A Teacher in *almost* every way.

I apologize.  I've gone far too long without a post. 

The last week has been filled with classroom preparation, securing materials for experiments, writing lesson plans, and printing... oh so much printing.  Additionally, we have had some major issues with internet.  In fact, we are still having major issues with the internet here.  I hope we get them resolved soon. 

I am thankful for my coworkers and the ever positive attitude we have all tried to keep.  It has been somewhat stressful at times, highly confusing at others.  The Taiwanese attitude toward education is much different than what we are used to and sometimes it is hard to know how to react. 

Parental involvement is really high here.  Actually, I should say that mother involvement is really high.  I haven't seen or spoken to a single father but I have had my fair share of mothers - specifically the tiger mom variety.  My students are almost all incredibly intelligent and seem to be right on par with their American counterparts for the most part. 

This summer I am teaching an Art of English class to 9th and 10th grade students.  A class of 15, they are a smart bunch and they all seem to really love me and my class.  I am doing my best to teach them better writing and vocabulary skills.  The holy grail of all education and high school success here is the SAT.  People obsess over it.  We had one mom who tried to insist her two 7th grade sons be put into the SAT prep class.  For those of you who do not know, students take the SAT as a college entrance exam usually the summer before 12th grade.  It is impossible to prepare for the SAT without a solid and extensive foundation of English.  The students in my English class are in the final stages of developing the writing skills and reading comprehension to transition into an SAT prep class this fall or next year. 

In direct contrast to that I am teaching a 2nd grade Science and Story-time class.  It is a really small class with only 3 students but they are adorable and amazing in so many ways.  The youngest girl is actually only going into 1st grade.  When I first met her mom she told me things like, "She is so lazy," "She has no self-motivation," and "She is not very smart."  However, when I tested this little girl's reading abilities she cruised through words like accurately, frightened, amazing, and difficult.  She can also do triple digit addition and subtraction in her head faster than I can!  It is a little discouraging to see such a smart girl get put down so hard by her mother.  I hope I can be a positive and encouraging influence in this little girl's life.  Sometimes I just feel like sitting her down and telling her, "You are smart.  You are kind.  You are important." like Aibileen in The Help.

My little Angelie.  (She picked and spelled the princesses names all by herself.)

For the most part I end each day in a complete state of exhaustion.  It has been pretty hard to get my brain to shut down enough so I can go to sleep at night.  I have been putting everything I have into my teaching and it has paid off.  Many students were only signed up for the first week of classes so they could get a feel for things before they committed to the whole summer.  At least 3 of these students called to register for the rest of the summer within a half hour after the end of class on the first day.  I have been able to get a lot of positive feedback from the parents and my students.  I am thankful that my boss also recognizes the effort I am putting in as well as the results I have been receiving.  There is nothing more rewarding than knowing you are truly good at your job and someone else sees it. 

All of that being said, when this weekend comes I am going to want to have some fun!  Lesson plans are only fun for so long!  Although, I am going to watch Magic School bus with my little ones this week so I am looking forward to that! 

I had my first major moment of missing home this week.  My first day of teaching went so well and I had so much fun I really wanted to celebrate it with my family and friends.  I felt like an ice cream sundae was appropriate but they don't have custard shoppes here and most of my family and friends are back home.  However, I give a huge shout out and major hugs to all of those people who commented and supported me on facebook over the last couple of days.  I don't know that you guys understand how much it means to have that, it certainly helps a lot.  I wish I could send digital ice cream sundaes to everyone and we could all just plop down and dig in!  Actually, it would seem more appropriate to send you guys some mango bing.

More on that later.  There are lesson plans and then a nap calling my name!