After an interesting trip back, we are now home sleeping in our soft beds, using wash cloths when we bathe, eating foods that we craved and trying to get our sleep schedules back to normal. Allyson and I took well over 2100 pictures, which I will sort through now and try to finish reporting on the final days of our trip.
Our last day teaching in Changchun began by boarding the bus for school again at 7:15. Our return to the workroom after teaching our first classes involved being accompanied by many of our students who wanted pictures with us. (Allyson and I have already received emails from our new Chinese student e-pals!) Many of our students seemed genuinely sad to see us go.
We were then treated to observe a very talented woman teach an English class. She used a Powerpoint presentation and employed some familiar strategies…talk with a partner, brainstorming, webbing, and much encouragement and praise. After that, we observed a music class during which the teacher made every effort to include us in his lesson. His students played and sang American songs and invited us to sing to them. We taught them the old song “Make New Friends” and enjoyed hearing them sing it in a round.
English class
After a lunch of Kentucky Fried Chicken in our “workroom” (our first American food in China!), we taught our final lessons to our Chinese students. Again, many students accompanied us back to our room seeking pictures and final good-byes. We then attended an English Club meeting during which we enjoyed circulating between groups to talk with many students in English. After a guest appearance by a local rock star, we observed a Phys. Ed. class. As before, the teacher included us by having her students invite us to dance and then featured us in a very energetic and long Bunny Hop.
Phys. Ed. class
Paula then presented an overview of our school system to a group of Chinese teachers. The Chinese audience asked many questions and were especially curious about the length of our school day and how we are “assigned” extra curricular duties. During our farewell dinner, many kind words were shared. We were given gifts including the official winter school uniforms. We were feeling sad to face leaving our new colleagues and friends. We returned to our hotel to try to stuff all that we had accumulated into one checkable suitcase.
Comments