Teaching ESL in China - Advice from the "Handsomest Teacher in Dongwai" - Official.

Teaching ESL in China. Lesson 2. Thankful for Thanksgiving No. 2. The competition. (Is the real title of this blog)

Todays Blog is coming to you from 'The most handsome teacher in Dongwai' and one of the most popular teachers in Nanjing.  In my defence, this is because I was part of an online poll of teachers carried out by a newspaper in Nanjing and I eventually came in at joint seventh (see pic above) in a poll of 16 other teachers and that I became the 'most handsome teacher in Dongwai' (the short name of my school BTW) is simply because there were no other contestants - so I am 'handsome' by default.

Lighting Incense in Thanks at the local Buddhist Temple

Nevertheless this has been told to me number of times by staff and students around the school and they seem inordinately proud of my success. One of the many reasons to be cheerful in China. Little things matter.

This week has been Thanksgiving Week and although not being an American I still have a role in educating my students about the ways of the West as some of them will be enjoying good old American hospitality in the near future.   So this week my Grade 10 students have been immersing themselves, as much as they possibly can in the 3 x 45 minute lessons I have with them, in what the message of Thanksgiving is.

So I talked to them a bit about the general idea of Thanksgiving and showed them this little cartoon which sort of skims the surface of the genesis of the holiday.

We had a listening gap fill exercise which re-enforced vocabulary

Then generate vocabulary around the dinner and the holiday and talk about giving thanks for things.

Then I made them read a poem aloud about giving thanks.

Thanks for the fire,

That keeps me warm.

Thanks for my family,

Keep them from harm.

Thanks for the corn,

Cobs stacked in a heap,

Thanks for the squash,

And the crops that we reap.

Thanks for the grains,

They’ll feed us till spring.

Thanks for the cows,

And the milk that they bring.

Thanks for the stars,

And the sun and the moon.

Thanks for the snow,

That’s coming here soon.

Thanks for the rivers,

The lakes and the seas.

Thanks for the mountains.

Covered in trees.

Thanks for all life.

And last, but not least,

Thanks for the turkey

We’ll have at our feast.

Homework was - Write  200 words about what you are thankful for in your life.

During the second lesson they get to read what they have written. I choose them as I have mentioned by a random number generator. 

It is interesting to note the differences between these Chinese teens and kids back home. These Chinese kids write from the heart with no sense of embarrassment and shame. They write heartfelt thanks to their parents for their life, for the love they receive and for the ongoing support by their mother and fathers who they recognise work hard to get them into this expensive school. I am not so sure Western Kids would so openly write about their emotions and feelings and then read them out aloud to the whole class. I would be interested to hear what a western teacher says about this. 

So thats the second class seen too.

For the third class I wanted a bit of a sense of occasion so I found an online Thanksgiving crossword and created a Thanksgiving word search using some of the crossword answers to give them a hand because we hadn't covered all the vocabulary.  

Now Chinese students love competition and so its always great to tap into that competitive spirit and offer some prizes for the best work. And boy don't they go for it. 

My prize was a box of Dove chocolate for 1st prize (chosen so if it gets shared around the class by the winner everyone should get a piece) and two smaller tubes of M&M's for second and third prize. 

In Grade 10 class A I had one girl finish before the 45 minutes were up with a 100% score (23 crossword clues and 23 word search words to find) and in the summing up another girl handed in a 100% paper and the boy at 3rd scored 80%.  Not one of my Grade 10 Class A finished the quiz in the 45 minutes and the best score was 80%.

I also ran this competition with my two Grade 12 classes as we had done thanksgiving in the past years - with less success - no one finished the paper in 45 minutes and the winners scored around 80% (Smaller class - fewer chocolates)

But if you want to keep your students busy, keep them engaged, and have some fun and a quiet class any sort of competition in the classroom gets these kids going. 

Teaching ESL in China. Lesson 1. How to keep them quiet. No. 1. The test.

Teaching ESL in China.

Lesson 1.

How to keep them quiet.  No. 1. The test.

My school, here in Nanjing China, insists that my classes are tested once a week. This is despite the fact that I only see these students for 3 x 45 minute lessons a week.  So I don't really stick to that regime. I probably do a test once every two weeks.  But along with regular homework the mums and dads will want to see the scores at the end of the semester - they generally only want the average score so the actual number of tests is not an issue.

What do my tests consist of? Of course it has to relate to what we have been doing in the classroom - the vocabulary learned. If you have been reading my blogs you will know that this semester I am meant to be teaching Oral English.  But to test 30 kids in one 45 minute session is impossible. So I have to give them a standard written test.  I will give them formal oral tests during the monthly, midterm and end of term exams when extra time is set aside for me to do that - they will also have a written exam - designed by me - at that time.

So this week we have been looking at Holidays and Vacations. So this is the vocabulary we have been studying.  I set written homework where they had to write 250 words about a dream holiday they have had or want in the future. Some of them have read their work out loud in class. I also practised the words and concepts taught in class prior to the test - and also taught content off my actual exam sheet that I had prepared earlier - so they would be prepared - if they were paying attention.

One of the main problems in the classroom is the less able students switching off and drifting away, looking out the window or trying to catch a crafty forty winks. ( I have seen, in some of the Chinese teachers classrooms, at least half a dozen students heads down fast asleep.) Others, despite being together 24 hours a day 5 days a week, still find they have something to say to each other even when I am trying to teach them something useful.

The test, however, does keep them quiet and engaged.

The test had to last about 45 minutes - 1 lesson, of course.

The first 10 questions were related to a video found online on an ESL website which I downloaded.  Before giving  them the paper I let them watch the short video first. Then I handed out the paper and played the video again. To use You Tube videos you can download them onto your computer - and then onto a USB stick using these free websites.

Clip converter  and convert2

Then they had some sentences to unscramble taken from this website -  Scrambled sentences 

I then tested their knowledge of English Articles that I had also covered using questions from this website

And finally a 20 word vacation related word search - word searches are useful - for the weaker student it helps with their vocabulary plus its an easy 20 marks that they can get. In a class of mixed ability such as I have the poor speakers/linguists can switch off and give up all too easily - so giving them something they can do in a test can help with their confidence plus they know they will generate some marks.

So that pretty much took up the whole 45 minutes, the better students finished it 5 or 10 minutes earlier.

A snapshot of teaching ESL English in a Chinese High School

A different view of the school - the boys dormitories - hanging washing. 

This semester sees my third year at this school. On the whole its okay - that's why I stay here.  The school is in Jiangning which is an 'outskirt' of Nanjing - but it won't be for long because these super Chinese cities are expanding as quickly as the Chinese economy is. Even in my short two years and counting the neighbourhood has changed with large office buildings and accommodation blocks rising into the skies.

The new buildings lit up opposite my apartment

But at the moment it's quiet, the air is cleaner than downtown. My apartment is nice and the campus is safe so Snook Doggy Dog can have it all to herself.

So what about the teaching. Maybe you are starting to think about coming to China, have an adventure and come English teaching. Why not - do it, is what I say, what can you lose?

 Top pic - some of my senior students - my third year of teaching them and below two Junior students who I have know for the same time but only taught them during my first year - but we still like each other!!

I have written elsewhere about what you need to come to China to teach but I'll briefly re-itterate it here. A degree is needed. Any degree it doesn't matter really. A TEFL course of at least 120 hours. Groupon do one for £49 - click here is also required. Or a CELTA if you want a better job and more money. And most bona fide places want two years teaching experience - but you can write your CV to match that if you have been involved in any form of training, teaching or whatever. My advice is don't come for a teaching job if they will not provide you with a Z visa - those jobs are illegal. Do not come for a teaching job, at their request on a tourist visa on the promise that they will convert it later - they will  not and you will be illegal.  Also I have heard on the expat grapevine that the Chinese government is now requiring foreigners coming here for teaching jobs to provide 'proper' criminal record checks - to weed out sex offenders and paedophiles wanting access to school kids. When I came my 'background check' was basically me writing and signing a letter stating I wasn't a criminal. (I'm not by the way).

Mid semester exams

Teaching in China.

So I'm halfway through my first semester of my third year with the school I am at right now. I currently teach 4 classes. This is made up of Grade 10 Senior A & B. These are the newbies. They only entered the school this semester.  I also teach Grade 12 Senior A & B. They were new students to the school when I first started teaching them in 2012 and I have taught them each year since that first semester.

This year I am teaching 'Oral English'.

Grade 10.
This is more difficult than it sounds.  In Grade 10 I have 61 students split between A & B (30 + 31).  I only see these classes for 3 x 45 minute classes a week. So you can imagine how difficult it is to get around every student to get them to speak, let alone teach content which will impact upon their ability to speak.

In  terms of classroom teaching aids I have a book. World Link - Developing English Fluency. You can see more about the books on the website here. But my main problem is lack of time given the number of students in each class.

Other problems stem from both the book and the classroom set up. The book comes with a CD for the listening and other stuff I haven't even had time to look at or use. Problem 1. Is that the computer in the classroom does not have a CD/DVD slot.  I tried to download the CD to my computer (Apple Macbook) so I could put it on a USB stick - but despite the instructions on the CD telling me this was possible I couldn't do it - and Im no slouch with computers.  So the solution was to buy my own portable CD/DVD drive/player. Often to no avail because just today - after writing this I went into my classroom to teach and the computer wasn't working - so all my lesson planning was down the drain and I had to teach 'on the fly' - again.

Problem 2 is if I use the book - how can I teach Oral English? As the book is meant to support the full range of English learning. And how to do it in such a short time? My solution is to work with the book on the first lesson, simply to raise a topic and to generate new vocabulary.  At the end of that lesson the students get homework - basically something which relates to the work and new vocabulary - they have to write a 250/300 'essay'.  On the second class - they have to speak what they have written ( It will have been handed in and marked by me by the time of the second class). But how to get 30 students to speak in 45 minutes.  Well, its simple you can't.  So I use a random number generator and pick the kids to speak that way. Classroom discipline has to be strong because a lot of the kids think if they are not speaking then its ok for them to stop listening, chat with neighbours, sleep and so on. I want my students to listen to and respect their schoolmate who is maybe struggling to speak - maybe they can learn something this way.

Problem 3. Is the school expects me to 'test' each class once a week. So I have three lessons, one of which has to be a test! Its frustrating because I am not sure that things get any better.  However, I do have some good speakers in my class and some bad ones I admit.  But having a test lesson each week is defeating the object - so this often slips - like today - where I will develop new vocabulary on the topic we started last week - get them to write about it next week - do the speaking and this time (Thursday) next week do the test.

 The reality of the mid-semester exams

Grade 12.

Grade 12 (A&B) is my biggest worry. This is their final year and they all expect to enter foreign universities. In their first year with me, with the confidence of youth, they all told me they wanted to go to (or their parents wanted them to go to) Harvard, Yale, Oxford or Cambridge. The sky was the limit for these pampered kids from rich backgrounds.  Now barely 20 odd weeks from leaving school I think some of these ambitions have been reined back. I'm not sure if some of them will even pass their IELTS or TOEFL English tests at the right levels to be accepted into higher education - let alone the Ivy League universities.

I technically have around 24 students in each class.  But since at least the spring/summer semester many of them have been missing from the classroom. When I ask why I'm told they are out with tutors - this is because they are and have been sitting the Cambridge A Level exams. Indeed one of the tutors used to be the Physics teacher here, but no he's set himself up as a tutor and making big money over 500,000 rmb (£50,000 approx) last semester I've been told.  So this last semester and a half I have been seeing between 6 and 12 students from Class A and around a more regular 12 students from Class B.

The changing numbers also brings with it its own challenges. Its difficult to teach classes with items that I want to run over a number of classes because I never know who is going to turn up or be missing. If I organise groups or pairs to prepare work - then the next class half the group or one of the pair is missing or students turn up unprepared for what I want to do it just causes chaos.  If I plough ahead, the students with nothing to do will chat, or sleep or disrupt the class. Note once again these students are expecting to go to a foreign university at the end of this year and still they fail to pay attention.

Todays update, I had a class at 13:30 - first class of the afternoon. I turn up - there are 5 students - three of whom have barely been in my class these last two semesters - the rest were in an A level exam - I wasn't told of course.  I had planned the 'weekly' test as I haven't done a test with this group for a while.  Then 2 of the 5 decided they needed to be elsewhere leaving three.  So I stood around like a lemon for 45 minutes - attempting to get them to converse with me. All of the final three are expecting to go to an American university at the moment their TOEFL level is around the 80/84 mark - which is pretty good as the overall TOEFL average for entering a US university is around 80 but the prestigious Universities like Yale want 100 plus and they specify scores for reading, writing and speaking and so on.

My empty classroom

I am using Book 3 of  World Link - Developing English Fluency and to be brutally honest it is useless for these students. Despite being university candidates and being at the school - a "Foreign Language School" for over nearly three years their English is abysmal. I've given up blaming myself because I know they have paid little attention to their lessons either in school or outside of the school - where, in my opinion,  they should be using and learning their English as much as possible. Even some of the  basic words, concepts and ideas are beyond them in these books.  I have tried to give them the benefit of my 20 years experience teaching and working in excellent universities in the UK (Exeter and Plymouth) but it seems to no avail.

This might seem strange as I have indicated above that these self same students are achieving TOEFL and IELTS scores which would see them gain entry to Universities worldwide. But does this mean they are good at English? Well the answer to that question, in my opinion has to be a resounding no.

They achieve these IELTS and TOEFL scores through the use of well worn tricks of the trade that are passed on through the years. The learning is all done through repetition, memory and rote learning. There is no real attempt by these students to try to speak like a native speaker which the IELTS test is premised upon. The learn to speak to pass the test at the required level, notably a 6 or a 6.5.  That the UK and other universities have cottoned onto this is no surprise. Even when I was working at Exeter Chinese students would turn up with their IELTS certificates and be barely literate in English. That over 8000 students were sent home from the US last year for plagiarism and not being up to scratch is no surprise - I wonder what the worldwide number would be?

Also this will turn into a nice little earner for the Universities who are now providing English Language Schools - at a price for their international students who turn up not being able to cut the mustard. For example a 13 week course at a London University costs around £4.500 whereas a 42 week course at a university in the South West of England costs about £9000. All extra money that these students hard pressed parents will have to find on top of International Fees and living costs.

Some idea of the cost of extra English lessons in England

Friday was parents day - gridlock prevailed outside - double parking is de-rigeur 

And for those parents or students that get out of hand, the school guards have the right equiptment 

Autumn Semester in a Chinese High School

This last few weeks at Nanjing Dongshan Foreign Language School has seen a flurry of activity - every thing from live music to the 100 meters dash.

Most High Schools in China are boarding schools and the school I work for is no exception. There are over 3000 students who stay here from Sunday midday to around 5pm on a Friday. Its a busy week for them. As I have mentioned elsewhere their day starts at around 6am when they get up for breakfast. They are in class at 7:10am and through until around 9pm with just the long 2hr lunch break giving them some relief.

But its not all work work work. The students have a full curriculum which includes music, sports and play. This last few weeks we have experienced them all.

 Keeping the red flag flying 

 Waiting for marching practice

The first I knew of a sports day was when I was told on Thursday that I had to go and rehearse for the opening ceremony Thursday evening. Sports day apparently was on Friday afternoon. I was also told  that my Friday afternoon classes were cancelled because of the sports day. Now one would have expected a 'sports day' to be quite a big thing in the school calendar what with all the organising and practising and stuff and that we might have been given a little more notice about the rehearsing and the cancelled classes.  For instance, I might have already made arrangements to be off campus on Thursday evening because I like to plan things in advance not spontaneously want to rehearse for a sports day opening.

This rehearsal (I did go of course) consisted of waiting around for about half an hour with other teachers, then marching as a group for 5 minutes and then being told that we had finished.

The sports field

So Friday afternoon, sports day happened. I did my five minutes of marching for the opening ceremony and then the obligatory flag raising, national anthem, school anthem and flag raising and speeches.

 The school enmass

Marching

 Superstar teacher (Blush)

And then the fun began all 3000 + kids were there running, jumping, watching - mainly watching in an organised Chinese fashion. There were no parents watching their little emperors and empresses do their thing unlike a British sports day - no egg and spoon race, no sack race. Here in China you have winners and losers. Its a competitive society and the winners take the prizes.

Running

 Jumping

 Watching

 Competition is fierce

 But a bit too much for some

 The rest - well they sort of watched

There were so many events that the Sports day was carried over to the Saturday. Of course I was then told that I would have to cover my 'missed' Friday class on Saturday. At the last minute of course. 'Too Late'! I told them. 'I have an appointment downtown on Saturday - you need to tell me these things earlier'. I didn't really I just had some vague plans that I would go downtown, but the principle was that 1. I didn't want to work Saturday - my day off, and 2, They should have told me earlier.


Anyway a week or two later I actually did go out for a Sunday lunch with some expat teacher friends in the Xianlin area of Nanjing. This is where around 12 or 13 universities are located and where I had my first job in China. We went through a Mall and chanced upon this talent contest. Interestingly some of the students competing were from that old college of mine. Nanjing College of Information Technology

 These are some reasons to be cheerful in China - dancing girls

 The bookshops are always busy in China with readers - no one stops them or shoo's them out.

 Han dynasty costume

 Getting ready for the dance

 Even the cops took part - who says this is a repressive dictatorship? 

So next up is Halloween, not that the school kids know much about it. Its just another Western (American) custom which is being taken on board, probably more for it potential for selling more junk , as it is in the West,

Traditional Halloween Dancing by the senior students 

The Juniors are more traditional - here singing a song

Some of my students

I think under all that there is one of my students - but you know, Im not really sure at all - its Japanese cos-play

Costumes

Food and drink was served

Elva - who is the Admin boss worked hard doing the food

Me

Me and Simon in full gore

Halloween started at 6:30 in the evening and the Foreign Language Department (not the whole school) had set the party up in the indoor basketball courts above the canteen. We were entertained with dancing and singing and general fun. Lots of the kids wore costumes some didn't - the seniors, of course, thought it was now beneath them to have fun.

Some of the students had organised a Ghost Walk around the campus. It was quite good as night had fallen and at certain spots they had kids jumping out in costume scaring the participants. Me and Simon were roped in to do some of the scaring.

I also had what I thought was a good idea. The poor High School students were still in their classrooms doing self study. So I went and barged into their classrooms scaring the bejesus out of them until one of the Chinese teachers asked me to leave.  I later heard that the School Headmaster had rung Elva our admin asking who it was in the classrooms, because that night some of the students couldn't sleep and had had nightmares. Oops - good job I was in disguise.  I heard this from Elva and I asked her to keep my secret. I haven't heard anything yet!!


Last Sunday we had a concert in the school theatre. One thing this school does it try to provide the students with access to different types of cultural events. This is a 'new agey' Australian Singer/Songwriter/Pianist. Karen Joy Hawkins look her up on Wikipedia.

Simon was roped in to be the MC for the afternoon

 I got to admit this wasn't my cup of tea - too plinky plonky with breathless vocals that I couldn't understand or hear, let alone a Chinese audience.

This is the view past the heads of my bosses. Although I had a VIP seat, they and their communist party cronies had the seats in front. The head to the left is my agency boss (PhD purchased in America - common knowledge - wifes MA? From Harvard? But she can't speak English? OH My! Wonder how much that cost? -  and on the right the school boss who has converted the staff accommodation on the top floor of my block for his own use - he turns up every morning and goes there - use your imagination guys....) 

 Actually in the interval we had a student play Chopin and after the main event had finished, other students, in a band, played for us. They were, in my view, better than the main event. (my phone had run out of power so no pics.)

You can tell the weather is getting a bit chilly now because the Chinese teachers are using blankets when they have their mid morning nap. (I also have the winter quilt on and the fluffy slippers)

So now its mid semester already - so its time for those pesky mid-semester exams!

Only for some they don't seem that important

 Sleepy and its only 8:30am

 And their parents are paying big money for this - so I don't let them sleep - these pictures will be for the parents if they ask why  little Do nt Giv Afook failed!

This is Albert - I don't even know why he's in my class. Apart from the fact his parents have paid the school.

I confiscated this from a boy during the exam - opened. And no he didn't have a pencil he needed sharpening.

So thats what the last few weeks have been like here in sunny Nanjing. There have also been trips out, trips downtown, trips to see the doctors as I have written about elsewhere. 

Heres a few more photos

 Snooky  Still fit and Healthy

 Me with some of my students - the school wanted a 'publicity shot' 

 The opticians girl - on the look out

 In the bookshop where the game is more interesting than the book

 Taking the birds for some air - locally

 Its orange season

 Our local BBQ

 The river close to me

 A local view - food is grown everywhere

 Vapour trails

 More publicity - I was entered into the 'Most popular teacher in Nanjing' competition.

 A local bike

 Scooter girl by my fruit and veg market.

I'll write about the actual teaching soon.