Teaching

I think being a teacher in the states does provide me with some advantage over the others, but I still wasn't sure what to expect when we were given our teaching assignments.  The first placement I received on Monday was teaching at a orphanage, ages 10-16.  Quite a range I know.. The second group I would be teaching is the restaurant staff at our hotel.  (This was scary.. I've never taught above 2nd grade)  Besides an age range and rough language level we weren't really provided with very much guidance.  We were all overwhelmed, and a little freaked out!  After spending hours trying to lesson plan, I came up with something, crossed my fingers, and figured I'd make it work.

Well I survived the first day teaching, and was surprisingly pleased with how it went.  My class at the orphanage has five students.  I love the small class size!  They are on different levels, but all very sweet.  My biggest struggle was trying to figure out how to pronounce their names (except for Tim).  The classroom setting was also shocking, just an open room, some desks, and a whiteboard that was hard for me to reach.  Now I understand why they said we need to bring our own materials...At least my students weren't making fun of me for sweating too much (this happened to one of the other girls).  

The restaurant staff was an interesting class to teach.  I enjoyed working with them simply because I interact with them daily but never on a personal level.   This class was at our hotel so I was thankful to have air con again.  It was interesting working with adults, but I definitely miss working with kids!

  

I also had my second day of Chinese class... Don't expect to hear me speaking it anytime soon.  Our class is extremely fast paced.  Maybe one day I will remember more than just hello!  

Pictures from the Orphanage