Sunday, September 23, 2018
9:15 p.m.
Beijing, China
Okay, so I kept my promise for a week. Now I’m a bit disappointed in myself. But, let’s not dwell on past mistakes. I’m back, so off we go!
Alright, so where did we leave off? Oh, yeah. I hadn’t even started school yet. Okay, so the last week of August was our second week of in-service. We ended up having so many all-school meetings and I felt really unprepared when we had orientation on Thursday, but it ended up being okay. So for English Kindergarten (EK) orientation, we basically spend an hour with the students while Bethany (our director) speaks to the parents. Then the Pre-Kindergarten (PreK) teachers come up to get our students and take them down to play in the PreK classrooms. Finally, we spend about an hour and a half talking with the parents and going through all of the rules and expectations for the year. It’s pretty simple, but it’s the first time we have the kids and the first time we really meet the parents, so it’s a bit overwhelming.
Overall, I feel like orientation went pretty well. Most of the kids have been through our PreK, so they understood a lot of English and I recognized them a bit. I’d also been practicing placing their names with their pictures, so I was able to get names down pretty quickly. The only hiccup we had was a single student who cried the entire time. Unfortunately, it was a pretty big hiccup. It wasn’t completely unexpected, as she had cried all through her year in PreK, but I still wasn’t sure of the best way to handle the situation. And that was certainly not the day I figured it out. It was crazy! She was literally screaming in the hallway at one point. After that, I was not super optimistic for the rest of the year. That said, I was determined to have a good attitude and try whatever I could to get that situation handled.
After the kids went with the PreK teachers, the rest of the day was uneventful. My parents seemed really nice (and have continued to be so) and the meeting went well. I’m looking forward to get to know them more throughout the year and I’m hoping that we’re able to build more of an EK family this year. I feel like last year was a little tougher in that department, especially since I wasn’t here for the first month and a half.
Moving into the actual school year, things have gone pretty well. The little girl who cried her way through orientation has actually been really good! We have had a few meltdowns and we’re definitely working on having a good attitude, but overall she’s been doing well. I’ve learned that making her do her work even though she’s upset has helped her learn to calm herself down (most of the time). We’ve also been having lots of talks about controlling our emotions and the logic behind why we can or can’t do things. Of course, these conversations happen after the situation has calmed down and when we can really talk through what happened. I’ve been really proud of her these last three weeks!
In a more general look, between the two kindergarten classes this year, I definitely got the easier class. I have a couple of crazy kids—one who is never paying attention and one who is learning how to use her “leadership” nicely—but most of my kids are pretty calm and respectful. Keri, on the other hand, has many crazy kids and several who are never paying attention. And I know that it might seem a bit mean, but I am so glad that she got that class and not me. Of course, it would have been nicer if we had both had more balanced classes, but if the situation were reversed, I’m not sure I could handle it.
So that’s really all the update I’ve got about my first 3 weeks of teaching. The only thing I can think to add is that I feel like such a mean teacher right now. We’re working really hard on learning the rules and getting back into the swing of school, so at the moment I’m constantly correcting behavior and trying to get them to pay attention to me. It’s been a bit rough and I feel like all I’m doing is reprimanding them. Of course, it’s not and we’ve had some fun throughout these few weeks as well.
Speaking of fun, we did take our first field trip on Thursday! We went to a “farm.” Why is that in quotation marks, Kristen? Well this “farm” was not really a farm. It was basically an attraction for little kids. The animals there were not farm animals (they had ostriches) and the only farm activity the kids actually got to do was pick peanuts. That said, the kids had a lot of fun. I think we’ll probably try to find a different location for this field trip next year, but the kids enjoyed it, so I’d call that a success. Although I did feel so bad! They all got eaten to death by mosquitos. Even the dad that came as one of the parent volunteers had probably 10 or so bites before we left. I, on the other hand, had one.
Speaking of that dad, he was the best parent volunteer ever! This guy was awesome! He came to our meeting with the parents beforehand and was asking great questions about what we expected of the parents for the trip. One of the things we talked about was that they were not parents on the trip, they were teachers. He managed that perfectly! Although he held his son’s hand a couple of times when we weren’t in line, he was quick to direct his son’s attention back to the teacher and actively helped keep other children in line. There were multiple times that he had suggestions about what we could do (I’m still learning how to handle field trips), but he always gave them respectfully and never seemed to judge me for not knowing exactly what to do. For example, when it came time to eat, there was no designated area for us (there never is on field trips here) so we were expected to find our own. Of course, there were other schools there, so they took all the actual tables and dining areas. I was trying to figure out where to sit our kids down that wouldn’t be in the way and semi-clean. He pointed out an area I hadn’t even noticed and when I said I didn’t know if there was room, he stated, “I’ll go check” and immediately did it, without even being asked. He was great and I’m so glad he was on the first trip of the year!
Okay, so that really is all I have to say about school so far. In terms of everything else, there’s not much to report. I’m still just living life here. I’ve joined a group Study, which has been great to be a part of. I’m still doing weekly movie nights with my friends. I’ve also gotten involved in our English Corner, which is when we use a certain meeting format commonly used by leaders of youth throughout the world and teach English through the use of a certain Book. I’m working with the middle schoolers and it’s been a lot of fun so far. It’s a bit exhausting after a full week of work, but I’m excited about it.
Because of all these things and work in general, I haven’t really gotten to spend much time with Brian since school started. We’ve hung out a couple of times, but I’ve been really bad about planning things with him. Hopefully, I’ll be better about it in the future, but I also know my weaknesses, so no promises.
So, there is your long update from the past month. Sorry it’s been so long. This week, I work Tuesday through Sunday, so I may not be writing next week. But the week after is October Holiday, so I’ll hopefully have some good stories to share from that. Anyway, I do plan to give you guys an update soon.
I p—y you all have had a wonderful month. If you follow me on FB, feel free to head over and check out the live videos I’ve been taking of my classroom. I’m planning to post more as the year goes on. Also, I do not have the photos with me right this minute, but I do plan to add some photos from this past month to this page, so check back here soon for some of those.
Abba Bless,
Kristen
