preparing for interview with recruiters

[leenmafia]

thank u! Ok...will do that now. Do let me know if any one of you used the lesson plan and how it goes ok?

[gfell]

Thanks for sharing. Your lesson plan is one of the best I've seen for a long time.

[exported_kiwi]

Yep, was a great lesson plan, well done! Please bear in mind that these congrats are coming from one who has prepared a grand total of about 2 lesson plans since arriving in China in mid 2004. I kinda make em in my head on the day, and "feel" the class to see if they're gonna work or not. I won't bother with submitting plans etc beforehand because, like many things in life, the plan only lasts the first 30 seconds before it's blown.... in my classes anyway and that's the way I like it.... happy, spontaneous and informative.

As you may have surmised, I'm kinda really informal in my approach to teaching and doing paperwork (zero) but it works and the students learn, take time to study and are constantly bugging me for more time so they can learn more...... it's the way this crazy Kiwi works and it works for this crazy Kiwi.

A few cents more, although I should be giving my coins to alla the beggars over here!
Peace y'all!

[gfell]

Well, glad to hear you can create good lessons without actually writing a lesson plan. Probably because you have the experience and you know the students' level prior.

Whilst you are not committing to a written lesson plan, I'm sure as you enter the classroom you have a fair idea of what to do, what page to turn to, what to write on the board and so on.

[exported_kiwi]

Surprisingly, I don't know the kids level, for the first time, until I walk into the class for the first time! I do the standard Q & A session to gauge what their level is and then think of a terms worth of subjects based on that level. I change as they change, as their level gets higher and they come out of their shells more. It usually takes some time as most here would know to get them to be comfortable with you etc.

As for textbooks, don't use em unless they're actually a part of the schools curriculum. What to write on the board, depends on me and the subject du jour!

It's my way, works for me and yeah, been here a few years, so I have a clue, maybe, perhaps, I dunno, we'll see.

A few more cents!

[leenmafia]

Thanx exported_kiwi. I can't teach anything without at least some plans so it's great that you can do that

[exported_kiwi]

I do have a plan, trust me on that! The thing is that with plans, it's too easy to be too rigid and that's something I don't like to be. We all have our own teaching styles, no one way is right just as no one way is wrong. Mine works for me but possibly wouldn't work for someone else so I don't extol the virtues of it for anyone else but me.

Usually, I have a clear idea of what I want to achieve in the class and it's not uncommon to achieve it, but I also make allowances for the most difficult of variables....... the students and their personalities and differences. No one lesson is going to be suitable for them all so when I go in there and say hi etc, I kind of gauge the mood and go from there. This way I can include them all, and they feel included which is part of the battle when teaching I guess, making them feel that they actually belong there. It kind of empowers them and in doing so, makes them try that little bit harder, push themselves a little more.

I don't want them to learn because they like me, or not, as the case may be. I want them to learn because, God knows, it's gonna be a crap future out there if they have a pitiful education. None of them want to be a cab driver or a waiter, but it's inevitable that some will be sadly. Guess that's a market economy for ya huh? I just try and give them the will to learn, the means to learn and the environment to build confidence. Doing this doesn't need a lesson plan persay. It needs empathy and a heart. It also needs discipline and a willingness to wield the stick when, and if, necessary. I manage to combine good cop bad cop roles and in doing so, they learn, lesson plan or not.

I'm not gifted, nor am I special. I'm just me and this is the way I teach. Those who use lesson plans are no worse, or better. They have their own style and students and they know best what works for them. We're all just different and thank God, or it'd be a damned boring ole world wouldn't it! Also, as a final thought, if we were all the same, would any of us be actually adding anything to China, adding value to the students lives....and lets face it, that's what we're here to do isn't it? That is unless you're one of those beer swilling miscreants that come here to get drunk, get laid and get fired every couple of months because you were trash back home, so why shouldn't you be so here as well!

Just a thought!
A few cents more,

[leenmafia]

I agree with you that it's easy to be too rigid but that would only happen IF you follow through a lesson plan word for word. From my teaching experience, about 90% of the time I had to adapt the lesson plan to suit the students' mood for that certain day. It's almost impossible to expect that the students will do what you want them to do. After all its not called a 'plan' for nothing...

If a lesson gets too boring, ANY teacher would do what you would do (which is to change the pace or maybe alternate the activities with some others) because it would be pointless to follow through with something that no one is interested in the first place now wouldn't it?

Now that's my two dollars worth.

[exported_kiwi]

Hells bells, you've got 2 dollars, hows about sending it over here. The damned beggars are making me impoverished and now I have very few cents left, well, between them and the missus anyways.

Yeah leena, we haveta change the plan of attack once we sense the mood etc, no point in flogging them with something that they're not intersted in, or isn't going anywhere.
Hope all goes well!

1 cent worth (coz I'm going broke and will need a mortgage on my soul for the next few cents worth)

[leenmafia]

Hi all! Happy New Year! Just wanted to let you guys know that I've been selected for the second interview! The interview will be within this month, either 2nd or 3rd week of Jan.