First Days of Teaching

     I've decided this blog will be dedicated to my experiences, challenges, and joys of my first year of teaching.  When I began my degree of Elementary Education at USC, little did I know I would be here in Beijing leading 4th grade Chinese students to learn English during my first year of teaching.  When you are a teacher you must be flexible, and my time in China thus far us been stretching me in that more than ever before. 

     The first day of school across the whole country is September 1st.  I did not find out what grade I was teaching until August 28th.  Because I am a planner and I love knowing details, this was the first of many circumstances of ambiguity I have encountered in my short time at the school.  I feel like I must be prepared for anything at anytime which can be unsettling but exciting at the same time.  For example, as we were getting ready for the first day of school, doing last minute lesson plans and anticipating meeting our students for the first time, we (my team of American teachers) were told we needed to be taken to a foreign health clinic to have some tests done instead of teaching on the first day of school.  Even though we had all had the required medical tests before leaving The States, apparently the country needs their own records.  I awoke that morning hearing the chants of Chinese children beginning at 6:30am, as the students were walking from their dorms to the school's opening ceremonies right outside my window before being whisked away to the clinic (the clinic was an interesting experience in itself as we had to go from room to room for different things such as blood work, an ultrasound, and even "surgery"- some things just don't translate correctly, and it was quite the joke that they were going to take one of our organs).  When we returned from the clinic, we ate lunch in the school cafeteria with our Chinese co-teachers.  My teacher says, "Katie, there is a schedule change.  You will teach this afternoon."  I was not completely confident in my lesson yet so I was a little nervous about this sudden news.  This is when the idea that "nothing is as it seems in China" worked to my advantage because within the next hour, as I ran up to my office to practice my lesson, my schedule changed again three different times within that 60 minutes and it turned out that I did not have to teach. 

     My first day of teaching ended up being today, and what a busy day it was.  I taught all four of my classes back to back (thankfully my schedule is only like this on Thursdays) and each class went differently.  The students are so excited to have a foreign teacher.  Even walking down the hallway I feel like a celebrity as students from all classes and grades will say, "Hello teacher!"  My plan was to get to each class early to discretely set up my materials, but as soon as they saw me come in, they began talking to me and wanting to see what was in my bag.  My students are very helpful and full of energy which was great but also hard to manage at times.  My Chinese teachers say students are very hyper and talkative because the school year has just begun but that they will settle down within a couple of weeks.  My greatest moments of the day were definitely the students' wonderful smiles and excitement.  However, managing a classroom in an Eastern vs. Western context and learning what is culturally appropriate is a new and ongoing challenge I'm sure I will be faced with throughout the year, especially in these first few weeks. 

     I hope to be faithful to document the funny stories, breakthrough moments, and everyday life of being a first year teacher...each day is truly an adventure!