eyes’. Then this student raised his hand and asked, “Miss L, this is Crystal?” Yes, I know their English isn’t perfect but we are working on it. I was just so happy that A. They were listening in class, and B. I understood their English! It’s the little things in life, people.
Throughout this unit, my students were able to create a lot of neat projects. We made Family Trees where the leaves of our trees were hearts; we made hearts expressing why our mother is important to us; we made happy faces with why our father is important to us; and finally, we made a postcard for our culminating task. This postcard was written to invite someone to visit their home. They explained what their home looked like and why it was important to them (we are really trying to teach them about being grateful). On the other side of the postcard, the students drew their home and labelled the items in each room. It was a great activity to see how not all families are the same; some live in houses, some live in apartments, and some don’t have anywhere to live. Yes, we made this lesson deep, hoping they would find a better appreciation for their home. Never too early to start, right?
As I learned all about my students and their home lives, it seemed fitting that I was also able to meet all of their parents at parent-teacher interviews. Boy, was I in for a real treat when I learned only 6 of my students parents weren’t attending and it was on a SATURDAY. Seriously, no rest for the wicked. That meant I was in for a long day, meeting 36 different parents and discussing how their child was progressing in the class. Let’s just say I was prepared with water and throat lozenges to help get me through the day. I only had about 8 minutes with each parent so I really had to pick and choose what I wanted to say. Every teacher was given a translator to help us if parents couldn’t understand English, so in some cases, our time was even shorter. We had to take translation time into consideration so it was cut down to about half of the time for some parents. Talk about a rushed interview.
Before I came here, I told my mom my biggest worry was that the parents wouldn’t take me seriously and they would doubt my teaching ability. I was afraid because I was so young, they would feel like they wanted a more ‘experienced’ teacher to teach their children. These parents are paying a lot of money for their children to be in this program, so I feared they would have their concerns. It is also important to remember that our ‘Canadian” style of teaching is not what parents and students are familiar with here. We don’t use the traditional pen-to-paper style of teaching; we are encouraging self-discovery in the classroom. Just because a student makes a mistake, it doesn’t mean they are wrong; it means that they have a new learning opportunity to ask themselves what was wrong and how can they fix it?
It is safe to say after I finished my interviews with the parents, I felt like I reassured myself I chose the right profession. The parents were incredibly grateful; they kept expressing how their kids are loving English class and they are so happy I made the trip overseas to be here. Mom was right; she told me I had nothing to worry about. I know what I’m doing and I need to show everyone that I am confident in my education and teaching abilities. Being a teacher means you are also learning; I am constantly reflecting on my lessons and days and wondering what could I have done differently to make it better? Reflecting on my parent-teacher interviews, I know that I did my best and that’s all I needed to do. I even got invited to one of my student’s house for Christmas dinner; his mom said “it would be an honour to have you over”. Talk about grateful!
Along with my first set of parent-teacher interviews, this past month also greeted me with my first set of REAL report cards. Let me give you a brief summary of what I learned: it sucks! Trying to make 42 individualized report cards is tough, especially when I have a lot of the same things to say about some students. Right now we are focusing on ALWAYS listening to the teacher when she is talking and staying in our seat during the lessons. Let me tell you, it isn’t easy. These kids have too much energy for students who are studying all day, every day.
After about four drafts for each student and all of my blood, sweat, and tears poured into the final copies, I finished my report cards and needed a drink when they were all printed. It was a great feeling to have completed them all in time; however, it hurts my brain and heart to think that I have to start my next set in another two weeks. What could we have possibly learned already that needs to be on this next set? Then I thought about it, and realized quite a bit. I understand when my teachers used to talk about the dreaded report cards and how they couldn’t wait to finish them. I warn every future teacher when I say everything you have heard is true and we are going to be doing this for the next 40 years of our lives! Better start embracing it.
Teaching abroad can be quite amusing when the holidays are around the corner. It is a great way for me to learn about my students’ culture, and vice versa. Spending Halloween at school was pretty funny when I put on my ‘costume’ (it consisted solely of Minnie Mouse ears). The students thought it was hilarious that I wore them all day and couldn’t believe it when I told them in Canada even the students dress in costumes to school. It’s funny because they all know what Halloween is, but they never get the chance to celebrate it. I thought I would bring a little comic relief into the class and let the kids have a good laugh. I don’t mind being the butt of the joke if it keeps them happy.
Although I’ve had my ups and downs teaching in Taiwan, I can say that I truly care for my kids and want them to succeed. Even though some days they drive me to drink, I know they love coming to class and seeing Miss L act crazy with all of my hand gestures. The most amusing one yet was probably me trying to explain the word strong to them. I don’t know how many times I had to flex my muscles for them before they understood. My favourite quote from my students has to be when I was teaching them questions words and asked them “What do you do in English class?” One boy raised his hand and answered, “We get to listen to the pretty teacher”. He must have known I was already planning my next set of report cards and wanted some extra brownie points. Hey, it worked! I will give him an A+ for class participation!
I’ve been able to share some pretty special times with my students thus far. We’ve come a long way since our start in August and it has been nothing short of amazing to see how far they’ve already come. After only two units, I can’t wait to see what else they will bring to the table and how far they are willing to push themselves. It seems crazy to say that because, let’s be honest, we are talking about children who are only eight years old. I kid you not, some of these students are so driven, it’s incredible. To be so self-motivated at such a young age blows my mind. I love when they show me that they are willing to learn and are looking for ways to improve themselves. I only hope that my teaching has helped them get to this point!
