The home front

On the home front, Kari and I are nesting... putting up photos and frames, cleaning, playing piano and making music together (though my voice is pretty raspy still from all the coughing and allergies, so singing is pretty sad at times), drinking red wine and making brownies. Life is good.

This is our weekly massive mounds of mac n' cheese Monday. I added the veggies to have more of a rainbow ;)

School stories

Two days of teaching (a total of 3 periods yesterday, Monday, and 6 periods today, Tuesday), and I have several stories and have observed and am learning much. But I'd like to share a few stories with you from my classes today.

Naheed, one of my ELL colleagues, took this photo. I have been teaching in her classroom this week while we're preparing for the Intensive English Program (IEP) to launch.
I move into my own classroom tomorrow, hopefully!

So, stories... 

I adore my 6^th grade ELLs (English Language Learners). They are still young enough to know what is fun and not too embarrassed to be silly and have a good time.

Today—day two of teaching classes—while doing a charades activity to identify/guess verbs (action words!), one of my ELLs (or “elves,” as Kari likes to call her elementary-aged ELL students) acted out the word “bite.” Instead of taking a piece of imaginary food and miming the action of taking a bite out of it, as most students would do, this Elf had a different approach. He stood up, marched over to his neighboring classmate, took hold of her arm, and feigned taking a bite out of her! Poor Elf #2 was astonished and caught off guard, while the rest of the class, myself included, broke out into laughter. How bold of Elf #1! (Don’t be concerned; Elf #2 recovered into laughter very quickly, as soon as she understood the verb.)

Later in the game, Elf #1 was trying to act out the verb “race,” but realized he needed a competitor. Looking to his nearest neighbor, Elf #2, he asked her to get up and run with him across the classroom to demonstrate the verb. Needless to say, she was hesitant to co-act with him again, after the “bite” verb.

Elf #2 was successful in acting out the verb “fight” when she playfully threw an air punch at Elf #1. We’ll say that they’re even now.

Despite that these stories may indicate that my class of 6^th graders is a bunch of violent, combatant students, I sure enjoy how lively and interactive they are willing to get! Luckily, I get to keep them all, as none of them are going to the IEP classes (Intensive English Program). 

Also, it is Spirit Week. Yesterday was soccer jersey day, today was crazy hair day, and tomorrow is mustache day.

A photo a student took of me today, with my moderately-"crazy" hair today
(in case you can't see, braids everywhere, and a side bun. I felt lopsided all day!)

Teaching

Oh yeah. That's what I came to China to do. Teach!

Recap: I arrived in the middle of the last school week before China's Mid-Autumn Festival and spent the first two days doing paperwork and getting logistical details worked out with the school, Access International Academy Ningbo, better referred to as AIAN: visa stuff, getting insurance, a bank account, figuring out class schedules/assignments, completing my medical exam, etc. Then I fell pretty sick and had to take a sick day on my third day, which was the Friday before the break. Luckily I hadn't started teaching. So I had the week-long break during the first week in October to recuperate and do a bit of lesson-planning.

So here's the story on the English Language Learning (ELL) program here at AIAN. Respected and working integrally with the other teachers and staff members at the school, the ELL program is run by a team of four of us teachers--two for Elementary, and two of us for Middle School/High School.

• Pat teaches grades 1-3. There are a lot of young ELLs (English Language Learners) that need individualized attention, therefore we implement a blended system of both pull-out teaching and pushing in support. In the pull-out method, students go to Pat's classroom during their Language Arts/English time. Pushing in means that Pat provides ELL support within the classroom (Pat co-teaches and plans ELL-friendly lessons with the grade level teachers).
• The ELL Coordinator, Line (pronounced like "Lynn") teaches grades 4/5 in a pull-out system (they come to her classroom for language arts attention).
• Naheed was teaching all the Middle School and High School ELLs (a class in addition to their language arts class). 
• But a need arose for an Intensive English Program (IEP) to be instated at AIAN. About a third of the MS and HS ELLs (~8) are new Chinese, Korean, or Japanese students, with very minimal and basic English skills. They need to be removed for their first semester at AIAN to take almost exclusive ELL class. 
• Now, with my arrival, Naheed will teach the IEP students, and I will teach the remaining intermediate-level MS and HS ELLs (~16 students).

The IEP launches later this week. So until the classes reduce and schedules change, I am teaching all MS and HS ELL students in a confusing, overlapping schedule that only Mom and Dad are interested in knowing, as far as I'm concerned. (Let me know if I'm mistaken; otherwise I won't go into scheduling details.) Flexibility is the name of the game with this program. It's a pilot and trial run, so we'll see what happens after this semester.

This is AIAN from outside the front gate. (My classroom
will be in the far lefthand side of this front building.)

The other matter has been regarding whether I have a classroom, and what that looks like. Well, about that... I haven't had a classroom. There was a bit of a scheduling/space issue, and after weeks of deliberation and finagling, looking available (and not available spaces), we finally just today came up with an option. One of our teachers (the Head of the HS Dept. and Curriculum Organizer) will be moving into another room, and I'll be taking his old room. It's on the third floor of the school's main building. AND it has working A/C, but more importantly HEAT!!! We'll be needing that in a month or so, I'm guessing. It's still pretty warm for now. It's a nice room. I'll put up photos when I'm settled in.

That's the school scoop for now. It's more than long enough!

Kari's home!

On Saturday, my flatmate and college/WA friend Kari arrived back from spending her October Mid-Autumn Break in Vietnam. Being the newbie with the temporary one-entry work visa, I stayed here in Ningbo and settled in and did my best to recuperate from the nasty cold I had caught. As I blogged about before, having that time to nest and settle myself into the apartment was great. So anyway, to celebrate Kari's "home"coming here to Beilun, we went out on the town that night and I met a lot of new friends.

We're starting school again on Monday, and I am looking forward to teaching, settling into a schedule, feeling comfortable with the where and when and who all is around in this community, enjoying myself and exploring more. But routine is something I'm really looking forward to. School and all that is involved with that--lesson planning, teaching, after school activities (ASAs)--and then the personal time--exercise, social life, Mandarin lessons. There is a lot I desire to do, but I'm feeling really comfortable with saying no and sliding into things slowly. Yay me! NO BURNOUT!

Park Observations

I went to the park this morning for a couple hours, and at the end of my time, I jotted down a collection of observations:

• Napping

  

  City and apartment buildings off in distance,
  park on the left of the river,
  houses/other businesses on the right.
• Practicing Tai Chi 
• (also, man yawning while doing tai chi)
• Boys watching man doing tai chi
• Stretching
• Hitting/slapping muscles
• A woman who was stretching approaches man doing tai chi, talks to him, joins in some movements, and walks away.
• Old man picking up fallen tree berries

  

  Motorboat

• Kissing (But girl makes sure no one is looking. I have sunglasses on. She has not yet seen me.)
• Art exhibits (paintings, characters, stone carvings, sculptures)
• Trash (bottles, bags, net, etc.) in the river
• Murkiness, algae/moss and plants in the river and ponds

  

  Algae-green pond

• Motorboat coming down the river with two men on it
• Half hour later, motorboat going back, with 5-6 men on it
• Empty stream beds in the park
• Breeze in the trees
• Crisp, browning leaves falling from trees
•  Children climbing trees
• Dancing/rehearsing
• Clapping
• Walking
• Two men walking a cat with a bell on its collar (and clapping at it)
• Washing clothes in the river
• Man painting
• Jumping rope
• Playing cards
• Fishing

• 

  Clothes-washing in the river

  Many trash and recycle bins 
• Sitting
• Eating
• Families picnicking
• Children playing on swings and playground equipment
• Men watching children
• Men and women playing with children
• Child pushing stroller

  

  Recycling/trash bins

• Riding bikes
• Riding mopeds/electric scooters
• Women carrying parasol umbrellas
• Butterflies
• Dragonflies
•  Birds
• Staring
• People watching other people
• Making noises
• Playing musical instruments (violin, clarinet, oboe, other wind instruments, drums)
• Singing
• Laughing

• 

  My Chinese workbooks

  Shouting
• Children's screams/playing
• Spitting
• Clearing throats
• Honking (in distance)
• Taking pictures
• Taking pictures in trees
• Taking pictures on rocks
• Taking pictures of me 
• I am the only caucasian person.
• I am sitting barefoot in the middle of a grassy patch, doing my Chinese character writing practice in workbooks. A man comes over to observe. He stands over my shoulder for about two minutes. Neither of us says a word. 
• An old man walks across the grassy patch, within centimeters of me, as I am sitting cross-legged in the grass. He is old and his shoes don't fit. 

...and the list goes on. Signs with rules like these are posted at nearly every entrance to the parks.
(Kathryn, I posted this with you in mind. You might enjoy reading the "Chingrish")
One of my faves is #4 (not because of the potty humor, but rather because of the irony;
spitting is exactly what everyone does EVERYWHERE!)
And #2's "climb the twig" is also a fave.
OK, so what CAN one do at a park?

Interpret: 

• Is this normal, everyday life? If not, what is abnormal? 
• Is it acceptable and common behavior for this rural/urban area? 
• Would such behaviors be out of sorts way out in the boonies?
• Would there be even more people doing the same sorts of things in larger cities?

Evaluation: People seem to do as they please.

I realized I just practiced a good exercise that I can have my ELL students conduct as well. I looked at all these observations and saw a bunch of verbs, in their many forms. This is what I will begin teaching my students this coming week. We are about to start a unit on verbs. It seems like I just found myself an activity for my lesson plans!

We have internet in Li Ren again

I hope I'm not speaking to soon (knock on wood!), but internet was restored to our apartments in the Li Ren neighborhood this afternoon (6 days earlier than forecasted). So I'm taking advantage of it, and posting now!

I biked around Beilun (the district of Ningbo where we live) and basked in the sun this afternoon, and returned home to watch the sunset from the windows of floor 12 in apartment building 46, where Kari and I share a flat. Beautiful!

No editing of any sort; this is the panorama I just shot from the view of my apartment window. No joke.

Recuperating and Settling In

Cup o' Joe coffee shop
(where I'm posting from right now)

My senses are coming back to life. The yummy tangerine blossom smell that so impressed me upon my arrival to Li Ren Gardens--the apartment/school complex neighborhood--last week has returned to my now-sensing nostrils. (At least I think it smells like tangerine blossoms. I have not yet been advised otherwise as to what the pleasant aroma could be attributed to. And I don't think I'm allergic to them. Yet.)

I am up and about and walking or biking the 5-15 minute walks in between my apartment and/or school or Cup o Joe coffee shop, to access the Internet. Also, daily, I have walked or biked to make a shopping trip with new friends. I've been purchasing items for settling into the apartment. Today I made a trip all by myself to a nearby store, and even caught my first tuk-tuk taxi ride back to the apartment! Here's a link to the video I took, if you're interested in what the rides are like, and I've embedded the video below as well.

Photos of the apartment and friends and everything else will be forthcoming.

Shopping center RT, where I went shopping all by myself!