Job Discussion Forums

[Cobra]

I teach uni level. I hate teaching kids. Did it once for a summer and that was enough forever. Never taught kindergarten.

Now my boss sees that I am lonely and bored sitting around this vacant uni due to my own stupidity. So he conjurs up this 2 hr. teaching gig for me at 200 rmb per hr. Can't say no to real money now can I.

The catch is I am supposed to teach a group of Chinese kindergarten teachers how to be better teachers. WHAT?? ME???

So what the H--- am I supposed to teach them? HELP!!!

Yes most of them are young and single but do not go there. They want English not French.

[Klamm]

Find a topic and go with it. Play games. Check the net. Have fun. Not hard unless you make it. Your job is to keep them active and engaged for the time. That's it. 20 questions and whole other mess of things you can do. Try and think of it that way: keep them engaged and doing things with English.

Good advice. Switch the attitude mainly, or decide to tell your boss you'd rather sit on your duff than scratch your head a little on classwork to earn $.

You take or leave it on the levy, if you will.

K.

[chinasyndrome]

Hey Cob! Are you only teaching them one time or will there be more? If it's just a one-time-only gig maybe you could focus them on really useful English words and short expressions that are relevant to their student's age group.

If you've got some prep time try writing out the 50 or 100 most useful things that a native speaking kid would use/need in normal conversation. Roger could give you some real insights into this.

You might also spend some time on showing/telling/helping them make, understand and use basic resources like flash cards. They can be alphabet and or numbers or perhaps even the basic words/sentences you think are appropriate. You wouldn't need to make them, just use the board to give a quick example.

I posted a link on the Pizza thread that'll take you to a part of the Cafe that's got some pretty good stuff. Have a dig around in there. Might be some good stuff you can use.

Cheers,

Drone

[Cobra]

Hey DRONE you're an OK guy!!!! I don't care what others are saying about you behind your back.
Thanks.

Does that mean you advise against printing out Sunaru's rants and sharing them?

This is a one time gig, I hope. But once word gets out in this small place where I am the only foreign expert within miles, who knows. Plus my boss gets a commission of 50 per hour on top of what I get so I am sure he will be lining me up. I have done other unis but those are simple lectures.

This kindergarten teacher thing is a first.

Klamm my attitude is since I hate teaching kids, what can I advise kid teachers to do??? I was simply admitting my personal deficiency. And asking advice.

[Wolf]

I also have no vacation plans and have the foreigner market cornered right now (SARS+Summer+Nanchang). I just told everyone I knew that I wanted non kids work.

I got two teacher training seminars (Personally, I just helped them to improve their overall speaking ability - and one day I had them help each other with teaching techniques that work - they shared their best ideas with each other), a video voice over, and an evening class for high school kids (as young as I'll go,) as well as securing a nice little something for the fall (a job, not that ).

I moaned about the first seminar here, too. No planing whatsoever. But I was so glad to have both the money and something to do, that I just used my better stuff from my uni material and from the textbooks my friends sent me from Japan (EFL ones).

Just put the word out that you need somewhere to teach (your boss might even help, depending on what kind of person he is: my boss got me two of my gigs.) And when in class hit them with your best stuff, so to speak. It gets easier the more you do it.

[chinasyndrome]

[Peter]

Me and the missus have been doing kindy gigs now for three years.
We use:
Songs, stolen from other sources and have put these on our own disc together with a book. 25 of them.
I play guitar very loud,only 2 or 3 cords;D,A and G are all that is needed.

Storybooks, scanned and printed on A3 paper, then laminated.
It is not easy, the failure rate in Printing is about 15%
These storybooks must have mayhem in them.
The text is adapted to the level of the audience and translated in Putonghua for a few times until familiar

And flashcards of course, but no longer than 10 mins, after the obvious drill put the cards on a table or the floor ans ask for them by name

Fingerrhymes, use traditional ones, invent
them yourself or scour bookshops.It is a very good activity and good fun

Games related to rhymes, or circles with 4 or 5 children where one drops out....eeny meeny minee mooo.catch a tiger by his toe, if he hollers let him go.....this little piggy went to market....

Videos; The best ones are Maisy Mouse, created by Lucy Cousins

Textbooks for 5 and 6 year olds: Integrated Primary English, Methold and Chan. published by Longman China.

Above all have a ball, get in there with a smile,tickle and hug the anklebiters

[Cobra]

READING COMPREHENSION ANYONE?????????

I am not going to be having any contact with the rug rats!!!!

I am supposed to teach the teachers to teach the little rug rats better.

Like a teacher trainer? Me? The original 2 backpack kid???

And it is my boss working on a commission who is setting this up. Before it was just unis that could not hire FE. Now we are doing kinders.

READING COMPREHENSION?????

Hey DRONE -----

Nothing is worth doing unless you do it right? Try spelling Cobra correctly. If you were going to shorten it for me you had three choices:
CO - commanding officer ( you would never go for that)
bra - now this is a subject close to her heart that supports two mighty issues. I could get into this choice.)
cob - you know what they use cobs for in Missourie? Cleaning the posterior.

[arioch36]

I think it is pretty mandatory that you teach them that song

" Put your left hand in put your left hand out, put your left hand in and shake it all about'

Personally I have my doubts this is really a kids song, but they always expect me to do it with them

[Cobra]

Hey arioch, my Henan brother! (Note I did not say "heathen" brother!)

I am going to do "Simon Says"! I have a great finish.
When we get down to the last few players, I tell them to come to the front of the room for the playoff. I tell them to hurry as we do not have all day. They fall for it every time. They all rush to the front of the room. BUT - Simon did not say, so they all lose en mass! Great laugh for all.

Were I not a brother I would try an XXX version on the single teachers! That might have been fun in a pagen sort of way.

[Roger]

Cobra,
you wrote you are supposed to be teaching kindi TEACHERS, not kids, right?

So, are your students capable of teaching English in the first place?
To primary school children, for example?

If so, then you have to teach them a few practical lessons on where a 3 to 5 year-old stands mentally, psychologically and intellectually.
First thing,
kids this age need MOTION, not MEMORISING. All kindergarten teachers I have come across think they need to load a pile of useless vocables into the minds of their young learners! That's a sin to be avoided.
Kids love learning things, but you must demonstrate and do them yourself. And adults need to learn that preschoolers do not have a large memory yet. They remember best what they learnt to do in a practical, hands-on way - like physical exercises, drawing, singing. Do walkabouts, orienteering.
And think about what a preschooler is interested in:
- First thing: Himself, herself, his/her body, immediate environment!
- Animals (five-year olds love to learn how to write the ABC, and
memorising the ABC with the help of animal names);
- food, family, friends;

Reduce the vocabulary to the absolutely necessary. They need to learn no more than some 500 vocables, but they can learn them perfectly, with a good grounding in accurate grammar!
Don't shy away from teaching the tenses (or some of them), and SVA.
The sooner you teach them the importance of correct English the more they have a lead over their classmates without a kindergarten English education!
Make a teaching-plan for one year.

And, last but not least, always do some revision after a month or so!

Use visuals!

[senor boogie woogie]

Hola!

You have an excellent gig. You can BS your way through this. Make up a syllabus that you would use the little rugrats then teach the Chinese teachers your syllabus. 200 RMB an hour isn't too shabby either. they will hang on your every word.

My forst year in China in Dongyang (smal town, only laowei), I had to teach some elementary school kids. After my lesson was done, a Chinese would follow behind me and would teach exactly what I did. It took me a couple of days to figure out what they did. Just copied me.

One day unintentionally, I was bored and had the children repeat the infamous Pink Floyd song "Teachers, leave us kids alone!" I left it on the board. the stupid chinese teacher was teaching it to the class after me. I had to stop her.

SENOR

[Cobra]

Thanks for all the advice. Tomorrow morning is the show and tell time.

I had lunch with my FAO today and asked him what I should do to prepare. He advised that I just comb my hair. TRUE.

I can see it coming far off in the distance.

I bet this is going to be some kind of show off for student's parents or rather prospective student's parents.

I will report after the deed is done.

[Cobra]

At 7:30 a.m. our Uni�s new audi �plush� sedan came round to fetch me for the trip to the kinder. (Our Uni can not afford many things but we have no less than 6 brand new sedans and two vans and one 66 pass bus.) My FAO, the driver, a man I did not know and was not introduced to, and I took off for breakfast, compliments of my FAO. (Actually he treats me several times each week using the office budget.) We went for six months without a stapler but we ate regularly.

At 9:00 a.m., after a 30 min. drive out of the city, we arrive at the Kinder school. A beautiful new building surrounded by lush landscaping. ( Actually it looked like an old run down factory surrounded by dirt fields.) Two men in white uniforms met our sedan at the front. They instructed us to wait in the auto while they rolled out this bright red carpet from the front door to our vehicle.) ( Actually no one greeted us and we parked in a dirt field, walking through dirt, rocks and trash to get to the front door.)

Once inside our arrival was announced over the public address system so the throngs of people could hear. (Actually the forty or so people gathered inside noticed us and went right on doing what they had been doing before we arrived.) I was told to �just mingle.� What? Mingle with 20 kinder kids, mommies and teachers? This I had not prepared for!

I made it a point to circulate and play the room. (Actually I just stood in one place and one by one the parents dragged their kid over to say �Hello� to the foreigner, probably their first such experience. After much coaxing each child said their mandatory �hello� and then split. Mommy just blushed because she did not know any English so conversation over, mingle over, unless we can move into non-verbal communication such as groping. (Better not.)

After mingling for one hour the real fun began. I observed one of my former students teach a class. Funny, she was not that pretty when my student nor do I rememeber her English being that good! I was asked to say a few words to the assembly. I dutifully got up and spoke to this group in earnest. (Actually I told them a string of whoppers!) Only my FAO and former student understood English so I took great liberties.

I told them how China is the greatest nation on earth. How China is the economic powerhouse that rules the global economy. How lucky they are to be Chinese. How beautiful their cities are. How much I love China. How much I love teaching their little spoiled rotten rug rats.

My FAO is holding his head in one hand and holding his liups tightly closed with the other to prevent anyone noticing how hard he is laughing inside.

Then I hit them with my big closing. �The only reason I came to this dirty little run down poor excuse of a school today is that I was promised 200 rmb per hour. Now where is the paymaster. I want my money and I want to get the hell out of here right now. My two hours is finished. Pay up!�

My FAO could not contain himself. I thought he was going to fall off his chair and roll around on the floor.

Then the school owner stands up and gives a little speech. My FAO translated it something like this:

[We are so grateful and indebted to the distinguished delegation from --------- University here in --------- for taking their valuable time to come here today to endorse our school and tell you how lucky you are that we would accept your child to begin their educational path here with us. We also want to thank them for pointing out that no money should be spared in providing your child the best start possible which is why the University delegation came and brought their Dr. ------- to assure us that we are doing the right thing for your children here.]

The contrast between what I said and what I was thanked for saying proves that no one, except for my FAO, understood anything I said past �Hello.�

200 rmb per hr to be the poster boy for this kinder? Well, my FAO now tells me this was registration or recruitment day and that if the school did not sign up some new students it would close. The 400 was an investment in survival. The foreign face was a show and tell to endorse a run down farm village school that is all but bankrupt. Maybe next year I can go to Beijing and get some TV commercial work! NOT!

I guessed it right last night when I posted that I could see it coming from far away.

But to be fair, I was also treated to a great free lunch afterwards, but then every free meal is great! But only during luch did I learn that I had been brought smack dab into a hotbed of Chinese Muslims. The lunch was meatless. My first Chinese Muslim experience and hopefully my last. I was immediately asked my opinion about Taiwan and Tibet. I artfully dodged both issues and turne dthe tables on my hosts. They argued that with each dynasty change the caspital location of China also changed. Therefore they believe Beijing�s days as capital are numbered. They think it should be moved to Taipai on Taiwan to solve two problems at once..

That was the least radical of their many political ideas. These guys were directly involved in Tienamin Square some years back and have not lost their fervor. If they truly represent the Muslim community in China, I would not bet on the continued peaceful unification of China to last much longer. These people are radical to the max. And I ain�t going back there again!

[Roger]

a great post, CObra. Chuckled thorugh every syllable of your tale! How so realistic!