Name: Eddie Mills
I'm a teacher in Haikou City, Hainan Province. My family and I have lived in Hainan since 1993. We've throughly enjoyed teaching in Hainan and believe Hainan is a wonderful place for any dedicated teacher.
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Communicate or Complicate (Public Speech)
By: Clement
Carl Rogers says, "Once you achieve good communication with yourself, you can communicate more freely and effectively with others" All Great leaders are effective speakers. If a leader cannot speak effectively, the followers will miss direction. Effective speech can perform miracles. Leaders are selected because of their efficiency in communication. People respect effective speakers. Poor communication causes a lot of problems at all levels. If a speaker fails to communicate, no amount of educational degrees can compensate the loss. It is not how long you speak, but how you speak. An effective communicator consumes less time and delivers more messages whereas an ineffective communicator consumes more time and delivers nothing. Communication is a skill to be developed by toiling and sweating. Here I would like point out only the most prominent aspects of an effective public speech. 1. Focus on audience Present your subject according to time, occasion and the mood of the audience. Don’t overstep your time limit or you will lose the attention of the audience. They should always long more for your speech. Sometimes, people give a great applause because they feel relieved from the hyperactive speaker and not out of appreciation. After-lunch session is known as graveyard session. Be very alert. 2. Selection of words Too many snobbish words tend to leave any sort of people exhausted. So a speaker should be watchful of the selection words. 3. Sense of humor No person, in the whole world, hates humor. But making others laugh is the supreme gift. Not all are conferred with this gift. But speakers must try to possess it. People do pay a lot of attention to humorous people. We are living in a hectic world, which has forgotten to laugh. People love to listen to those who can make them forget their worries for a while. If a speaker wants to be effective, sense of humor is the unique tool to be used. Many a time, a joke has nothing to do with the topic. But to relieve the tension and break the ice, it is always welcome. People always love when you share some foolish mistakes you made in your life. 4. Culture and habits 5. Body language 6. Stress and Pause 7. Don’t let your notes become your snare. 8. Don’t yell 9. Share some anecdotes and stories 10. Learn from your mistakes
A speaker should be aware of the kind of audience he is going to deal with. A speaker faces different types of audience like children, teenagers, young men, married men and old men. Unless the presentation changes according to the expectations and interests of the age group, the precious time is going to be wasted. You can’t speak to the teenagers as you do to the children. If an orator knows this art of changing the style, he will be a hit anywhere he goes. Present your material according to the needs of the audience.
Words kindle an individual’s imagination. Every word that proceeds from the mouth of the speaker creates pictures. The right word at the right time will accomplish its purpose. Being a teacher for the past 10 years, I have spoken to all kinds of people. All I have learnt is that a speaker should learn to use apt words. A topic can be presented in different aspects to different types of people. Only a resourceful communicator can reach out to the hearts of the audience. Sometimes, people, who are considered to be erudite, are not able to magnetize the audience. Words are to be changed according to the temperament of audience one faces. Any exhilarating topic could be made the most tedious one by an orator who does not know the value of words. The dullest subject could be made the most inspiring one by a speaker who knows when and how to speak.
I read this recently,
"How is your wife?"
"Compared with whose?"
Culture and belief systems vary from person to person. A speaker should pay extra attention not to hurt any member of the audience. If the personal beliefs are hurt, then nobody will respect the speaker in spite of all the efforts. It is better to avoid sensitive issues like religion and politics.
Body language is equally important to verbal language. Verbal language doesn’t carry any meaning without effective body language. Body language has the power the attract the attention of the listeners. Positive body language is easily understood. Hand gestures do play a vital role in deciding the success of the speech. People understand better when proper body language accompanies. All successful speakers know what body language to use and what not. If a speaker doesn’t care about it, he fails to create an impression. A warm, welcoming smile is an essential ingredient of an agreeable personality. Never forget to smile.
An effective communicator must know to deliver his speech with necessary pause and stress. A speech, without stress and pause, will have no effect on audience.
To demonstrate the fluency of language, some speakers speak so fast. But if people don’t understand your message, all your pains are washed out. You must make sure, every now and then, if the audience follows your speech. It is always good to ask some questions to make sure that your words are understood and appreciated. Sometimes a pause conveys better message than 100 words.
It is imperative that any speaker prepares well. It is crucial that you have some notes. But don’t let your notes grab your attention more than the audience. If you keep looking at your notes, the listeners will lose interest in your speech. People, who keep eye contact with the notes much of the time, lose the eye contact of the people. They feel neglected. Once people realize that you love your notes so much, they lose interest in you. Don’t try to present every point you have noted down. There is nothing wrong if you miss some and give your audience the gist. People want you to speak. People should never realize that you take a look at your notes.
Some speakers and preachers believe that yelling makes a speech more effective. That is absolutely not true. Yelling makes the audience sick. You will tire yourself out. Some people yell more that the people feel more conscious of the noise than the speech. Then the speaker becomes a comedian. Don’t raise your voice too much. The level of your tone should be attractive. Make sure that the volume of your mike is not irritating to the audience’s ears. It is always better to check the volume before you start. At the same time, don’t speak with a low tone.
A suitable story is more than hundreds of concepts. All age group people like stories. When a speaker shares an appropriate anecdote, the effect is stronger and deeper. You can collect these from newspapers and magazines. When you speak about customer handling skills, you must share some experiences of those who handle customers. Reference to day-to-day events makes your speech lively.
I read somewhere ‘whenever you fall, pick up something’. Not all speeches become successful. We all make mistakes. But we must try to avoid the mistake, which we made in the past. Every speech should be better than the previous one. There is nothing wrong in learning from successful speakers. But don’t imitate them. Listen to successful people. Identify the ingredients of the speech that enchant the audience. Add that quality in your speech.
Posted By: Ellis E. Seamone - Veteran ESL teacher of 13+ years - mail to: lernemgood@aol.com
Much like any field of endeavor, ESL can eventually show signs of wear and tear on a teacher's powers of concentration, enthusiasm, and delivery. The major problem, from what I have observed, is merely a normal process of erosion which practically all humans experience with both time and repetition. When I was teaching (only) grammar day after day, I began to recognize signs of wear and tear on my attitude, not to mention that of my students. Of course, practically all ESL students positively abominate the subject of grammar. Ergo, if it indeed affects them in such an adverse manner, then why not the instructors as well? After all, we are not gods. Then again, there is no rationale to this when considering a teacher's commitment to fostering the highest educational standards of his/her students. Nonetheless, how many of us are willing to own up to the fact that we, the stalwart conveyers of knowledge, DO arrive at the stage where we resent the seemingly endless repetition of our sworn educational task. On the other hand, accepting that repetition is, indeed, a paramount necessity of the learning process, I have noticed, while reading the complaint sections of various online ESL teachers' sources, that some instructors located in places such as China and Korea mention their deep depression ... even thoughts of suicide. In turn, most of the readers have suggested counseling, mental therapy, suppressants, long-distance running ... even a serious return to God. Still others have placed the blame on a desperate desire to return home to Mommy. I truly empathize with these desperately unhappy folks, yet I begin to wonder whether their unenviable plight is really a combination of simple boredom via workload repetition, and residing in a land where English-speakers are rarely found to help make the wounds of loneliness more tolerable. Can the job actually get to the point of abetting psychologically destructive thinking? Who is REALLY to say? As for THIS veteran of 13+ years of experiencing both the good, the bad, and the ugly aspects of ESL, my dear wife has learned to carefully hide all weapons each evening before I return home from work! VIVA ESL!
Although of mature years and experienced in dealing with young children, I am a new English teacher working in China so I am very much in the stage where I am gaining classroom experience that many other teachers may scoff at. However, I have encountered what, in China, could have been a situation with extremely serious consequences. Now, I can tell the story and make it sound immensely amusing - or potentially tragic - you decide which.
I was recently teaching a group of Chinese primary school children in Henan Province, China. I taught this group for about a month, each morning, seven days each week, from eight thirty until ten o clock, with a break of around twenty minutes between teaching sessions. The class took place in a very large government school with a normal student capacity of around three thousand. The school was officially closed for the summer holidays but was used for a few extra-curricular classes, particularly those which taught English. On the day in question there was only one other class in progress and that was in a building about four hundred metres away.
I had one classroom building entirely to myself. My students and I occupied one classroom that had been specially set aside for us on the first floor, whilst all the other classrooms on the same floor were locked up. None of the regular school staff were on duty - it was, after all, their holiday too! I was one adult alone with a bunch of small kids.
There were exactly thirty children in the class, twenty-two of whom were girls. This disparity between girls and boys in extra-curricular English classes seems to be the norm in China, though I never have found out why.
Their ages ranged from seven years up to ten years. They were a very nice bunch of children who all acted precisely as you would expect children of that age to act - generally very well, sometimes badly, but always with a great deal of well-meant humour. They were all decently raised children and they did not appear to have a bad thought in their heads. There were a few fiercely whispered disputes and occasionally a dig or two, but they usually resolved their disagreements on their own and very quickly by the simple expedient that one of the protagonists went and sat in an empty desk on the other side of the classroom and refused to speak to the other. Only once did I have to intervene in a juvenile dispute. I got to the stage where I could silence a child just by looking at him or her over the top of my glasses and growling.
My job was to increase their English vocabulary and teach them very simple conversational phrases and rhymes. They were not able to hold conversations in English and I am unable to speak Chinese. However, they very soon understood such commands as "Be Quiet!"; "Sit Still!; "You - sit there!"; "Stop doing that!" and "No W.C.!" In short, very basic communication was soon established but nothing even remotely capable of dealing with what was to happen on this particular day.
The job of increasing their vocabulary proceeded quite well, most of the children paid due attention and some did not. Some became very good with their pronunciations and others remained lousy at it. As time went on, we all got to know each other and they all came to trust me. I ran the class in the manner of a benign tyrant. If they behaved well and studied properly, they found I was a nice, friendly man, but those who played around, found they had to deal with a merciless adversary.
The good kids all knew I was Mr Good-Guy, especially during break when they all tried their prowess at elbow-wrestling with me two or three at a time, or being thrown up in the air and caught at the last minute on the way down. They enjoyed having their arms twisted and even more they enjoyed being swung round in a circle held only by their wrists. Indeed, a number of them would queue up endlessly for this kind of treatment. They blew plastic bubbles and stuck them on the lenses of my glasses, which caused them huge amusement. In other words they looked on me as a nice friendly man and many of them had never even seen a foreigner in their entire lives let alone being taught by one. To have one playing with them was definitely a high point for some of the children.
The others tried to muscle in too, but the children formed their own pecking order of preference and the good kids far outnumbered the bad kids. Not surprisingly, the bad kids had their work cut out to get close to me for this kind of fun - but those who did had their share also. I was under no illusions about all this attention I was getting during their break - I was being tested all the while. They were finding out both as individuals and as a group, just how far they could go with me.
I have repeatedly found that children of this age do not like to make their own decisions but prefer to be ordered around. It is much better in their minds when they are in the control of someone who treats them positively and firmly but at the same time is known to be non-violent and sympathetic. It did not take them long to find out how to "work" me. Once this rapport was established, the class settled down to a mixture of serious study and playing of games.
In the first session of each day, before the break, they sat at their desks and were taught to read a blackboard full of English words in parrot fashion. The words were categorised into subjects such as, "In the Home"; "In School" "In the Street" - and so on. My goal was to teach these children to recognise and read about three hundred English words along with a number of nursery rhymes.
I did this in the pre-break 'formal' sessions by having them read all the words time and time again and then I started to draw circles around the ones they continued to have trouble with and to erase those they got to read well. I tested these by having individual children reading groups of words so that I could see and hear which words were learned well enough for that session. Then every so often, I would erase a few words to accompanying cheers from the class. This process of elimination became a matter of great pride on the part of the children. It would take around forty-five minutes and I swindled it slightly so that by the time their break came around, the blackboard had only twenty or so words left for them to master.
Surprisingly, they very quickly learned the big words, such as. "hippopotamus"; "volleyball", "television", "refrigerator"; "aircraft-carrier" and "washing-machine" but they often got stuck on words like "knife"; "knee", "saucer", and "violin". I did however leave the big words until the very last, because they all enjoyed reading them, so I pretended they were not reading them well enough. This allowed the children to read these words more times and they could eventually finish off the blackboard in a crescendo of big words triumphantly shouted as I rubbed them out one by one.
On return from their break, they knew that they could play a game (similar to musical chairs) once they cleared the blackboard of the remaining words (including the big ones). The second session was of fifty minutes duration and I ensured that twenty or thirty of those minutes were occupied in reading the difficult words left over from the first session. Once this was done, I had the children carry their stools out of the room onto a nearby open landing area and form a large circle. I sat slightly inside the circle and tapped rapidly on my stool with a stick. The children passed an old towel tied up into a ball around from one to the next and when I stopped tapping my stool, the one who was caught with the towel had to come and stand next to me and read a page full of English words out loud while everyone else listened. The words of course were from the vocabulary collection. The children enjoyed this game enormously and never tired of playing it. Some children - who in the classroom were quiet, shy little things - turned into raging tigers during this game.
The Dragonfly flew into the classroom one day just after break, about ten days before the class was due to finish. Chinese dragonflies can be very large things and some of them are of alarming appearance. This one was the size of a small fighter airplane and performed in a similar manner. It had a body around three inches long and a wingspan that was probably approaching six inches. It had a full array of feelers and other appendages bristling out of it and was brightly coloured. It's wings didn't buzz, they hummed deeply. It was a truly impressive and indeed, fearsome-looking insect.
However, it was out of its element and knew it - but it was not able to find the open window through which it had entered the room and flew around just below the ceiling. At first, the children each just kept one eye on it and read the words on the blackboard with their other eye at the same time. The classroom had windows on each side of the room from the ceiling down to about waist-height and running the full length of each side.
Soon, the dragonfly began to seek its escape more urgently and rapidly became frantic. It began flying from one side of the room to the other banging against the windows all along the room. In the process it began dive-bombing in and around the children.
Not surprisingly, that was the end of organised study for that day.
As the dragonfly flew from one side of the room to the other, up against the windows, the children began to run back and forth to the opposite sides. This happened maybe three or four times, with the children surging increasingly nervously and noisily back and forth from one side of the classroom to the other and then back again, clambering around, under and over the desks and chairs.. Things were rapidly heading from bad, to worse.
The poor dragonfly meant no-one any harm, it just wanted to get out of the room. Unfortunately and without any obvious decision-making process, my entire class of thirty children all decided in the same instant that they wanted to leave the room too - but all at once and all through the same door. Their next surge to that side of the classroom saw them all head for the door with great purpose.
Unfortunately for them, the door opened inwards, which meant that with the press of bodies against it, it wouldn't open at all. At this stage. it would have been possible to regain control of them and get them to move back from the door to let them out of the room - but at this point the dragonfly zoomed right in among the crowd. It hummed around their legs, up under dresses and skirts, its wings and appendages fluttering against their legs. Then, next moment it was flying around their heads and in their faces. Then it was down amongst them again and in very short order none of the children knew where the dragonfly was or who and where it would strike next.
With this, the situation turned genuinely very dangerous indeed, for most of the children exploded into shrieking hysterics and redoubled their attempts to get out of the classroom. They began fighting and tearing at each other with a deadly seriousness. As fast as I pulled them away from the outside of the crowd so I could try to reach the door, they all shoved their way back again. The noise was unbelievable and I was genuinely surprised to find how strong and aggressive young children can be in such a situation.
The fly soon flew out of the crowd but it had been hurt and couldn't fly properly so I was able to catch it in a duster. I was then able to bring most of the children back to some sort of order. I had to ceremoniously eject the fly through a window so they could all see that it had gone.
Then I was faced with the aftermath.
There was no other adult around to help me. I was alone in a near-deserted school in a foreign country, with thirty distraught and frightened children, some of whom were injured and none of whom I could hold a conversation with.
The children had simply stampeded in a blind panic. They were all in a very emotional state, quite a few were crying hard. Some of them were hurt though not too badly but one girl, the smallest in the class, had been knocked to the floor at the base of the door and had been comprehensively kicked and stamped on. All the fingers on one of her hands were badly lacerated and she had cuts and bruises to her face and legs. Also, she was in a terrible state of hysterics, screaming at the top of her voice. As classroom injuries go, this was quite serious and required immediate attention. Had the school have been operational, she would have been taken to hospital straight away. There was a fair amount of blood, which although not of serious proportions, nevertheless further alarmed both the victim herself and many of the other children. Another girl sat in shock at a desk for the rest of the period and would not speak or move. She stared into space, trembling slightly.
I had no first-aid facilities, so I had to clean the trampled girl's wounds with water from various drinking bottles. I wrapped up her lacerated fingers with clean paper handkerchiefs that nearly all the children had in quantity, and secured these "dressings" with sellotape commandeered from one child's pencil-box. Fortunately, I was able to ascertain that the girl did not appear to have any fingers broken.
Other children needed minor attention too and for the next thirty minutes the classroom was like a juvenile field hospital. Some of the girls, without being told, assumed the roles of "nurses" quite spontaneously and in fact were a great help, as they were able to calm down some of the others. Gradually the situation returned to a state of relative emotional calm.
The classroom had been comprehensively wrecked. I got some of the boys to restore the desks and chairs back to their proper positions whilst books, bags, umbrellas, coats and other sundry possessions were collected and reunited with their owners.
I got the children, all of whom were now quiet except for a few sobs and sniffs here and there, to sit at their desks. I then walked up and down between them, patting heads and smiling at them, examining bumps and scratches and saying a few gentle words to them all in turn. After a few minutes they all seemed to be recovering somewhat - except for the girl who was still in a trance.
The incident was over.
Then the bell sounded the end of the class for that day and those who were least affected by the incident duly roared off to their parents (who were required to wait in the street outside the school gates). I walked the same route amidst a group of subdued and dishevelled children - all of them girls. The one with the lacerated fingers wouldn't leave my side and the one who was in a trance had to be carried. She however, came instantly alive when she saw her father waiting at the gate. She burst into loud crying and rushed into his arms.
Fortunately, the first children to leave the classroom had arrived at the gates two or three minutes earlier and blurted out what had happened. Although none of the parents had yet understood clearly, they nevertheless knew that some big disaster had occurred up in the classroom. So I told various parents the full story translated by a Chinese colleague who had been waiting to drive me away from the school. I stayed around for the singular purpose of telling parents in a proper way, what had happened to their children. Whilst I was in no way seeking hero-worship, I will confess to having a nice warm feeling from their appreciation.
The next morning most of the children were waiting as usual when I arrived for the class and I received quite a few chocolate bars, peaches and bags of crisps by way of gifts. The father of the girl with the lacerated fingers then arrived with his daughter - who by this time had obviously had professional medical attention to her hand and face. He spent a few minutes giving the class a big speech in Chinese - following which they all cheered. He then revealed that the heavy parcel he was carrying was a case of beer which he gave to me, bowed deeply, said "Thank you" in well-rehearsed (and therefore, perfect) English and left.
I turned to survey my band of war-torn children, all of whom were smiling up at me. They all sat silently and I smiled back at them. One girl then pointed at the blackboard behind me and I turned around to see the previous day's difficult and big words still written on it.
From behind me her small voice said "Washing-Machine" and then another voice said "Refrigerator" and another said "Hippopotamus". The whole class then took it up of their own accord and the room reverberated.
It was a moving moment.
However, the point of all this is that I suddenly found myself in a situation that was not my fault. It can happen to any teacher who deals with primary school children, and when thirty small children go on a panic-driven rampage, there is no stopping them. In the classroom that day, one or more of those children could very easily have been seriously hurt or even killed. I realised that I was utterly unprepared to deal with even the smallest of injuries. No-one to help me. No first aid facilities anywhere near me. As a result, when I next go to teach a primary school class in a generally deserted school - I shall definitely carry with me a small first-aid kit and at the start of the course of lessons I shall first ascertain where I can go for fast assistance - even if it is merely for someone who can speak the language. It was potentially a teacher's nightmare.
The End
Are you an extraordinary teacher?
Posted By: Clement -- Date: 29 July 2004
Be An Extraordinary Teacher!
“Good teachers are those who know how little they know. Bad teachers are those who think they know more than they don't know."
R. VerdiTeaching profession is not so simple as people think. Not all teachers enjoy the profession. Only a few enjoy every minute of it. Because teaching involves motivation, adapting oneself, tolerance, perseverance and maintaining positive attitude. We remember some of our teachers with gratitude even after so many years because they have left a profound impact on our lives. If you just contemplate over this, you will be able to recognize the secrets of success. Your experience alone will not make you a great teacher. A young teacher can amaze the students whereas a veteran can still struggle to win the hearts of students. The difference is the approach and attitude.
We used to wait for some teachers’ arrival and hated so many teachers. Being teachers, every one of us should introspect our own performance. The students love to express their love and affection for you.
I hate to think of those who were so arrogant and insensitive towards me. What does a teacher need to impress the students and enjoy their profession?
"What the teacher is, is more important than what he teaches."
Karl Menninger
1. Look pleasant
The first impression is the lasting impression. You will never get a second chance to create the first impression. Students create a picture of your personality looking at your appearance. They are very much sensitive in this matter. I still remember some of my teachers who didn’t bother to dress up well. The grungy look made me sick.Many students adore their teachers. They want you to look good. Some try to dress up like Hollywood stars which actually fail to create a good impression. Formal dresses are sufficient. Your dress should reflect your personality.
2. Smile
‘It is easier to smile than to frown. It takes only 14 muscles to smile but 52 to frown’
Your smile is a precious gift. Smile is curve that sets everything straight. Many teachers fear that if they smile, the students will not respect. When you fail to smile at them, no one will feel comfortable with you. Smile is a bridge that connects the space between you and your students. Smile is not gesture of weakness but pleasantness. Take a look at your photos – your smiling face always glistens. Your smile attracts your students.
3. Keep your knowledge sharp "Your best teacher is your last mistake."
Ralph NaderWhen you label yourself a teacher, you must be knowledgeable in your subject. If the students know that you are not confident, the respect for you will diminish. It is quite common. I have felt pity for some of my colleagues because they couldn’t win the hearts of the students due to lack of knowledge. If a teacher finds out that he/she lacks of knowledge, hard efforts are to be taken to enhance the knowledge.
One of my colleagues in the college had difficulty with his English grammar and the students started complaining about it. This complaint spread to all the other departments. People started talking about it. I asked him to spend extra time to prepare the lessons and improve his knowledge but he least bothered about it. As a result, he lost his respect among the colleagues and students.
‘ The man who can think and does not know how to express what he thinks is at the level of him who cannot think’
It is not the amount of knowledge a teacher possesses but how he is able to transfer his knowledge to the students.
4. Be Patient
‘Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain cool and unruffled under all circumstances’ – Thomas Jefferson
Losing temper is the bitter enemy of a teacher. If you fail to control your temper, you fail to control your students. All teachers have to face some bad experiences but you can’t lose your temper. Whenever I lost my temper, I got a very poor feedback from the students and they remembered that particular instance for a long period of time.
You can always convey your displeasure by uttering some strong but careful words. Too many slipshod words will depreciate your personality.
‘Anger is an instinctive emotional response to frustration. Temper is the measure of how quickly you respond to your anger’.
Get angry but control your temper.
5. Be Creative
The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. - Proust, MarcelCreativity is a product of genius. ‘Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety nine percent perspiration’.
Creativity is the result of hard work and the determination to prove oneself. Observe the successful teachers and learn the art of creativity. Any person can be creative. All you need is the enthusiasm to grow. Change your teaching methodology according to the needs of your customers (students). Any organization that does not identify the requirements and respond to it aptly will lose its reputation. It is the same with your profession.
6. Listen
“Being listened to is great feeling Being understood is even greater
There is a powerful message in listening – ‘you are worth listening to’.-W.W. Johnston
Listen to your students. Don’t judge by what you see. A teacher should never feel that he knows everything and the students are all dumb. Their suggestions will enhance your performance. A teacher, who neglects the suggestions of the students, seldom shines.
7. Appreciate
Appreciation is the everlasting gift that one can give to another. You can never see any improvement in the performance of your students, if you never appreciate. Whether young or old, appreciation is an elixir of life. It helps the students improve their performance.
Words like,‘Great’, ‘terrific’, ‘congratulations’, ‘keep it up’ work wonders in classrooms especially in front of everybody.
8.Never be biased
Once a teacher is considered ‘biased’, he/ she loses the precious opportunity to become an extraordinary one. Treat all the same way. Don’t concentrate only the intelligent ones. The weaker ones need your support. Don’t be pulled by the brilliant lot all the time. The patients need the doctor. Spend more time with the weaker ones.
9.Be a model
Actions speak louder than words. So take care every action in front of your students who really expect you to behave better. When students come and tell you that they have learnt to art of living from you, there is nothing equal to it. Be very watchful about following what you teach and preach. Once they come to know that your actions have nothing to do with your words, you remain an ordinary teacher.
10.Accept your mistakes
A teacher is not immaculate. We all make mistakes in teaching. Sometimes the students point them out. There is nothing wrong in accepting your mistakes. Some are afraid that if they accept, the students will not respect them. Actually the students respect those who humbly accept their faults. And don’t fail to appreciate those who identified the mistake.
A good teacher teaches
A better teacher explains
The best teacher inspires
Culture Shock - One Ordeal of the ESL Profession - China
Posted By: Paul A. Hodge <paulahodge51@hotmail.com>
Date: 14 June 2004
Culture Shock - One Ordeal of the ESL Profession by Paul A Hodge
What is culture shock? The English (UK) Encarta Dictionary defines culture shock as a “sudden exposure to unfamiliar culture. The feelings of confusion and anxiety experienced when an individual or a group suddenly finds itself in an unfamiliar cultural environment”.
There are five stages to culture shock stress. (Remember stress can be both a positive or negative emotion).
1. Honeymoon stage
2. Hostility stage
3. Adjustment or Acceptance stage
4. Home stage
5. Re-entry shock or reverse culture shock.Let me share with you my honeymoon stage, hostility sage and adjustment stage.
The honeymoon stage started even before I came to China. Two months before departure I was so busy with planning my trip. I read books from the library; I spent hours on the internet and I purchased a travel guide book. I had to apply for a visa sell my car and finalise my accounts. Get a medical check up and some vaccinations. It was go, go, go. I remember being very excited, apprehensive and anxious. In other words I was under a lot of stress and loving it. I was finally moving out of the ordinary and into what I perceived as the extraordinary – living and working as an English teacher in China. This was a country that had for many years haunted and beckoned me to come and experience its charm and mystery. My naivety blinded me to the upcoming hostility stage where I would perceive myself as being cursed and betrayed by its seductive façade. However, there is more to my honeymoon stage.
I am very open to new experiences and this trait of mine has allowed me to enjoy the flight over and the initial arrival in Beijing. I knew the situation involved risk and possible loss of money and maybe loss of face with people back home. As fortune had it my planning paid off and I secured a one year contract in Nanjing at a private boarding school teaching kindergarten and primary school students. I had hoped for a University posting but the school at Nanjing had some advantages that compensated me.
For the first month I was on a high. Everything was new and exciting; just like a new love. I suppose that is why they call it the honeymoon stage. Well for those readers who have ‘been there and done that’ we all know that the honeymoon comes to an abrupt end without warning. I just wake up one morning feeling these giant mood swings and the same cognitive process that me totally convinced that coming to China was the right thing to do, beats me around the head and shouts “What have you done!”
I will tell you what I had done. I had left the home I loved, the people I loved and now I was experiencing an emotional storm whipped up grief and loss. Nothing the school did was good enough. The students were a pain in the neck. The weather was terrible. The food was poison – in some cases this may have actually been true. I could feel myself erupting with so much anger but I did not know why. Why did the honeymoon have to end? Why couldn’t I try and hold on to those good times for the whole of my contract? I was a rational person and capable of an attitude shift to revive the good times. No way could I get out of this depressed mood. I would struggle to go to class; I lost weigh, started smoking and increased my alcohol consumption. I was literary falling apart. I was about to get up one day, pack up all my things and go home. But it didn’t happen. Why?
I was so fortunate to have another foreign English teacher from New Zealand living with me and with me being an Australian we formed our own ANZAC co-operation to help one another. He is married to a wonderful Chinese woman and they have an eight month old baby boy, Ben. In other words, I had a close friend to call on for moral support. He had been in China for two years and we would have a beer and talk it out. He and his wife were really a lifesaver during that time. Besides, I got on so well with the baby. He was a real delight. If I wanted a hug he was happy to comply. What more could I ask for?
I was asking for a lot more believe me! Anyway there is a happy ending; for the time being. I still have another seven months to go and I fear that I might have a relapse but my friend and his wife will be gone and no more hugs from little Ben.
I knew I had to plan a strategy to work through the hostility stage on my own and here it is:
And no it was not to drink more, smoke more and shout more and feel more sorrow for myself. Even though it blew my budget to hell, I bit the bullet and went home for an eight day break. The school was closed for the May holiday so I took advantage of the school’s willingness to let me go.
But before I went home, I called on my inner self and said. “Paul, is this the best you can do? Sooner or later your body is going to rebel and say enough is enough”. And it was only after reaching the low of the lowest point did I stop and begin to climb back to a sense of acceptance and normality. Regrettably sometimes you have to journey deep into you inner self to find your true self. I was told this journey is referred as the ‘long dark night of the soul’ and awaiting me at the end of tunnel was a shock awakening that brought me back to a sense of reality - no pain no gain.
Now it does not have to be that dramatic. Let’s get practical!
Survival tips for ESL teachers working overseas:
1. I found that cleaning my room and decorating it ‘my way’ was good therapy. So if you were always told back home to take down that ridiculous poster now go find a similar one and put it where you damn like. Make sure you have some familiar things to transform your place it into ‘your home away from home’.
2. Find safe and healthy ways of relaxing. I like music or watching a movie. I brought myself a DVD ROM burner/player for my computer. It is easy to install and there is some much material available on DVD.
3. Mediation and prayer are also productive for those who have the means of connecting to a higher power.
4. Try and have your computer running on an ADSL connection. I have to pay for this out of my own pocket but having my sanity was well worth the expense. The ADSL avoids the slow dial-up technology and you can use your phone at the same time. I can come in my room anytime and be online and know I got mail. I can chat with folks back home. When my friend gets ADSL we can try video cam chatting. The mind boggles!
5. I started planning short trips to build up good memories on my digital camera to send home on the net and for my journaling. In other words, stop procrastinating.
6. Create opportunities to become more cultural competent. For example find someone to help you learn the language. Spend time going out on social outings with the natives (figure of speech) and try out some of your new language. Go ahead make mistakes it is a good way of learning.
7. Phone home – get your hands on an international dialling phone card and carry it with you always. I write the most popular phone numbers on the card with a marking pen. There may be some people who say phoning home can make the situation worse. Not so if you make the call for the right reasons. What I mean is that you call home to speak about all the positive things you have accomplished and to share the joys with you loved one. Stay clear of emotions that may trigger a negative mood swing. Always try and end the call on a humours or uplifting note. If you know your phone credit is about to run out and there is something you really need to say then interrupt the call and say, “I have only a minute to go and I want to say…..”
8. I will say this once – have a good cry and recognise that you are going through a natural grief experience. It is nothing to be ashamed of and the release can open new doors to self discovery. Remember grieving is a process and it takes time to recover. The period of grief will vary from person to person. Do not be too hard on yourself if your improvement is taking longer then you expected. Monitor your feelings in a journal and date them so you can measure your progress over time. I don’t use a journal but I do write long letters home and it is good to review them form time to time to monitor your progress.
9. Finally avoid all actions and thought processes that compound the problem.
The big $64,000 question: Am I experiencing culture shock? Below is a list of the signs and symptoms of Culture Shock
• Sadness, loneliness
• Preoccupation with health; aches and pains
• Disturbed sleep pattern
• Mood changes; depression, mood swings, anger, irritability.
• Unwilling to interact with others, withdrawal
• Loss of identity
• Lack of confidence and reduced abilities
• Feelings of paranoia
This is not meant to frighten you but to help you look after yourself in order to prevent any of these problems occurring.So now sing with me when you’re smiling, when you’re smiling, the whole world smiles with you….
I have sung my way into the ‘home stage’ but it still takes conscious work and effort on my part. Now I sense that I am able to function in two cultures with confidence. I am discovering new ways of doing things that I enjoy and I am already adopting some of them. I have made a significant adjustment to my host country, China.
Maybe I will write about my experiences of re-entry or reverse culture shock. Basically, this consists of feeling out of place in your own country, or experiencing a sense of disorientation. But I am sure it will not be as depressing as my recent experience.
Paul A. Hodge
14th June 2004
July 5th, the IEEA took seven teachers down to the mountainous areas of Baisha County to attend the 2nd Annual English workshop for the Li Minority teachers of Hainan Island. Our teachers enjoyed four wonderful weeks in this remote area and had a wonderful chance to live with the local people, eat with the teachers and travel on the weekends to different scenic spots. The IEEA teachers will have many fond memories of Baisha County.
Teacher's children also enjoyed their stay in Hainan Province.
Li Minority English trainees eagerly await for classes to begin.
Mr. Mills, President IEEA, Hainan Education Officials and Major of Baisha County attend the opening ceremony of the Minority English Workshop.
Seven teachers from the USA work with the Li Minorities English teachers of Hainan Province.
Minority Middle Schools welcomes teachers from the USA
My name is Eddie Mills, and I've been teaching in
After being selected for the “Model Teacher Award” in 1997, we had the honor of dining with the Vice-premier of China. Throughout our eleven year stay in
With this said, this blog probably won't win any awards for being humorous. My purpose is to provide information from experience so that newcomers will have something to fall back on and not have to solely rely on information from the novice who might not realize what is actually happening around them. Much of what I will say will probably contradict what’s usually found on various ESL sites concerning teaching and studying in
Fred Schneiter,
After eleven years, which is a short time in
For the newcomer, it's very important to have proper EXPECTATIONS prior to arrival. The expectation list can cover hundreds of topics. I do not intend to write a book concerning all of these, but to list some thoughts that have brought the most trouble in
Since you are a guest in
EXPECTATIONS/REALIZATIONS:
1. You are a teacher not a tourist - Realize you are coming to
2. You are considered an expert, so behave like one. Realize if you are not qualified to teach ESL or English, by all means prepare before arrival. There is no excuse for not being prepared prior to arrival. Teaching ESL isn’t as easy as it looks. Preparation will save you a lot of embarrassment.
3. You are expected to follow
4. If you want to study Chinese, come as a student and not as a teacher. Realize schools hate a teacher who shirks his/her duties in order to study Chinese. Don't be a freeloader. Does this mean you can not learn Chinese? No! It means if you are a teacher, earn your pay. If you want to be a FULL-TIME student do not free load as a teacher.
5. If you want to preach Christianity from the classroom, realize teachers in Western countries can't, so do not try here.
6. If you want to promote some form of politics in the classroom, realize you will find yourself in serious trouble with the school and possibly on your way home.
7. If you love to complain, realize the school officials and teachers won't listen. The key here is “Love to”. Teachers who grip about everything are avoided like the plague. There are proper ways to deal with certain situations that arise. Being LOUD and ANGRY never works. You would be surprise what a smile and a sense of humility would do.
These are simple thoughts but if you are not careful, you will arrive in
There are many who only see the down sides of a developing country instead of the rapid changes of developing country. Do your best to overlook what you can and to see the richness of ancient
Make friends with your FAO -- Foreign Affairs Officer. He or she will be surprised that you are willing to ask questions, especially if the other foreigners are misbehaving. Seek out the Dean of the English Department. Find out what their expectations are and what you can do to correct any situations that might be left over from a previous expat.
Most of all be willing to be an ambassador for your country. Behave yourself, act like you have an education, be civilized and willing to learn from an ancient civilization that is rebuilding its country. If you act right, the Chinese officials will act in accordance to your efforts. If you behave childishly, wildly, drunkenly,
angrily, or unprofessionally, don't expect your stay in
Most of all realize that BLAMING others is a weakness of our Western culture. Westerners are so quick to blame others without regard to their stumbling efforts to teach in
Make your stay pleasant, informed, and friendly.
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