Shell in China

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

New term


After having a wonderful winter break and getting to travel to places I'd never even considered going to before, I am home in Chengxian and trying to get back in the swing of things for the new term.

I am still teaching oral English (but no Western Methodologies) this semester and have the same first-year students, which makes the transition a little easier. It is less about the work and more about the frame-of-mind.

Having worked as a middle school teacher in the States for six years, I am well-acquainted with the amount of work it takes to be a public school teacher. I was always in the building by 7AM, usually didn't walk out again until 4PM, and then it was never empty handed. Leaving school meant taking a crate of journals to read, a stack of essays to score or a pile of projects to grade; leaving was not the end of the day. With this as my background, being a Peace Corps Volunteer is not what I had initially expected.

Peace Corps advertises itself as the "hardest job you'll ever love" and I think that they might be on the money with that one. The kicker is "job." In America, my job was "teacher." That is what I poured my heart and soul into and it took up most of my free time. With Peace Corps, on the other hand, I am only in the classroom for twelve hours a week (!!) and have very little outside grading to do, as I teach a speaking class.

Peace Corps has three goals:
  1. Helping the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women.
  2. Helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served.
  3. Helping promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.
It has taken me a while to adjust to the fact that although I teach less than sixteen hours of class each week (goal #1), I am still "working." The other goals are a big part of what we do here, so time I spend with my students working on a mural for the library or time spent chatting with them in the canteen or even get-togethers held for the English department staff- those are all "working." Also, the time spent on my blog and emailing students is a part of the PC mission. American students get very little education in Chinese history and culture and I hope, through what I write on my blog, to spark a bit more interest in those areas among my students back in Idaho.

I am excited to start the new term and have a load of plans for the next five months. I feel like the first term was just me feeling out the school and basically doing what they asked of me; nothing more, nothing less. This term I want to be much more proactive and take charge of some things going on around here. I plan to hold office hours, in my apartment, in hopes that students will not only come for extra help, but maybe get more comfortable just chatting in English. I also want to start a book club. But my big project of the term is going to be the Book Nook. Along with a gal from Amity (another volunteer organization), I want to start a resource room for English students. We envision a comfy place that they feel free to hang out and speak English. A place where there is ample English media for them to access. We are thinking novels (mostly YA), magazines, newspapers, DVDs, music, etc. We are currently waiting to pitch the idea to our dean, but are hoping for him to approve the idea and help us find a place to set-up.

A new term looms and while my goal #1 time may be considerably less than my teaching responsibilities in the US, I plan to use the extra hours to expand my work on goals # 2 and 3!

Book Nook or bust!
Michelle, 6:42 AM

1 Comments:

I appreciated your comments on the PC goals. I think your biggest challenge with these goals is to do #2 & #3 because you are an excellent teacher and can do #1 hands down. Your learning will come with those challenges and in the many approaches you take to meet these!
Mom, at 9:24 PM  

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Blog of a Peace Corps China volunteer serving as a TEFL teacher in Cheng Xian, Gansu, China.

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Name: Michelle Ross
Location: Chengxian, Gansu, CN

In America, I teach 8th grade English and reading and really enjoy spending time with middle school students. Some people think I am crazy for it, but Marsing has a great group of kids and I love being a part of their lives as they grow up! Right now I live in China and teach English and teaching methods to students who want to be teachers. I am here through Peace Corps, which I think is a fabulous experience and something that more people should look into doing! The application process can be a bit of a pain, but it is well worth the time and effort. Check out Peace Corps and give something back to the world that has given you so much!! Teaching runs in the family, as just about everyone is involved in education in one way or another. My dad is retired, but he was a teacher, counselor and principal for 30+ years, my mom is an elementary counselor, my sister and husband are both teachers and my brother will finish his teaching degree this next spring! "Those who can, do; those who can do magic, teach!"

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