January 20, 2017
11:00 pm
Beijing, China
So remember me telling you about progress reports? Those things I had to write about each of my students, but is hard to do because I don’t know a lot of them? Okay, quick refresher. Twice a course, teachers write progress reports for each student in class. In these reports we discuss the students’ language abilities and their behaviors in class. We then give each student an action plan for the future. The action plan has things the parents, student, and teachers can do to help improve the student’s skills. All caught up? Good. The reasons we write these reports are twofold. One, to keep the parents and progress advisors (the person that helps the teachers reach the parents) aware of what’s going on in class. Two, to prepare for the Parent-Teacher Meeting. A Parent-Teacher Meeting is exactly what it sounds like. The teacher meets with each of the parents individually and discusses the child’s progress. The progress advisor is also there to serve as a translator. Why am I telling you this? I’ll give you three guesses as to what I did today at work. Overall, it went well. I only did half of the students because Ashlee will take the others on Monday. It was nice to be able to talk to all the parents (moms) and hear their thoughts on their kids. It was also great to get on the same page with them and the PA. I’m excited to keep working with the students on their abilities.
Here’s another fun story I’ll share because I can. There’s a Muslim restaurant by my apartment that serves egg and tomato, one of my favorite Chinese dishes. The restaurant is family-owned—like most places in Yizhuang—so the entire family works in the restaurant. They have a young boy, probably about 4 years old. He’s usually in the restaurant when I go in, but the first few times he was just sitting at a table watching cartoons on a smartphone. Last time I was in there, he was playing with another customer who seemed to know the family. They were passing a ball and every once in a while it would be misdirected to me, so I would gently kick it back to the little boy. A small rapport was gained at that time. Tonight, Brian and I decided to go in and get some food. The little boy was there and playing around the room. As we walked in, he grinned at me and I waved and said, “你好(ni hao (hello)).” While we waited for the food, he was crawling under the tables. I ended up playing peek-a-boo with him for a little bit. It was cute and fun. We were both giggling by the time Brian and I left a few minutes later.
Final note: I’m thinking about writing something. I need prompt ideas.
Night!
Kristen
