Forgive me, blog, but it has been over 10 days since my last post. I’ve suddenly found myself very busy, working five days a week again, up to five classes a day (on Friday, none the less). I started at my own school last week, and it’s been a tiring experience. I must confess, blog, that I have no lesson plan for tomorrow’s classes. I have some stand-bys, but nothing too educational, which I don’t like, but the school seems to prefer.
Coming here and saying, “in China, the schools are different,” I expect you to think, “well, yeah. I mean, China,” and I’d say, “yeah, well…” The first thing I noticed was the complete lack of hallways.
There are “hallways,” but they tend to be places that just happened to get enclosed by the architecture. The school designers take every opportunity to open the school to the elements. I have some ideas on why this is, but so far, nothing is for sure. I’ve been told by one of my Chinese bosses that the parents seem to think being exposed to the air all the time is healthy, and that this environment will lead to better learning. I admire that idea, but it’s frustrating that parents would demand open-air schools, but still have the kids taught to standardized tests; I say this because I found out that week that many of my students did not know the meaning of the word “not.” You can’t get far in English without saying “not.”
It’s not a bad idea, keeping the kids out in “nature” constantly, even if the classes are enclosed. However, something that struck me about this floor plan, is that I’d never want to sit on the floors of the school. Everything seems filthy all the time, despite a diligent cleaning crew that makes its rounds through the school every day. Even in my own office, well, cube, it feels dirty. I don’t know if this is a reaction to a different environment, or if everything is actually dirty and I’m the only one that notices. And don’t get me started on the bathrooms at the schools. Needless to say, I make sure I go completely before I head out to the school.
Talking with the other English teachers here, the Chinese English teachers, I found that the schools work here almost exactly the opposite of the way the work in America. One teacher declared that she was the “home teacher” of class 4, which meant that she was in charge of them. The closest we have is “advisor” or “home room teacher,” because, when the bell rings, the students move on. Here, with the exception of music, dance, and PE, the students stay in their rooms. This means the teachers are displaced, relocating to offices when they have time off. Some of them even sleep in their cubical when the long lunch-break hits. I can’t bring myself to sleep, nor have I ever been able to in open areas. I have been getting a lot of fiction done, thought, and that’s been something.
