Chinese Proverb: He who returns from a journey is not the same as he who left.
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My Taiwan Adventure
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Grilling grading
I've been raked over the coals. It's 7 pm and I'm FINALLY finished my grades. Finally they are entered. Finally I can close my eyes without seeing rows of numbers, letters, and comments.
I make it a rule not to push my brain out of it's natural brain lead for extended periods of time. Grading season controvenes those rules. I try to be gentle with myself and not stress out about it, but I had to constantly dodge the administration here because everytime they saw one of us foreign teachers the questions were always about grades. It's been stressful to say the least, but it is OVER!
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One of my grade four classes finally suceeded in making me actually cry. It wasn't my scheduled class but I wanted to drop off their exams with their home-room teacher. When the students saw me they didn't know what to do because the dean was teaching them. I just made the finger on the lips signal for quiet and went to talk to their teacher.
She stood and after a second the whole class snapped to attention while the home-room teacher led me to the front of the class. The dean stopped his lesson and stood aside as the class say in unison "Good Afternoon Teacher." This is the normal way class starts and I respond "Good Afternoon Students." They then proceed to recite, "May your family always be healthy and happy and may your future be filled with good fortune." I was then presented with a gift and a card.
If you understood the English level of these children you'd know how special the gesture was. I am still stunned and touched. They had a chop made for me in English out of venetian glass. It has a rooster at the top - which is the chinese zodiac character for this year. Normally it is done with your birth animal, but the kids don't know my age, besides this is the year I was born as a teacher. I am going to miss these kids alot.
Tomorrow I have to plow through the avalanche of paper that is my desk. I'm taking as much personal stuff home as I can tonight. I'm off to nurse my hurting brain for a bit.
Looking forward to a little bit of Canada.
Teacher Destiny.
I make it a rule not to push my brain out of it's natural brain lead for extended periods of time. Grading season controvenes those rules. I try to be gentle with myself and not stress out about it, but I had to constantly dodge the administration here because everytime they saw one of us foreign teachers the questions were always about grades. It's been stressful to say the least, but it is OVER!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One of my grade four classes finally suceeded in making me actually cry. It wasn't my scheduled class but I wanted to drop off their exams with their home-room teacher. When the students saw me they didn't know what to do because the dean was teaching them. I just made the finger on the lips signal for quiet and went to talk to their teacher.
She stood and after a second the whole class snapped to attention while the home-room teacher led me to the front of the class. The dean stopped his lesson and stood aside as the class say in unison "Good Afternoon Teacher." This is the normal way class starts and I respond "Good Afternoon Students." They then proceed to recite, "May your family always be healthy and happy and may your future be filled with good fortune." I was then presented with a gift and a card.
If you understood the English level of these children you'd know how special the gesture was. I am still stunned and touched. They had a chop made for me in English out of venetian glass. It has a rooster at the top - which is the chinese zodiac character for this year. Normally it is done with your birth animal, but the kids don't know my age, besides this is the year I was born as a teacher. I am going to miss these kids alot.
Tomorrow I have to plow through the avalanche of paper that is my desk. I'm taking as much personal stuff home as I can tonight. I'm off to nurse my hurting brain for a bit.
Looking forward to a little bit of Canada.
Teacher Destiny.
Posted by T. Destiny in Taiwan at 7:02 PM 
