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Post by burlives on Apr 3, 2005 17:07:49 GMT 7
Who teaches in middle school? I'm seriously considering moving out of university work and into a middle school gig. Is it a good idea?
As far as I know when comparing the work to a university position, it's generally the case that a middle school wants more hours of work a week (maybe 20 as compared to 14), offers more students in a class (maybe 50-60 as compared to 30-40), and provides less teaching infrastructure, but more sullen expectation -- the kids haven't done the college entrance exam yet so they expect more from their English teacher. And the living conditions are likely to be less wonderful, at least because middle schools are smaller than universities.
I'm considering it in terms of the teaching challenge. At universities the kids need a broader education to round out their learning days and even if they're in to it, they don't really know how to do it, and that's the teaching challenge in a uni. I assume the challenge in a middle school is crowd control and basic language delivery. Or am I being a tad bushy eyed and dewy tailed?
What if I am widely regarded as "cool"? More in the distant and detached sense than the Elvis sense. Does upper middle school need a teacher dynamo?
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Post by Raoul Duke on Apr 3, 2005 18:02:52 GMT 7
Nooooooooo! Don't do this to yourself, Burl. I hate the middle schoolers, especially the upper middle schoolers, worse than death. You're likely to find less difference than you might think, only with much bigger classes, and less developed girls that would only interest George. The twitchy behavior, the sullen indifference, the expectation of spoon-feeding, etc. will all be the same. They DO worry about the entrance exams...about 2 weeks before the exams. I suspect that you will find less freedom to develop your own curriculum, methods, etc. Don't go there.
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Post by MK on Apr 4, 2005 9:42:50 GMT 7
I teach in a high school - 17/18 year olds. My situation is a little different to your average Chinese middle school though, as I am teaching on a foundation year preparing the little darlings to study abroad - Western style syllabus, more advanced English, (haha - in theory!), smaller classes (well, maximum is 40).
I actually quite enjoy teaching the kids though - They are often out of control, but I get a lot of respect from them overall. Teaching at that uni' you know so well Burl, I often found that the students wanted me to be their friend rather than their teacher, or failing that, at least keep them entertained for 90 minutes. Don't have that problem here, as I am actually supposed to be teaching them something important....but like I said, I think my situation isnt typical.
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Post by burlives on Apr 5, 2005 9:46:08 GMT 7
But, see, I'm bored in universities. The kids have hit their level and now measure their progress by words remembered and forgotten. They're good kids and willing but they get exhausted quickly having pushed the rock this far up the neverending slope. Middle schools seem like places where people need to learn and still have space left to put that learning. Where else in China do you find that? With respect to English the only other option I can think of is a private language school.
The idea of crowd control doesn't bother me that much. However Chinese colleagues have warned me: they don't think I can be attractive to middle schoolers. Chinese, as we all know, misuse a small group of adjectives to describe their favourite teachers: "active", "lovely", "responsible." But I'm an opposite to that. I "may be a good teacher" but I am "cool". Chinese need some kind of pick-me-up before they can get into a class, and the crude version of it is a foreign teacher monkey, but I think there is something behind it because it applies to Chinese teachers too.
Or something.
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Post by MK on Apr 5, 2005 10:46:27 GMT 7
Being labled as 'cool' or 'not very active' (What the m'kay does that mean anyway?) is something I have struggled with too. I think that many Chinese have a very narrow view of what a 'foreigner' should be like (seems to be something like Jim Carey at his most annoying and 'wacky'), and if you don't fit into this stereotype, either it blows a little fuse somewhere in their brains, or, they decide that it is you who are somehow at fault and need to change. The funny thing is, i used to teach Kindergarten too, and had a great time singing, dancing and acting the fool with the kids. I just don't feel like doing that in front of a class full of passively staring young adults.
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Post by Lotus Eater on Apr 5, 2005 11:29:41 GMT 7
I am seen as 'energetic' in class, but it is part of my method for breaking through the solid wall of silence and 'politeness' etc that I encounter in class during the early weeks. After a few weeks of my over the top energy, the students relax and start to answer in class, talk to me during breaks and I can relax a bit because they take over some of the energy process required for learning. They figure they can't possibly be as lunatic as I am so it's safe to be a little more alive.
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Post by Raoul Duke on Apr 5, 2005 11:57:14 GMT 7
Burl, I can appreciate your boredom and frustration with teaching at a uni. However, you're going to find the same- only worse- in middle schools. Going from college to middle school will be a step backwards, not forwards.
I suggest you seek out some corporate classes or other venue that will let you teach adult professionals. It's the only escape I've found from Dancing Foreign Monkey Syndrome. It's the closest thing to really being a teacher that I've found in China. It's the only place I've found where the students actually want to learn something.
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Post by con's fly is open on Apr 5, 2005 14:20:50 GMT 7
Burl, I think you should... but I have caveats: - They go to school 10 hours a day, 7, count 'em, SEVEN days a week. You will be dealing with burnt-out zombies. - 40 kids per class? Get it in writing: I lunched with a middle school laowai teacher who reported 90 per class. - After 10 months of teaching, I ran out of things to talk about. And they were sixth-graders. Be prepared to come up with a poopload of material. - Even if they didn't live in class, they're awfully institutionalized. Getting them to stretch beyond parroting whatever you say will take will and out-and-out aggression on your part.
That being said, don't underestimate your Fonz factor. They are really keen if you engage their imagination, and you would make a huge impression on them. Just find the right zone in terms of amount of homework, don't take any poo from them, and target your lessons to what interests them, and they'll adore you. I've met tons of teachers who refuse to teach anything BUT middle schoolers. And for you, better to be overwhelmed by a new challenge than bored to suicide by the SOS (same ol'...). I say go for it, if you find the right gig. Me, I'm hooked on primary school brats.
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Nickel
New Chum
Beware the funky pisshole!
Posts: 9
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Post by Nickel on Apr 5, 2005 21:21:26 GMT 7
You should give middle schoolers a try. I work with a girl who hates teaching as a whole, but does like her students. She talks about just about everything with them. Since they are also taught by a Chinese English teacher, for whom they have to memorize passages without understanding, she has the option of just talking about their interests in her class. They have written papers about how much they hate school, but like her class. :)As for me, I'm in my second year of primary school students. Some days they make you crazy, but other days they come up with the funniest questions or comments. They also get excited when they realize they are saying the words or phrasing the sentence correctly. My students even correct each others' pronunciation, which is helpful since I'm prone to laryngitis. I started with them in second grade and will stay through next year when they will be in fourth grade. You will always have students who are uninterested, and possibly disruptive, but the ones who work hard and pay attention make up for it....most days.
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Post by George61 on Apr 5, 2005 21:38:07 GMT 7
Hullo Mr/Mrs/ Miss Nickel.l Welcome aboard. I agree with you. Primary School kids are my favourites (shut up Raoul) They are so amenable to learning....and the little girls are sooooo cute!
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Post by Lotus Eater on Apr 5, 2005 22:31:27 GMT 7
I haven't taught other levels apart from university in China, but I prefer this level to Oz high school or primary school students.
I have done my duty as a dabizi at a kindy where I had to play games with them, and then stand near the gate to say goodbye to all of them so the parents and passersby could see the laowai. Have also been to a middle school and given a one-off lecture for 2 hours to 500+ of them. Scary! (I taught them to sing waltzing matilda - even more scary!)
But I find that after I have broken the barrier with the university students they will start to communicate both in and out of class, and I have made some good friends with some of them. These ones will ring me up when they are sad, they will have dinner with me, talk to me about life the universe and everything and in general come out of their straight jackets. Takes a while, and lots of being available - and sitting through 200 'where have you been in China? How many children do you have?' etc.
A couple of the Chinese teachers have now noticed that the students talk to me and are asking how they can change their style - one hasactually said he may "have gone a bit far" in firmness and control. Another asked me how to deal with the difficulties I found in teaching classes and what could she do. I thought that was a major victory - and it has only been a few weeks here.
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Post by Raoul Duke on Apr 5, 2005 23:53:56 GMT 7
Nickel, look out for either the Golden Throat or the Guilin Watermelon Frost throat lozenges in any drug store in China. They work great and help hold the "teacher throat" at bay.
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Post by Lotus Eater on Apr 6, 2005 6:41:51 GMT 7
Do Guilin Watermelon Frost lozenges taste better than Golden Throat? They sound better! My Chinese friends tell me that Golden Throat can give you stomach problems - true or not??
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Post by Mr Nobody on Apr 6, 2005 7:20:38 GMT 7
I was told that Golden Throat lozenges shouldn't be used for prolonged periods by men due to something to do with some theory in chinese medicine to do with "cooling" if i recall correctly. gf couldn't explain it to me so i could understand or critique it from a western medical viewpoint. I found they were ok, personally. Cursory inventigation of the main ingredients reveals nothing that should cause problems. Chinese white olive seems to be considered innocuous by western medicine, said to be used for swellings and fish or crab poisoning in chinese medicine. However, IMHO, anything that really does reduce swellings can conceivably cause stomach problems since the lining of the stomach shouldn't be treated with them, depending on the mode of action. Eg anti-inflamatories. Couldn't find reference to Buddhas fruit or arhat fruit, but I am guessing it is Lohan guo, since Chinese medicine ascribes to it great powers for colds and flus etc. Nothing there, just basically an artificial sweetener according to the literature on the net. Has cooling effect in chinese medicine. Menthol is quite active, but i am sure you all already know that. Strangely, menthol would in fact dilate the blood vessels, (reverse of what is desired) but the coolness, decongestant and the mild pain killing effect is what is wanted here. Didnt' see anything that would cause negative effects in it though, unless you get gastric reflux, since it also relaxes the sphincter closing the stomach from the throat. No other ingredients were listed on the info i have, just written as "other chinese herbs". Disclaimer: I am not a doctor of either chinese or western medicine. Only had cursory look, too. I tried another lozenge there, which i thought tasted marginally better. It is in a bubble pack like strepsils rather than a plastic bag like golden throat, but i cannae rede the ritin'. The gf implied these were better for men. So I used them, if only for obvious reasons. Hope that helps. edited later: Gf says the lady in charge of the factory that makes golden throat told her about men shouldn't over do it. At some meeting at her college or something. She didn't know why.
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Post by Raoul Duke on Apr 6, 2005 22:51:00 GMT 7
Lotus, I would bear in mind that Chinese people also think you can get stomach problems from drinking iced beverages or sleeping under a fan when it's 43 degrees outside. Pay them no more mind than you would any other addled person. I've never pushed the throat lozenges hard enough to test any ill effects, but I suspect that moderation in everything, except sex, drugs, or rock and roll, is always the best policy. I think the GWFs taste a little better than Golden Throat. There's another throat lozenge I've thought of that both tastes and works better than either. One of the active ingredients is honeysuckle extract. My box rather helpfully say "Yin Huang Han Pian". Good luck.
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Post by Mr Nobody on Apr 7, 2005 5:24:10 GMT 7
What Raoul said. There is no rational reason for most of their whole symptomology if there is such a word. However, their observations and records are pretty good. So I like having a look just in case. After all, ephedra is chinese and it works a treat on colds. They apparently use it for colds too, sometimes.
(But then western herbalists use echinacea and it has no effect at all on colds, except when prolonging the symptoms in about 10% of cases. Sheesh.)
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Post by Lotus Eater on Apr 7, 2005 8:13:19 GMT 7
Thanks guys, will look out for both.
The Chinese have a huge range of stuff that is supposed to be good for you as well - justification for eating the weirdest things. Some friends gave me budgie seed the other day that is supposed to be fantastic for health and bet me I couldn't finish it in a month (they would refill the cage if I did!).
And I would love to be able to sort out the logic behind 'cool' and 'warm' foods. Why is dog meat a warm food and some other other meat 'cool'?
I think this is another thread.
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Post by Shane on Apr 7, 2005 21:24:04 GMT 7
I'd also like to recommend some lozenges known as Pang[4] Da[4] Hai[3] - 胖大海. They are pretty good. :-)
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Post by con's fly is open on Apr 13, 2005 2:31:02 GMT 7
So, Burl, any decision/waffling on the middle school option?
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Post by burlives on Apr 13, 2005 19:38:04 GMT 7
Decisions to date:
Contacted a guy I know. No reply.
Thought better of it all.
Decided I can follow the Glorious Leader's advice. I'm working on getting some training centre gigs. Got an interview tomorrow. Aiming at 150 per hour. Baseline salary for baseline practice.
It's for at least while I'm still tied to this uni (who, incidentally, send posion references everywhere they can if they know my name is attached). I want it as practice.
I think I need practice. That CELTA ain't cake. I have my certificate, as of yesterday's mail, but I need practice. And that's my next few months.
I want to try middle schools. I think it's worth it. Especially after hearing the positives here, and adding it to the things I've seen on visits and showcases.
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woza17
SuperDuperBarfly!
Posts: 2,203
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Post by woza17 on Apr 14, 2005 17:30:44 GMT 7
Have you ever tried the moldy orange peel?
I have OD on the golden and felt sick.
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woza17
SuperDuperBarfly!
Posts: 2,203
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Post by woza17 on Apr 14, 2005 17:37:01 GMT 7
I am sorry Burl totally off topic. I am listening to BBC world service, trying to figure out what Mr nobody wrote and thinking can I be bothered to walk all the way to the bank to get some money to buy some beers.
I have taught middle school for about 2 school years all together. Once I taught the same lesson plan 28 times for 4 weeks in a row and I seriously went a bit crazy. But saying that I could do it again, just not so many hours. Well I am off to the bank.
Cheers
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Post by burlives on Apr 15, 2005 16:52:50 GMT 7
More waffling:
those of ya'll who've worked in middle schools must have seen some colleagues come and go. What makes a successful teacher there?
Does one have to be Mr Personality? Do the students have to be interested in you before they'll be interested in the subject? Does that kind of thing ever let up? Am I right in assuming that there just are some personality types that thrive on that and there are some that don't? (I know all of that is true in a uni, but it has less bite because the students have had their edges ground off them after all this time in school.)
And Upper middle vs Junior middle: which one is the pick?
Does a CELTA work in a middle school?
Or is one truly better off getting a cosy uni job as a base for some real teaching on the side?
ps. I understand, Woz. We've all been there. That BBC'll throw anyone for a loop.
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woza17
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Post by woza17 on Apr 15, 2005 18:05:07 GMT 7
It's lots of energy and an interesting lesson plan. The students think you are there to play and they are right you have contact for 45 minutes a week. I would relate my lesson plan to their textbook, expand on it ,add some interest, reinforce what they have learnt from the textbook. e.g textbook the environment OK I looked up some interesting stuff about smog. London smog. I didn't know they had such a problem in London went back to the 16th or 17th century. I had the internet in my classroom so I could put up some good visuals. One advantage you only have to do one lesson plan a week, no marking. It's not serious teaching, you are just giving them a taste. The schools hope that they will develop a habit.
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Post by MK on Apr 15, 2005 19:29:08 GMT 7
I kind of like teaching this age...being in a chaotic classroom with paper airplanes flying around and kids asking me how to say 'who farted?' in English..it's fun.
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