Job Discussion Forums

[Yu]

I was just informed that for the next semester students are allowed to choose the English class they want to take.

I was asked which English class I wanted to teach. The head person asked if I wanted to teach Writing, but I said I did not think I wanted to because I could not teach 40 students writing. Maybe 30 students a term is my limit. So there was no way I was going to teach 3 sections of 40 students. She asked what I would like to teach them, and gave me a few examples of classes. She mentioned history. I then asked if they would like an anthropology or sociology class. She said that was probably not related enough. So then I asked to teach Intercultural Communication, and it was agree that next semester I will teach Intercultural Communciation. I am super fired up about this... but now I am a little curious if it might be too good to be true? Any input?

[Old Dog]

Sounds good if you have good students prepared to discuss and if you know your subject.

[Roger]

I would have chosen Writing. Even with 40 students you can do more than you imagine.

Just have them do collaborative writing; 4 to 5 students have to write a piece together, each of them doing one fourth or fifth.
This ensures that the slackers learn from the more advanced ones. And, they learn to proofread because the slacker always gets the most red ink in their contribution.
In fact, their grammar usually is so poor you had better not ask them to write more than 20 words each...

Whereas anthropology, history or whatnot are subjects that involve a lot of blablabla which enters by one ear and comes out the other... A waste!

[Madmaxola]

in ter cul tur al comm mu ni cay tion



jesus h christ

[Kurochan]

At Shenzhen U., we could suggest our own classes, and put on "dibs" for classes for the next semester. I was allowed to do British and American Film, a class I think was not taught for a few years before I came. I put in a bid to teach the American culture class, but they passed me over because a guy with a PhD (who nobody could understand, because he muttered) was coming. Generally, the longer you stayed, the better position you were in to get classes you wanted, or to have the ones you suggested approved.