Teaching

Before starting classes, the foreign teachers were given no guidelines. There were no goals, objectives, requirements or materials provided. There are pros and cons to this approach. Essentially, I have the freedom to do whatever I want! On the other hand, it is quite overwhelming to have no direction in planning an entire semester syllabus, especially considering that I have never written a lesson plan before. More importantly, I have no idea what the skill level of my students' English will be.

I am teaching Sophomore writing. We had the choice to teach oral English or writing. Since I have always enjoyed writing, I thought it would be fun. I have a lighter schedule than those teaching oral because I will have papers to grade. I have only four classes per week that are one hour and thirty minutes long, which is a significantly less workload than I had expected. Can't say I'm complaining...

For the first week, I plan to have the students complete an in-class writing assignment. It will be impossible to draft any syllabus until I know how well they write.

The best aspect of having complete reign over the structure and content of my class is that I can format the course to my benefit, creating the perfect opportunity to learn more about Chinese culture. The discussion and writing assignments can be conducive to my interests and curiosities, while simultaneously allowing the students to learn more about America & English through a dialogue of cultural relativism. It will prove to be a great class in which I can learn more about Chinese culture and society!!!