Job Discussion Forums

gastoni · Joined: 10 Sep 2007 Posts: 8

Hi everybody!

Except for a TESOL cert, which I took in Cebu City in the Philippines, I'm new to all of this teaching stuff, so please bear with me.

I arrived in Zibo last Saturday and in China a couple of days before that. It's my first time here. I'm from Canada and have been traveling throughout Southeast Asia for the past 6 months or so.

I will start working this coming week after I go back to Hong Kong to process the documents which the school should give me later on today or monday morning. I entered China on a Tourist Visa so now I need a Working Visa. The school will pay for the airfare to HK and also for the visa.

This week I went to meet some of the students who I will be teaching. I went from class to class to introduce myself, the students asking questions, etc. It was scary but also fun!

I will teach 15 periods (about half of them will be 40 minutes and the other half 45 minutes) per week, 50+ students per class, grade 6, 7 & 8, although they might add a couple of classes of younger ones, which is fine by me.

Overall, I think I got a pretty good contract (for a foreign teacher in China). Contract dates go from Sept 10th, 2007 to February 10th, 2008, with the option for an extension. In any case I still have the return portion of a one year open, Montreal - Bangkok, plane ticket, which has to be used before the first week of March 2008. If I don't use it I lose it so whether I extend my contract or not I would like to go home for a few weeks this coming winter.

I have yet to see one foreigner in Zibo.... .....but I guess that this one belongs to another forum!

Cheers!

Gaston

georginachina · Joined: 21 Sep 2006 Posts: 193

ZhengDian is a pretty good place to be. There are foreigners in Zibo, but I don't know much about the quality!!

Anda · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 2199 Location: Jiangsu Province

The school will have a printing room and they let you have a B3 copy for each student each week. You can fit 4 pages of A4 printouts onto the one B3 front and back after you trim them down.

Get funny stories off the internet etc and have the kids read after you. You will only probably see the same students only once a week so don't try making anything you give them as you will see about 750 students a week.