What I Be Doin’At Work

Okay, so I have had some requests to hear more about my joby job. So let me give you all the 411. Or, as we say in China 114. Seriously, they dial 114. See, everything is backwards in China. Their numbers their thinking…
I work at Shane English School. They started like 30 years ago in Japan and now have locations in (insert locations here). I forget but they have offices in Japan, Taiwan, all over China and maybe Korean. I don’t know. I really lucked out. To think that my dumb white ass was just going to fly to china and look for a job! Thank you mother for your omnipotent insight. I got my flight over here paid for, a week of paid training in Shanghai (boo-yah!), medical insurance for when a cab runs over my foot, a medical check up, (turns out my syphilis is all cleared up!……..joke), an apartment scouted out for me so I had a place ready to live, and tons of teaching resources and materials. It really is great and I am a very lucky little white boy.
I teach about 15 hours a week. Most of my classes are what we call CP01 level. Kids 4-6 years old but I am the exception as I am the newest guy in the school and those classes just needed to be filled. The other teachers have more variety of kids ages ranging from 4-15 years old. Everything is broken down into ages and levels.
CP 3-4
CK 5-6
CL 7-9
CH 10-12
CJ 13-15
Then there are levels of. CP,CK, and CL I think go up to level 04. That means they are the same age but in a more advanced class. CH goes up to level 06 I think and CJ to level 07
On average my classes are around 12 kids. Sometimes a bit less and sometimes a tiny bit more. Our school places emphasis on a “full English emersion” style of learning. I lead the class and I have a TA (teachers assistant) that assists me, keeps the kids organized, and uses Chinese only when very necessary. Its not always easy at times but the kids do NOT have discipline problems like back in the states… thank god. I could maybe compare the rules of discipline to that of the public school system in the early 80’s in America. Its okay to hug the kids that really like you, give high fives (they LOVE them but you literally have to TEACH them how to do it because high-fives is not something they DO in China.) You never have to spank a kid. One, its not all that appropriate to lose your cool and two its never necessary. I have grabbed kids for getting a wee bit too excited and punching teacher in the balls but that is really it. Haha. Yeah, and I have gotten into the habit of calling myself Teacher in the third person. Teacher’s hungry. Teacher needs some coffee, Teacher’s needs a drink etc…
So the beginning level kids get the simplest English you can get away with. We are teaching things like ROYGBIV, it’s a car, train, bus, doll, bear, sandwich… etc. Hello, how are you? I’m fine, thank you. And you? My name’s ___. How old are you? Stuff like that. The difficulty increases exponentially as you move up the latter in English ability at the school until you have a class full of adolescents (CJ07’s) reading a really complex text book while you lead a class discussion about what they think the future will be like in 50-100-500 years. Seriously. Hehe. it’s the in between that’s REALLY difficult and complex. Teaching English you realize how flippin HARD it is. Ask a kid “how old are you?” sometimes they reply “I’m fine thank you, and you?” How are you and How OLD are you sound really similar to them. Sometimes they don’t reply. Sometimes they just repeat the question and sometimes they just stare at you cross-eyed.
My favorite level is also probably hands down the most challenging. Its CL01 (7-11 years old). On the plus side they really bond to you and they really appreciate my silliness and humor. They are not old enough yet to be “too cool for school” and not so young that they are utterly terrified of being separated from their mother. However they can get restless fast so you have to really be on your toes and keep things fun and interesting with games and drawings on the board.
This is school on top of MORE school for the kids. They go to regular school during the week and then come in once a week for 16 weeks (I think one level lasts 16 weeks…yikes I should know this stuff! Hehe) I will have during the week maybe one class at night but Saturday and Sunday are filled with classes. I even have an on location class where I go to a school and teach on Mondays and Wednesdays. One CP level and one CK level for only 30 minutes each. Its like 30 kids in a class room but loads of fun because they are all such great kids.
There is much more but that kind of gives you an idea of what I do one the daily. Don’t forget to leave comments so that I can answer any questions promptly. Feel free to request blogs as well on something you want to know more specifics about.
Love You All --- Beau