Busy Busy Busy

With the trip home coming up soon, I've been busy as a bee trying to tie up everything at work. The other foreign teachers are going to be covering my classes for me so it's my job to get the lesson plans in order for them. As most of you know, I am a bit obsessive-compulsive. This makes handing over my kids to another teacher very difficult. I have very set ways I do things, these kids are in a nice groove. I fear they will do poorly if they don't have that consistency. I am being silly. The other teachers are very good and the kids will probably enjoy the change...

When I mentioned to them that one of the other teachers will be teaching them, they weren't happy. This makes me feel pretty good. Perhaps these kids are enjoying the classes as much as I am? I do work very hard and try to be the kind of teacher that these kids will always remember fondly. I make it a point to be as "human" as possible...I am far from perfect and I think the kids like the fact that I am sorta goofy.

I know I have said this a zillion times but I have to say the Chinese teachers that I work with are incredible. I have learned so much from them. Eileen, one of the outstanding teachers, has helped me soooo much. Her teaching style is impressive. She works at a furious pace and keeps the kids attention at all times, good stuff. She has been teaching my 1093 class once a month in order to help with some of the really difficult grammar points the kids are encountering. When you get up into the higher levels, sometimes the kids need to revert to Chinese to ask questions and get a more clear explanation. As much as I hate to have them use Chinese in class, it's more important that they grasp the concepts. It's great that I have Eileen to help me with this. I have all the confidence in the world that the kids are getting rock-solid help from her.