Saturday, August 29, 2009

Almost Teaching

I got my teaching schedule!  The department finally decided who is teaching what classes.  I have:

Freshman oral English (2 sections)
Junior writing (2 sections)
Junior video (2 sections)

You may notice some irony here -- how is the girl who never watches movies teaching a movie class?  I will be learning along with my students and getting some help from my movie-savvy teammate.

Regarding my teaching schedule, here are some reflections on ways that China is NOT like the U.S.
1) China maybe flies by the seat of its pants.  I don't think an American department would feel comfortable making their class schedules 3 days before the start of classes, and I don't think American teachers would feel comfortable having only 3 days to plan their courses!

2) China is maybe not as information-hungry as the U.S.  As an American, there are lots of pieces of information I would like to know right now, such as: How many students will I have?  When is the October holiday?  When does the semester end? What does the department expect of me?  

But alas, this information-hungry American will just have to wait.  I have never even met or corresponded with any member of the department.  I have not been given class lists or textbooks.  I don't really know what's going on.  And it's OK!  It will all get figured out, and it's all in His hands.  Here's to a new start -- I'll be teaching my first class at 8 a.m. Monday morning. :)



2 comments:

  1. Alison,
    I am LOVING your blog! Will be thinking of you Monday as you start your classes and excited to see how it goes!! As we learned in the Military - 'Flexibility is the key to airpower'.... Looks like you are doing a lot of flexing!!!!

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  2. I still love that you're teaching a video class! How funny! Good luck figuring things out as they come up - you'll be great!

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