Friday September 10, 2010

Thought for the day: When in Rome, do as the Romans do. The teachers seemed to like “Love me, love my dog.” Perhaps we should let a sleeping dog lie!

The Friday 6:30 wake-up call seemed to be earlier than usual! The breakfast meeting, missing Baoli (doctor’s appointment) was kicked off by an excellent and brief Thursday report by Maggie.

We arrived at the school to find new schedules which required minor adjustments. It seems we have each developed a teaching method and style that works best with the various student groups that we meet each day. Friday was a long day with both AM and PM classes. Lunch was a highlight – hosted by six Chinese English teachers. The restaurant was a noodle house and we were served three different noodle dishes – all excellent. Noodle broth was served first, highly reminiscent of dishwater – but good for the digestion. We used three bowls for the variety of dishes presented – a great meal enjoyed by all.

After the PM classes the Chinese teachers took us to see the dental lab. It was amazing to watch the dental technicians make individual teeth, bridges and dentures. The instructor told us that several of the advanced technicians are going to Suzhou for an international competition. Then we went to the street market and had fresh winter melon and baodz hot out of the steamers. Another marvelous experience. With Marcella along to translate we actually know what we are seeing and eating! Claudia, unfortunately missed these events due to her dedication to duty – she promised a teacher that she would locate and print pictures of various medical devices. We spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening in the visiting teachers office speaking with the Chinese teachers and helping develop their vocabulary.

At seven PM we went to the auditorium and witnessed an absolutely fantastic student presentation – which they labeled a Hip Hop. Each act seemed to top the previous one: A formal dance with formal attired students was performed, followed by a speaking quartet, then a Xinjiang solo dancer in costume, a group dance, an excellent solo singer, a kung fu presentation performed to music which was top quality, and break dancing. We got roped into some community dancing, and wore Chinese opera masks (which none of us understood and the Chinese teachers claimed no knowledge thereof).

We returned to the hotel after 9PM, tired, but appreciating a near perfect day!

- Wally

Thursday September 9, 2010

Thought for the day: “In life, it is not the things that knock you down that count, it is the people who help you up."

While we were riding to school this morning, one of the teachers, Diana, told us a fascinating story about an American nurse who married a Chinese farmer and went to live in his village which was very poor. While she was raising their two children, she bought a cow and sold the milk in order to buy some chickens, she then sold the eggs to raise more money. Over the years, her businesses improved the whole village. I really enjoy talking to the teachers about their school and teaching. Today, Diana and I discussed the differences between American and Chinese farmers and one day Vivian and I talked about whether or not a mother-in-law ought to say anything negative about her daughter's boyfriend.

Our classes went well today. I had l6 medical instrument students. We worked on pronunciation especially "th" which is very difficult. All week, I had been using a dialog about going home for Autumn Festival. But many of these students live too far away to go home. To my surprise, the majority of the students I had all week had brothers and sisters. Not surprising was the fact that most of them had grandparents living with them.

This afternoon Marcella and Tony went to check out the history museum for us. Wally got a haircut and was quite pleased with the results. Claudia and I spent the afternoon at the office looking over the teaching materials. I was looking for more ways to get the students to talk to each other and to me, specifically topics for dialogues and role playing skits.

Baoli took us to a neighborhood restaurant for dinner and later we spent time in the park. Marcella and I joined the regular evening line dancing. The park is full of families and young people and many of them smiled at us and let us talk to their babies. In the daytime, people are flying kites, cracking whips, doing Tai Chi, dancing in traditional dress, playing both traditional and western musical instruments and best of all singing local opera. This is my third Global Volunteer trip. Each time, I come away with a warm feeling about a country and its people that I could never get from a tour of that same country.

- Maggie

Wednesday September 8, 2010

Thought for the Day: Don’t be afraid to explore unchartered waters.

An auspicious beginning to our day – the sun is dimly visible through the low clouds and ever-present smog. The breakfast meeting is over and the 5 members of Team 187 load into the school van taking us to XBTC. Zhao shifu pulls into traffic and, with astounding nerve and skill, drives us successfully to the campus in record time. In addition to the daily exchange of ideas for our classes, the team’s “three merry maids” continue to rave about the local opera experience the previous night and the adventuresome jitney ride back to the hotel. A quick stop at the Foreign Affairs Office, then we disperse to our respective teaching locales. Marcella, Tony and I assist our students in arranging the tables in three regions of the library; the kids arrive, and we begin the day’s teaching.

Because we see a different group of students at each teaching period [roughly 2 ½ hrs], we tend to repeat activities. The emphasis is always on conversation, however, whether the topic is family, college life, fashion, etc. The ability of the students to speak and to comprehend spoken English varies dramatically within each group, but classmates help one another with dialogues and understanding questions.

Students in today’s morning class aspire to jobs making dentures while the afternoon students are studying nutrition. Near the end of each class I introduce some terms relevant to their major or subjects and offer anecdotes of how English skills might help them get a better job.

Between the morning and afternoon sessions, Julia Dong and 4 teachers escorted us down the main street to a local restaurant for a delicious meal. After lunch I spent a little time with a teacher who had been assigned a new course while the other team members visited the nursing anatomy and the pharmaceutical labs. The afternoon teaching went well for everyone in part because the students had been exposed to a bit more English. Weary but satisfied by a good day’s effort, we returned to the hotel for yet another dinner of inspired selections by Bao Li. Can we all say, “more food”.

Our team has consistently displayed the desired team characteristics of communication, cooperation and so on. But I must note that what I am enjoying most is their marvelous energy, playfulness and humor. As these traits extend into the teaching enterprise, it is no wonder that much of the applause heard during class is the appreciative recognition by the students of the caring and personal effort of the volunteers.

- Claudia

Tuesday September 7, 2010

Thought for the Day: A picture word is worth a thousand abstract textbook words.

Day 2 of our Global Volunteers teaching in Xi'an began with great promise as our driver zigged and zagged through traffic snarls in record time. Della, one of the English teachers at the college, graciously rode along as escort. (The school van was still black.)

When we arrived at the campus, long lines of students were waiting to register. Those of us assigned to teach in the library found the double doors locked and not a student in sight. Eventually about 15 students strolled up and the doors were unlocked. We divided those 15 among us -- 5 per volunteer teacher -- with mixed results.

Most of our team today reported very lively sessions. My five students, all from outlying farm communities, struggled with reading and using even simple English sentences. Often they could manage only phrases. None had a textbook and I had to lend one a pen. Yet they tried as best they could to communicate in English. And by noon quitting time I believe we all knew more about each other's lives and English conversation. One student helpfully reminded me that China's one-child policy was interpreted as one child per city family, two in the countryside.

Conclusions:

Especially with less advanced students, Claudia is right that the teacher should read a passage first before asking students to read.

Maggie is right that you cannot overdo "modeling" dialogue or other exercises before asking students to try them.

Prodding and enthusiasm such as Marcella radiates are powerful assets in motivating students to learn.

Wally is showing that hamming it up works in the classroom, if not on stage.

I found even my struggling students rallied when given a framework such as who, what, where, when and why -- with answers modeled in advance.

The textbook we were given is woefully lacking in conversational "picture words." Students are focused on exams anyway. So skip the abstract textbook vocabulary whenever possible and go for hot button conversational topics.

Our afternoon visit to the Grand Mosque was fascinating.

Also, you can measure distances along the Xi'an historic wall by the number of parkside Chinese opera singers. Our walk to buy opera tickets was a six singer trip, at high decibel level.

Most wonderful of all was a slender elder brother in grey scholar's garb dipping a 3-foot long brush in a tin can full of water and producing the most elegant ephemeral calligraphy on public park paving stones.

- Tony

Monday September 6, 2010

Thought for the Day: We are all life-long learners.

I woke up around 5 a.m. anxious about what lay ahead of me today. Teaching a class is something I had never done before, and here I was about to teach conversational English to a group of students in Xian Biomedical Technical College. These students are high school graduates from different provinces and backgrounds. Many of these students have never seen a foreigner or heard a native English speaking person. I had only a vague idea as to what I needed to do. I was not afraid of the challenge but I did feel quite inadequate. Well, since I always believe that life is all about new experiences, I decided to dive in head on.

We were picked up at the hotel by Julia in a black van. She is the wife of the president of the school. The traffic was extremely heavy because it was raining and during the rush hours. Riding in a car in China is an experience you will never forget. Chinese drivers, bikers, and walkers are like kamikazes. Weaving in and out of traffic in whichever direction they want and whenever they see an opening, even if the opening is just a foot away from the next car, bike or person. Because of the rain and the traffic we were about 15 minutes late getting to the school. When we arrived the president of the school and the students were there in the front entrance hall waiting to welcome us. It was very moving and at the same time I was a little embarrassed and I don't quite know why.

After we shook hands with the students, the president gave a short welcome speech and from our volunteers group Claudia responded with a very warm short message. Then our whole party moved upstairs to a very large conference room. On one side of the room there was a huge development plan for the future school. It was quite an ambitious plan. On the oppose side of the room on a long dark wood cabinet there were 5 gold colored awards for the school's achievements. Robinson, the president of the school, gave us some information about his background and we each introduced ourselves. Then we were escorted to our classes.

My classroom was in the library with Claudia on the other side with another class. When I saw how many students were there in the class, I had a moment of panic. I found it was very difficult to get the students to be involved in the beginning. But with some trial and error I finally got them to respond. There was one particular student with quite an attitude. I think she feels that she is quite good at conversational English already. But when I asked her to answer what she wants to be, she could not speak a complete sentence and was having difficulties with words. So I tried to get her involved every chance I got. I don't know how successful I was with these students. All the while I was teaching trying to think of things that might interest them I was perspiring with sweat running down my back. It was the combination of anxiety and frustration plus the heat I suppose. I was really glad the class was over. I didn't know what to expect on the first day. Hopefully, all will be well tomorrow and it might be slightly easier after the first day, and this first ever teaching experience.

Now I can understand what teachers everywhere go through.

- Marcella

Sunday September 5, 2010

Thought for the Day: "Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous." CONFUCIUS

The team, consisting of Claudia, Maggie, Marcella, Tony and Wally met at 8AM for a breakfast meeting with Baoli in the hotel dining room. At 8:40 we had out first planning meeting in the Global Volunteers office. We continued personal introductions, defined team goals and explored the characteristics of an effective team.

Baoli thoroughly covered the Global Volunteer policies and discussed how the team could best fulfill our goals. We adjourned at 12:30 and met in the hotel dining room for lunch. The discussions continued in lively fashion.

We met again with at 3PM with several teachers and students from the Xi’an Biomedical Technical College. The students and teachers each introduced themselves with a brief description of their names and where they were from. Several spoke about their desire to learn English and made us feel extremely welcome to Xi’an.

The team members then introduced themselves and spoke briefly about why they came to China and how they hoped to help the teachers and the students. Then the teachers provided additional details of their background and experience. This was followed by a request to have the team members speak in more detail about their “previous lives”, occupations and experiences. This led to continued conversation and questions which was enjoyed by all.

The meeting adjourned at 4:30PM and Baoli, the team and the teachers and students walked back to the hotel. Additional, wide ranging discussion continued.

The team members spent another hour discussing and planning for Monday’s first day of teaching members of the English Club at the University.

We met for dinner at 6PM and continued to voice our potential difficulties to be faced on Monday morning, our “baptism of fire.”

The day was an exciting and informative experience. The team members are all here for the right reasons, communicate and cooperate. There is no doubt that the next three weeks will be exciting and productive. And if we continue to eat all of the fantastic meals ordered by Baoli we will all have to purchase new clothes to return home.

- Wally

Thank You Speech by a Chinese teacher in Kunming

Today is a special day for me. Standing here, I have so many thanks to say to all of you.

I have taught for 15 years, teaching becomes boring and tiring for me although my students sometimes give me a surprise, happiness and the sense of success. From you, the volunteers, I learned a lot and have changed a lot. You are not professional teachers, but more than teachers. What you did make me feel shamed at my thoughts.

Thank you, Bill and Marissa! You taught us so well. You are kind, patient and hard-working. Thank you for your idioms and slangs. They are so interesting. I’m not a smart cookie, but I learn them for kicks. Thank you for your tongue twisters. Now I can say “If two witches were watching two watches, which witch would watch which watch” well. Thank you for teaching us how to distinguish the pronunciation. Now I know I cook with a pan, not a pen. Thank you for the papers you gave us. I’ll keep them. When I see them, I’ll remember you and I won’t forget the time we spent together. I want to tell you I’m so lucky to be your student.

Thank you, Lee! I tried my best to catch every word you said about law, but I failed to understand because my knowledge about law is so poor. But your speech about American History was interesting; please know I did not fall asleep for that.

Thank you, Helene! From your speech, I know when someone is ill in America, he would call 911, not 120. I also remember you like helping others. You said “Helping others is also helping yourself”.

Thank you, Grace! You are cleaver, active and beautiful. If you lived in China, I think you would be a super girl. From you and Marissa, we learned a lot about American teenagers.

I’m always wondering why America develops so fast, although it has a history of only about 200 years. From you all, I’ve got some answers.

- Kathleen
A teacher from Dehong Prefecture in Yunnan Province of China