A Model Classroom

In these pictures Erinn Caley and Darlene Shideler are shown teaching model lessons to Zhuhai students with local teachers watching in the background, one of the many ways used to help the chinese teachers find better ways to teach and connect with their students.

Building Friendships

July 19, 2007

It is interesting to see how friendships develop as we spend lots of time together with our teachers and host families. We hear laughter and have relatively free-flowing conversations during breaks and meals. I talked to a young teacher today as we walked back to the classroom after lunch. She has been in teacher development courses during the past four summers. When I asked her to compare the different courses, she said this one made her feel very relaxed – in contrast, I assume to other training she has received.

Our teachers have also picked up on the strong teamwork focus of our group. They note that we have prepared well, are flexible, and are truly concerned about our students. They seem to really like the games we play and the songs we sing (to help teach English). One of the main organizers told me that he thought nearly all of the teachers would try to implement something in class.

We’ve had lots of good times with our host families as well. Last evening, I went to the Golden Sand Beach with my host and his friend. Often in the evening, we just sit around talking. Communication is a challenge because neither of us speaks the other’s language well. But I am seeing that, as with many things in life, if you put energy into nurturing a relationship, it will grow. My host family has a home on the top floor of a seven-story building. Owning the top floor gives access to the roof (the roofs are mostly flat here) s top-floor families get an extra space on the roof. My family has a lot of plants up there as well as a picnic table under a tarp. The other night, we sat on the roof drinking tea and eating dragon eyes. Even though we struggled to communicate, I had a strong sense that we were building a friendship. The rest of our group says the same about their host families.

What a Difference a Day Makes!

At the end of Tuesday’s sessions with the teachers, there was some real discouragement. For the most part, the middle school teachers are catching on. The primary teachers’ English is not so good, especially those from rural schools. It was clear by the end of the day that some of them were having a hard time understanding us – because we sometimes talk fast, we use words they don’t recognize, and we are teaching them a skill that is new to them. The responses within our team reflected a real desire to help the teachers along with evident frustration that maybe some of the things we had prepared weren’t going to work. As we left to return to our homes Tuesday evening, there were lots of ideas about what needed to be done, but no consensus.

Today was a lot different. Valerie started with songs and pronunciation exercises. They loved it. We spent the morning singing silly songs and helping them pronounce the V sound ☺! We had a good chance to talk after lunch at our daily 1:00 PM team meeting. We made a few minor changes, but nothing drastic. Susie led off the afternoon session with activities, a few songs, and some theory stuff on brain compatible learning. And they responded really well. There is a wide range of ability among the 81 teachers, and we are, of course, making some adjustments as we go.

I was reminded today of one reality. A teacher walked from the lunchroom to the classroom with me. She said, “This seminar is the first time I have ever spoken to a foreigner. I said hello to some tourists in a park once, but I didn’t have enough nerve to say anything more. Thank you for coming to China.”

July 15, 2007
Posted by Jeff Sherlock

Today was our final preparation day. I ate breakfast with my host family, Mr. and Mrs. Zhu, their son, Roger, and Mrs. Zhu’s mother (who lives with them). Then we went to the school where we will be holding the English Training Seminar and camp. Then we went to a dim sum restaurant for lunch. After more preparation time, we went to a farm where we picked Lychee’s (sp?) and Dragon Eyes, fruit that grows natively only on southern China, I think. Then we went to a banquet to which local officials were invited. It seems like we ate all day long. But more than in American culture, the Chinese people we know value time together at a meal. Part of it is formality (this was THE place to be this weekend) but part of it is just valuing friendships and time together. I sometimes wish that we in our busy life did not so much lessen the value of slowing down and talking. As in most cross cultural encounters, there is much to be learned if we adopt the perspective to valuing differences rather than criticizing them.

July 14, 2007
Posted by Jeff Sherlock
We traveled across the border from Macau to Zhuhai City, a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People’s Republic of China. With the tremendous growth in this region over the past several years, the border crossing took quite a long time. Back in the early 1990s when my family lived in Macau, you could cross in about half an hour. This time, it took at least twice that. But we got here uneventfully and met our gracious host, Mr. Zhang, at the gate.

I am staying with a government official of the Daomen district of Zhuhai City and his family. In their seventh floor walk up apartment, Mr. Zhu and his wife live with their son (English name, Roger) and Mrs. Zhu’s mother. Mr. and Mrs. Zhu speak some English, and their son knows quite a bit of English, so with my broken Cantonese, we get along just fine. They took me to a wonderful seafood restaurant with a beautiful view overlooking the river. A teacher, Mr. Lee, and his family also joined us. I didn’t recognize all the foods, but they were delicious. It’s a good thing I don’t live here all the time, though, because I would really pack on the pounds.

I wondered what it would be like returning to Zhuhai after more than 12 years away from Asia. In so many ways, it is so different from our lifestyle (communication, food, transportation, traffic) that I was concerned for myself and others on the team that we might experience severe culture shock. Everyone is just trooping along, though, with very positive attitudes. We really have a great team.

The seminar

The seminar began this morning, and it went quite well. Everything was pretty much as I expected it to be when we arrived - no big surprises. There were 82 teachers and about a dozen education officials in on today's session. After the opening formalities, Jeff started off with a lecture on the importance of English in the global economy. I talked about some of the challenges that English teachers face in China. Then Valerie got into the description of the Communicative Approach to Teaching English as a Second Language. Valerie did a great job. The teachers were very interactive and we've received positive feedback from the organizers. Thanks for thinking of us. I will send some pictures as soon as I'm able.