I was observed several times when I was at RDFZ. I can’t say I’m a fan – especially in my first one – but it gets easier, and when you realise that foreign teachers teach in a different style to our own, it makes things a little easier. On Monday night, at about 20:00, I …
Category: CUFE
The student cries
So, it was bound to happen. As teachers, we all have good and bad weeks. This week was definitely in the latter category. And yet it also wasn’t. My lesson this week was an introduction to public speaking and it isn’t that good. It wasn’t terrible and the main task (one I did in my …
The Paper Trail
Last week, I finally finished all my exam paperwork. It was, to say the least, a somewhat mammoth task. We were told at the end of last semester that we would have to compile a portfolio (of seven documents) for each of our classes. That is six in total. We were sent a model of …
Another year, but has anything changed?
Although 8th March is officially International Women's Day, in China (at least at universities, or rather at least in my university), there is Girls' Day, the day before. I asked a student why this was and they told me that the idea of women implies a married woman, whereas Girls' Day does not have that implication. …
Familiar friends
My first week of the new semester has finished. My class sizes seem to be more equal than last semester (29 or 30 students in each class), including several familiar friends, students who I taught last semester. Last week's lesson went over old ground for those students - going through rules of the classroom, what …
Job done!
I have taught my last class of the semester. At the end, after the exam, I gave my students a feedback sheet I’d produced myself. This is so I can get some insight into what they have enjoyed, what they haven’t, why, and what they would change. Students are often reluctant to give criticism, but …
Exam trouble
This week has been the final week of classes for me and the students have done their final listening exam (they’d already done their speaking exam). I had a meeting last Wednesday, whereby I collected the answer sheets. The exam was all multiple choice. The students had to select the correct answer (a, b, c …
