*Warning: if you're not a teacher you may find this post boring. **Warning: even if you are a teacher you may find this post boring.
If I was doing a headstand I'd be ankles deep in the pedagogical wilderness here in China. We're in a private program that has started slow. When I arrived there were only 5 students and as of today we're up to 15. They've been trickling in and in the last two weeks alone we've had 5 new students sign up. In one sense this is fantastic, but from my standpoint it's a mammoth headache. Imagine trying to lesson plan for this. I've got ESL students showing up 2.5 months into the year...it's insane. I've been fighting a losing battle against EVERYBODY to prevent streaming. The students have, predictably, identified the "smart" class and the "dumb" class. I'm watching the good and the bad of streaming unfold before my very eyes. It's fascinating...but kind of like a train wreck.
I'm also dealing with the issue of trying to provide meaningful education for a student who, I'm convinced, needs psych testing for a low IQ. I keep saying this to the people around me and they nod and agree when I say it but then the next day suggest that if she stays in the evenings for extra lessons or comes in on the weekends for extra lessons, she'll get caught up. It's unbelievable. It's like suggesting that if a dog just tried harder and took more lessons it might learn some math.
Assessment is, funnily enough, a cinch. The kids are cool with the new system that I was using at BiHi last year. I spend almost no time marking. It's awesome.
Discipline has been interesting. Furthering my theory that kids are the same everywhere...I was having trouble getting them to respond earlier this year. They were unfamiliar with a Canadian approach and couldn't figure out the boundaries no matter how hard I tried to explain them. So I started giving punishments out and, lo and behold, they figured out what appropriate behaviour was pretty quick!
I'll try to return to funny posts next time up :)
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I thought this was interesting. I skipped over it before because you warn in the intro that it's boring. I think it's great that you're trying to prevent streaming, so few teachers do.
ReplyDeleteI taught a grade 6 class of 35 students today who were completely self-sufficient. They didn't make a peep during individual work and barely made a buzz of whispering during group work. When the higher level students finished their work they went to the lower level students and help them in a supportive and constructive nature. I've never felt so useless. I actually pulled out a novel and started reading at one point. It was very surreal, as the student here generally made Canadian students look like perfect angels!