I have regaled you all in some fun stories and events in my life in China. But I haven't written about my reaction to becoming a teacher. Over the past month and a half of teaching, one question kept popping up.
HOW DO I EARN THE RIGHT TO CALL MYSELF A TEACHER? Can I be a teacher just by having students? Or by conducting a class? Is a teacher defined by how much homework her students do? I teach 16 classes of fifty kids each. My focus is not homework, but spoken English. I want my students to feel comfortable talking in English.
I have thought about it a lot, and decided that the right is earned with time. It is not something you get all at once. On September 8, 2008 I started this earning process. I constantly learn from my students about how they learn and what they react to. Sometimes, I see their interest in the class, which makes it worth while. But there are some horrible times; one of my classes last week kept being disruptive. I was so upset and frustrated with them. My students are nervous about speaking English, but they want to speak it. Some come up to me between classes to chat with me.
The transition from student to teacher was not as difficult as I feared. I'm on the other side of the teacher's desk. It's cool. I don't feel like a ruler in class, more like a facilitator. I ask questions and make sure that the class stays in topic. If I gave out homework, I would feel more like the other teachers here. But I like this steady path to teaching. I teach a class and grade on performance and effort. Maybe in the future I will also grade homework, but that's one less thing to worry about now.
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