A Quick Story on Why Democracy Sucks and Introduction to a New Series
Sorry guys for not posting in forever, but I am back. Today I want to talk a little bit about why democracy (in this case, the classroom) doesn’t work and also introduce a series of posts that I’ve been working on.
Recently my school has bought many books that I can use in class, including Dr. Seuss books, which I have found to be a great tool for teaching the kids concepts as well as new words. What I’ve been doing in order to give the kids at least some choice is have my students vote on which book they want. For obvious reasons this plan has completely backfired. What ends up happening usually is that about 60 to 70% (and sometimes more but not usually) of the kids will want one of the books. This is great, but of course the other 30 to 40% of the kids are upset about this. I do try to compromise with them and offer to read the other book the next day. For the rest of the time though the kids whose book I am not reading are usually upset.
I think that my students show the inherent problem with democracy and that is that 51% are capable of deciding for the other 49% of people want to do. Oh thank you democracy, 51% of people have voted to kill the other 49%, well it was democratic so it’s fair, right? Anyway, I really don’t know what to do because I want to offer the kids choice but I don’t want to upset 30 or 40% of them in the process. Compromise helps, but especially with the inability to really communicate with my students (they don’t really speak much English) it is much more difficult than if I were able to tell them what the compromise is. Any ideas or help with this issue would be greatly appreciated.
I also want to let you all know that I am going to start a new series on forward thinking. In it I will address the problems that our placement company, Anderson’s school, and people in general have. I think that it will be around 3 or 4 posts so look for that to come. So, look for those posts, coming soon and once again thank you all for the support.
Basketball In China
So I know that I promised a post on Saturday (which at the time was supposed to be last Saturday) so here it is. For whatever reason, probably Michael Jordan and Yao Ming, amongst others, the sport of basketball has really taken off in China. The inspiration for this post comes from the Chinese guy I saw wearing a Baron Davis shirt, which was ridiculous (I didn’t even know the Chinese knew who Baron Davis was much less would actually like him).
Basketball has become a topic great interest to the Chinese though. Whether it is the Chinese Olympic basketball team from the 2008 summer games, the CBA or the much more popular NBA, the Chinese are obsessed with basketball. Not only do they watch it, but they also play it. During my lunch break at my kindergarten I will wander around and hear basketballs bouncing all over the area that I work.
I have also had the males from our recruiting company ask me about basketball in America, and who I like. They are even more well versed in the NBA than I am though, talking about the games from the past days, or who is going to win the title.
As far as I can tell though they still seem obsessed with Michael Jordan, and are now becoming obsessed with Kobe Bryant, which shows that no matter how big of a dick you are, you can still be worshiped as a hero (cough Mao, cough Mao Zedong).
China really has embraced the game of basketball and of course have (like any good government) turned it into a source of ground worship. By producing two players who have made it into the NBA they have turned the once prominent American worship into Chinese pride. Yao Ming is all over ads on television and subway billboards (posing for everything from Oreos to computers and cell phones).
It really is amazing how the government can take something as mundane as basketball and get the entire country to start to like it, and then to turn it into a reason to love China. Now I realize that they are not that good at basketball but making it a point of nationalistic pride has created another way for the government to gain more control by making its people associate a fun recreational activity with this arbitrary plot of land.
Hello From McCoy
Hey guys sorry I’ve been really busy lately, between my birthday and my girlfriend. Don’t worry though guys I’ve got some ideas for posts floating around in my head from the weather (yes I know I’m sorry but I really need to do a post on this weather) to relationships in China (ah, real content).
I will be back up and running this weekend after I’ve had some sleep and after I’ve let some of these ideas come to fruition. But yeah thanks for all the support and I love you guys.
~McCoy
My Day
Every morning I wake up around 6:15 shower and leave for work by 6:45. I take the Subway which puts me at a 20 minute walk from work. I get into the office at around 7:55 which leaves me with 30 minutes before class starts to get my stuff together, including my flashcards, cds, and lesson plan. Then my day actually begins.
My first class starts at 8:25 and is a group of 2-3 year olds. Because it’s the first day of class the kids usually haven’t settled in yet and some will cry for their mothers. This usually will last through my lesson plan. I try to comfort them but usually they get more upset because some random guy is trying to comfort them.
My first two classes I have been teaching the same material, and this week the classes have gone like this: I say good morning to each student and they say good morning teacher. Next come the flashcards. I review the words with the class as a whole. Then I will do a warm up activity like Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes. And finally I finish up with a game like pass the ball and test them with that week’s vocabulary.
Next is my older class. It’s usually a very similar format just with more difficult words. This is another 25 minute class so by the time I’m done with that it’s 9:40 and time for my more advanced class.
International 4 is the name of the class, and I like them the most. Probably because not only do they know more English, but also because it’s a 90 minute class, and I’m more familiar with the kids. In this class I try to teach the words in the first half of the class, then the students drink water and use the bathroom and we play a game during the second part. I’ve been in the habit of picking up the kids and playing with them which has been a great joy.
Then comes my 3 hour and 20 minute lunch. I try to help bring food to at least one of the classes for the kids in order to build rapport with the teachers and the students. After that I eat the free food that they provide which has seemed to get worse everyday I’ve been there but I can’t turn down a free lunch, I can save a ton of money with it.
During my lunch break I’ll usually do some Rosetta Stone lessons, listen to podcasts and read. I have 3 hours why not? This is a pretty good time to just relax and get ready for my last two classes.
My 230 class goes pretty much the same as the other morning classes, but my last class is very different.
My international 4 class is my last class of the day. It’s 2 and 3 year olds that I need to teach for an hour. At first it was really boring but that was mostly because I had no idea what i was doing, but now I’ve realized that they are 2 and 3 and just want to have fun. This has allowed me to open up the class a little more for playing around, and playing more songs. This has made this class a lot of fun and I’ve actually been in the habit of picking up the kids and flying them around the room.
So this all usually ends around 4 and I head home, taking me about and hour, and I veg out and get ready for the next day.
So that is my day. It’s a lot of hard work, but I can’t really complain. I get to play around with a ton of kids. They really are awesome, and I have a lot of fun playing around with them. They give me a lot of room to do what I want, and I hope that I won’t disappoint. For now though I am really loving my job and glad that it’s my first one out of college.
My Kids’ Day (Or At Least How I Imagine Their Day Is)
So they get to class in the morning usually by walking with an adult (from what I can tell it’s about 50% grandparents and 50% actual parents), and usually have some sort of calisthenics outside, or just inside.
Next they are herded into the classroom where they are fed. It seems like they eat from the time they get in, around 8 until 8:25 when class actually starts.
My first class seems to have less time to eat because they are usually sitting in a circle of chairs waiting for teacher to come. My first class also has a couple of kids who cry for their parents in the morning so they are left in the back of the room with a blanket while everybody else is forced to watch me and my little flashcard act.
Then from what I can tell from the classrooms they do fun things for the next couple of hours, like play with toys, watch videos, play house etc.
Next, another meal comes. In my class before lunch, which is 90 minutes they have to sit through 45-60 minutes of me trying to teach them some sort of phrase, like I like to eat apples, or there are 6 sheep. Followed by a water break and then we play some games like London Bridge (thank you Anderson for that game).
The kids sit and eat attentively, and if it’s anything like Anderson’s school they eat without speaking, but I’m not sure they herd me into an office where I usually spend the next 3.5 hours trying to learn Chinese either from the teachers or Rosetta Stone.
After lunch seems to be a rather long nap period of probably 2 hours from what I can tell. There are little beds for each child in each of my classrooms that are stacked up against the window. I’m not really sure how much sleep they get but it’s usually quite during lunch so I assume most kids sleep for most of the time.
Next if they are unlucky enough to have English after lunch they get me coming in before they’ve finished their after nap snack (usually a piece of fruit). I hate that I’m interrupting meal times for them, but they expect me to come in and teach so I do it. Most of the time the kids will sit and finish their snack while I’m teaching, which I am completely fine with.
A little more English in their faces, and then I have no idea what the other classes do until 4 when it is once again feeding time. One class I actually saw got to go outside yesterday, which looked like a lot of fun to me, my students, and my teaching assistant, as we all stared out the window looking on enviously.
I think after dinner the kids are usually picked up around 5 and are taken home. My last class ends at 4 so after helping at least one of the teachers bring dinner into one of the classrooms I usually just head out to beat the rush hour traffic.
So the only thing that I know the kids get everyday is me speaking a foreign language to them, and 3 meals. Other than that there appears to be a lot of playtime and some calisthenics but I’m not really sure what else. I suppose it could be worse but I’m also sure that it could be much better.
I do have 2 and 3 year olds who would be served better by learning things that you are supposed to be learning at that age instead of just sitting in a classroom playing, but hey they don’t pay me to ask questions. That’s why we write this blog.
