Everywhere we go, Claudia and I feel like celebreties. Schools greet us with posters, applause and gratitude as though we were gurus in the education field. School administrators and teachers take pictures with us pre- and post-presentations on teaching strategies. They give us gifts and take us to fancy lunches. On Wednesday, we visited Jiang Cuei Junior High School and unexpectedly walked into a room with 20 teachers sitting in a formal seminar room. They applauded us as we walked in and sat down. We were then asked to deliever a presentation on how we use technology in the classroom. Our schedule did not indicate this so we apologized and once again, winged it! They took us out for an Italian lunch because they thought we'd enjoy that type of food - yippee!
Our schedule said we had a large presentation to deliver on Thursday so Claudia and I asked the school for time and a place to prepare. They said they wanted to take us to the local Lin Family Mansion and Garden. We understood and appreciated their offer but truly needed time to prepare. They said, the garden could not be missed and that we could have time afterward. The garden was lovely but the situation at hand made it unenjoyable.
We had one hour to work in the library after the garden tour before my host picked us up and took us home. Claudia and I worked together for few more hours developing Friday's presentation in her hosts' apartment building lobby. Finally, I went home, worked a little more, and went to bed around 1:00AM - Cladua did the same and went to bed around 1:30 AM.
On Thursday morning, we arrived ready for the presentation. After setting up and starting the session, one teacher raised his hand and said they were simply hoping to have an informal discussion to plan Monday's big presentation. Wow. I looked at Claudia, who clearly handled it better than I did, and we decided to preview our presentation and they could give us feedback. I led a sample lesson that I do with my ESOL Science class.
Whenever I introduce myself and my background, I know I am judged for only have one year of teaching experience. I might do the same if and when I am a veteran in my field. I swallowed the potential judgment in the room and proceeded. After our presentation, one of the teachers took several pictures with me. She said, "you know I was doubtful when you said you only had one year of experience but now you are my IDOL- that was great!". Very flattering. We all went out to eat at a Chinese hot pot restaurant afterwards. We explained our crazy schedule and that we never know what's expected of us. They were sympathetic andsaid they enjoyed the presentation.
The miscommunication has been irritating. Some days, we're unprepared and the audience wants us to sing and dance and other days teachers want to kick it, drink tea, and chat. Maybe we'll get it right one of these days.
"David", a local English teacher, also raised the point that it's crazy that we're not being compensated or even given a stipend during our stay. Last year their school paid a ton of money for what was described as an "ineffective" presentation by an NYU professor whereas our presentation was found to be practical and helpful. Hmmm. I told "David" it's too bad VA doesn't have unions because he could be my rep.
Good that the presentation went well. Was the audience strongly fluent in English? Otherwise, one might surmise that the preference for informal discussion might stem from concern that some listeners might not understand a fast presentation with lots of pedagogical slogans. Do you address some groups in "special" (slow and clear, each word separated) English?
ReplyDeleteUsually, all of the teachers are English teachers so they have good speaking/listenting skills. Even so, we are ESOL teachers and understand that they are not 100% proficient (I'd call them level 3-4 LEPs if I used state/WIDA testing standards). So, we use simplified English and take time to explain teaching practices.
DeleteWe've realized that they are using us to lead teacher training workshops. We must be a great value to the Taiwanese gov't. I thought this would be more of an informal exchange - but they've been expecting us to deliver solely our practices, demonstrate/practice how its done, and to give them strategies to use. I am a teacher and not a teacher trainer - so it's been exhausting creating it all from scratch.