D:ay 1 Teaching

I am finally finishing my first teaching day at 10:20 pm.  The day started when we arrived at the building we are teaching in and waited with a hundred or so Chinese workers to ride the little elevators to the 16th floor.  The buzzer goes off if there are too many people and the doors do not shut.  Arriving on the 16th floor and into my classroom I found 50 fifth grade students.  Only half stayed with me.  I introduced myself and then did an individual assessment of English proficiency with each student.  Bottom line, very little English.  I told them where I live and tried to draw a US map on the board.  They made name plates, using their "American names" (they picked them from a list I put on the board.  We had several Amy's and even a Homer.  

After another huge lunch (rice and more rice - no tofu) we started talking about Passports.  They loved feeling my passport and laughing at my picture.  They made their own and I "checked" them like they do at the airport.  They then fastened their seatbelts and we flew to the USA.  They looked at samples of US money and were very interested in George Washington and Abe Lincoln on the bills.  One student was concerned about why someone would shoot Lincoln and why no one saved him!  They loved Roulla and thought my baby picture was hysterical.  We finished with a review of New York, Chicago and California  (location only). Thank God, day 1 is over.  

We were originally told to teach 4 50 minute classes per day.  Reality:  4-5o minute classes plus plans for 2-1 hour classes for our Chinese "teachers" (assistants- young girls about 20).  The materials we got were much too hard for our students also, so we had to modify everything.  I guess I can't really complain about my planning situation at home any more.

We finished the day with a trip to, where else, WALLY WORLD.  It was not very impressive, which is a pretty severe slap considering the state of the Market Street Walmart.  It is multiple stories and you have to pay for each levels stuff on that level.  I left the books I picked because I was on the wrong floor when I paid.  Everything is very cheap though.

Well, I have rambled on enough, so I will sign off now.  Until tomorrow ...