China Gray

Sorry for the delay. My internet has been very bad lately. I've been trying to post this for a week. As a result I am going to post two parts today. This is the second part. Part Three: The Classroom The classrooms all these diverse students wander through on a daily basis vary drastically in atmosphere and organization. In one class I visited, the teacher took on an ultra-strict persona. While she was introducing the material she walked around class. If any student misbehaved, a flick of her wrist and the student would stand up in shame, head lowered for dramatic effect. But 20 minutes into her class the students were organized and behaving. The same teacher, 30 minutes into class, set aside the ultra-strict persona to pick up one of more firm encouragement. She stopped making students stand and really focused on correcting any English errors. She, herself, jumped back and forth between English and Chinese. Whenever a single English word had different pronunciation ...

Sorry for the delay. My internet has been very bad lately. I've been trying to post this for a week. As a result I am going to post two parts today. Part Two: Standing Tall Broadly speaking, my students are in class for about six to eight hours between 8 am and 9:30 pm, Monday through Friday. Each class is two 45 minute segments with a ten minute break between. Prior to their 8 am class, most of my students go from bed to the running track for an hour or so of mandatory exercise. Between 7 am and 8 am the lucky majority run off to the cafeteria for breakfast. The standard entree seems to be two round pieces of bread that look similar to English muffins, though larger in size, with a saucy collection of meat and veges in between. In Chinese; “肉夹饼.” I’ve come to know the standard breakfast as the semester has progressed and the morning hours shift to other uses. As a natural result, breakfast is brought to the morning class, which I teach Monday through Thursday at 8 am. I wond...