Ashley, Chia-Ling, and me

Dear friends,
It has now been about a month since I've been teaching and two months since I've arrived in Taiwan. I can say without a doubt that teaching and living in Taiwan is incredibly meaningful and fun. If you can't tell from my blog, each weekend is filled with so much activity!

Teaching has been going very well. Depending on the time of day, some classes are more responsive than others. I co-teach thirteen classes--four classes with Ashley (four fifth grade classes) and nine classes with Chia-Ling (four fourth grade classes & five sixth grade classes). I also co-teach first, second, and third grade classes each week with Chia-Ling for half an hour. Additionally, on Thursdays and Fridays, I teach a special English class for fifth and sixth grade students who are behind in class and/or come from disadvantaged backgrounds. You may be thinking that this is really a full schedule of teaching! It is and I enjoy it very much because the students make it very meaningful.

I was requested recently to write a little piece on my teaching experience for a news article. Billy helped me translate some of it. Please forgive my mistakes in Chinese. I do not know if this will ever be published, but I am putting it here on my website for my students and school to see. Also, thank you Oliver for helping me fix a few errors and putting the post in traditional Chinese characters.

高雄，您好！我叫李詩媚，我的學生都叫我Shiela老師。雖然我已經來這裡教了兩個月的英文了，但是我依舊非常喜歡在華山國小教英語。這一點都不誇張，華山的校長、老師、職員和學生們全都很友善，他們也很熱情地歡迎我，讓身在國外教英語的我能很順利地適應。我很愛我的學生，在我的心目中，他們有一個很特別的地位。無論是在學校內或者在路上，當學生遇到我的時候，他們都會很大聲地叫我"Hello Teacher Shiela！"為了提高他們的英文寫作能力，他們還會寫信或著發電子郵件給我。儘管他們的英文程度有限，但是他們依然很願意跟我談話。他們對練習說英文的興趣真的是非常地感人。

雖然我覺得學習單字和文法是很重要的，但是我也認為我應該培養學生們對學習英語的興趣，這樣一來，他們會更努力地學習英語。我已經在我的學生身上看到這種轉變，他們學習英文不只是為了考試，很多學生透露給我聽他們學習英語的原因是為了可以跟我或著別的外國人聊天，還有可以到別的國家去。因此，我會嘗試在不同的場合跟我的學生們練習英文。比方說，我們會在路上、走廊、教室裡或著籃球場說英文。我每個星期二都會跟我的學生打籃球，這樣他們可以多學和籃球相關的單字。我希望這學年結束的時候，我的學生們會更有自信地說英文。

 Hello, Kaohsiung! My name is 李诗媚, but my students call me Teacher Shiela. I have been teaching English at Hua Shan Elementary School for two months now and I do not exaggerate when I say I love teaching at my school. Hua Shan’s principal, teachers, staff, and students have been so welcoming and friendly that they have made my transition to teaching in a foreign country very easy. Hua Shan’s students, in particular, are very special to me. They not only always give me a loud, excited English greeting at school and on the street, but they also initiate writing me letters and emails as a way to improve their English. Even though they speak very limited English, seeing these student’s enthusiasm and motivation to learn English is very meaningful.

While it is important that students learn proper grammar and vocabulary, I think it is also important that these students develop an interest in English．If they are passionate about learning English, they will be more motivated. I already see this in my students. Many of them have expressed an interest in learning English not just for the sake of an exam, but so they can speak with foreigners like me or go to an English-speaking country. Because of this interest, I take advantage of any and all opportunities to help my students practice English. For example, on the street, in the hall, in a classroom, and even on a basketball court. I play basketball with the basketball team every Tuesday so I can have some fun and teach them basketball terms．I hope by the end of this year, they will speak English with more confidence.

Here are some pictures of me co-teaching with Chia-Ling. I will post pictures of me co-teaching with Ashley later. We didn't have time to take pictures of our class this week.

Grade 6, Class 2

Chia-Ling and I explaining the Rabbit & Turtle Race Game. Basically, it's a game modeled after the American board game Candyland. However, in order to roll the dice, two students have to correctly say the dialog.

Two Grade 6, Class 2 students practicing a dialog:
Student 1: "How do you feel?"
Student 2: "I am sick. How do you feel?"
Student 1: "I am excited!"
The students get to choose out of the limited vocabulary words they are learning the emotion they are feeling (e.g. excited, tired, sick, bored, hungry, thirsty, sleepy)

Little first graders yelling, "BINGO!" We were playing BINGO with numbers...

Also, I've helped Chia-Ling set up her own website, check it out: www.chia-ling.weebly.com

Ashley has a website, too. Check it out: www.wretch.cc/blog/ashley53077

Thanks for reading!

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