Although the language barrier creates for a few difficult moments here and there, I have found ways to overcome them and it has only made me stronger and more experienced.
I have found myself connecting more with each grade and each class with the more time I spend teaching them; granted I am not near as close to them as I would be in a traditional setting, but I only see them all once a week. Most of the students have become even more familiar and comfortable with me teaching their classes.
I have been teaching entire full days recently, and it has been going well. I was a bit nervous when I first started, but it turned out to be very rewarding. I have really felt myself take on the task of being able to plan content within the last week. I have become familiar with the pace and expectations of content coverage within each grade, I find myself being able to plan ahead and brainstorm more effectively this way.
I find the most struggle when teaching first grade because they do not understand much outside of their routine vocabulary; so when I stray from what they know, they definitely do not understand me as well.. but it doesn't stop me from trying mew things with them, I just have to use an intense amount of modeling!
I enjoy my time in second grade a little bit more, they have a similar energy level of the first graders but can understand a little bit more outside their routine vocabulary. Over the past weeks I have been able to try various games with the second grade that I did not think was possible, and it has turned out to be very rewarding. We participate in a lot of singing and dancing which I enjoy probably as much as they do, its also a great way for them to remember the content.
When I teach the sixth graders, I can feel myself pushing them to their farthest extent as I try to speak more fluidly and normal. I know which students are struggling and which ones excel in both speaking and understanding when listening, this skill allows me to alter the way I deliver content depending on what class/student I am working with. My sixth graders definitely have more attitude than the first and second graders, and that is an aspect I am not a fan of if I were at home, but since I really do not understand their side comments and before/after class debates, it makes it a whole lot easier to deal with; after I learned to ignore it of course!
Students get very competitive, in all the grades, so whenever we play any kind of game, the participation level is through the roof!! It is awesome, I totally love it and will be something that I miss. this surprises me with the sixth graders, as I am used to the "it is uncool to be excited in school". That attitude still exists, but seems to disappear when a game is involved. Teacher Sunny has introduced me to many new games to play with each of the grades, I have had the opportunity to practice them and revise them, and I'm excited to bring some of them home to my own future classroom!
I had an interesting experience on Monday (4/10), Teach Sunny was gone from school! I was already teaching the full day so nothing was really impacted, but she was not going to be in the school, so the school counselor came to observe the classes that day. I had mostly first and second grade classes this day, however they acted completely different! I'm not sure if they thought that they were being evaluated by the counselor or what, but they were completely shy and hard to involve. I wondered if it would be similar when my supervisor visits to evaluate me, but at least I have at practice with it happening and it will not catch me off guard if they do respond this way!
This week I also got to teach a twenty-minute mini lesson about earth day to a group of teachers. I was super nervous about it at first, but was really to give it a go. I soon became more comfortable once I realized they were more nervous about being there than I was! It is so interesting to me that so many people here know more English than they lead on, and we do not know it because they are so nervous to use it when communicating to native speakers, thinking they are no good. Many people here, including the teachers I was teaching, spoke and understood very good English!
Looking forward:
Next week (week 7) is observation week! Now in my first placement I was used to getting observed weekly and having my supervisor watch me grow and make progress. I am a little bit nervous that we are only getting observed once throughout the whole placement here just because I think it will be harder for our supervisor to see our real progression. However, with weekly journal and communicating, they will still have an idea of what has been going on. It is quite funny though, how much of an emphasis is put on observation week from our teachers and coordinators here. I am not sure if evaluations are made a bigger deal of here in Taiwan for their student teachers or if they are nervous to make a good impression of their schools/community for the ISU staff. Either way, there is a lot of hype towards observation week, and making sure we are prepared. We herd that sometimes, Taiwanese student teachers will practice their lesson that is getting observed with the same class before hand. We are so used to getting observed on the very firs time, that the fact that we even get to teach the same lesson earlier in the week to a different class, makes us feel spoiled.
During my last week, week 8, my first and second graders have midterm exams (which are one-on-one oral assessments of reading stories/songs from the past three units). Since we will be implementing exams all week in those classes, I have the freedom to come up with creative lessons outside of the scheduled content for the sixth grade classes!
I have an upcoming project that I am planning for my sixth grade classes for that last week, and it has become my baby! Sneak peak preview... I have been in contact with my secret agent helpers back home that are helping me! my object for the week is helping them understand what a sixth grader's, or any other student's average day might look like in the US. I am so excited because I know just how excited my students will get about what we are planning! :) That is all about that for now, I will be sure to keep you posted on how it all turns out!
Here are some photos from my second and third week of teaching here. I will get some more current ones hopefully soon, especially since my teaching style has changed a lot since the first few weeks!
Sixth Grade: Introducing unit 2 vocabulary terms, clothing, by playing a matching game!
First Grade: Practicing identifying vocabulary with some table team competitions!
Second Grade: Working on letter identification/writing and phonics connections!
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