Classroom Teaching

After a heavy downpour last night, we woke to clear blue skies and balmy weather. The group shared breakfast in our special dining room, and, I’d like to add, my roasted sweet potato was excellent! Fran read her journal entry for yesterday, and soon we were on our way, whisked off to Kunming University for the Primary and Secondary Teachers program.

Fran and Dia taught their class the ever-popular “Macarena” group dance, among other things in the morning.  Tom and Geni split their students into two groups for some competitive language games.  Nora and I worked with 14 middle school teachers—some of them quite experienced, having taught English from four to 13 years at their respective schools. Their schools are varied in size and location, with several teachers teaching at small rural schools and most teaching at large urban schools in the area. In addition to learning the “Hokey Pokey,” the group worked on speaking and listening skills, and enjoyed a collaborative writing exercise.

After a delicious lunch and mid-day break, Fran, Tom and I headed back to the classroom while Geni, Nora, and Dia spent the afternoon shopping and exploring the town with local teenage hosts.

Tom gave a fascinating presentation about ADD to the three combined classes. The presentation offered a wealth of information as well as interactive features.  Ali gave a short introduction to her upcoming presentation on Multiple Intelligences, and the classes were dismissed for the day.

Dinner was at a local noodle restaurant, and featured the local specialty of chicken and noodles cooked tableside with optional spices galore.

- Ali