Cut and Pastiche

I am definitely not posting with the frequency that I would prefer. I wonder if my lack of writing contributes to a sense of feeling overwhelmed with thoughts that I want to communicate; I also wonder if the converse is not true in that the vast number of topics I want to discuss and stories I want to relay make it impossible to focus my writing.

China Study: Case File SZ019 ("To Teach...")

 This blog post is a continuation of my last two posts.

Maoist salute at a Yao-ist temple

From discussing with other foreign English teachers our respective primary students' level of comprehension and ability, I am aware that my students are far below average. Initially, I viewed this to be a challenge. I had no false premonition that I could be a Superman teacher that would push their English language skills to new heights; I did hope that I could at least be a Clark Kent justly encouraging development and helping ever-so-rarely but ever-so-significantly. Within a month of working at my school, I realized I would be closer to a Jimmy Olson: always on the outside reflecting what is happening through a lens of biased perception and sometimes frustrated with my own inabilities in the face of adversity.

Low comprehension and ability is difficult to address with the vast number of students in a class. And, I only see each class once a week--just enough time to keep plugging away with the limited city-wide (maybe nation-wide) text books (each chapter just long enough to fill a 40 minute class).

In lieu of the past posts (including this one), my personal obstacles in my workplace include: my students' language limits, my inexperience, differences in culture, and my own emotions--whether reactive to the environment (i.e. sadness and sympathy for suppressed students) or lingering from my life outside of work.