Pre-Taiwan Adventures

The week leading up to my trip to Taiwan, I got to teach at a local elementary school for the first time. I mentioned the school before, though it was toward the end of a mighty long post. Both of my high schools had their midterm exams scheduled for that week, so I would've just been spinning in my chair at school if I hadn't gone to visit the kiddies.

I was there for two days, and taught three of the grade levels each day. I was stoked to find out I wasn't expected to do any lesson planning, that the teachers would basically fill me in five minutes prior to the lesson, and that I really wouldn't have to do any intense explaining. I helped the first group (the sixth-years) with "which do you like: __ or __?" "I like __," the fourth-years were learning animals, and so were the second-years. The second day I watched the fifth-years give small-group presentations involving a microwave, a raw egg, and sweeping the floor. (I was just as confused as you are.

When I teach at the elementary school, I'll be eating lunch with a different class each day. It's really cute--I go wait at my desk in the faculty room while the kids are up in the classroom preparing their lunches, and the teacher sends two of them down to get me and escort me up to the room.

After lunch, the kids get an hour of recess. A freaking hour. I don't know how much time we got for recess when I was in elementary school (I don't think 5-year-olds have more than a loose concept of time), but I don't think it was that long. All the kids do whatever they want--some stay in the classroom to color or do homework, but if it's pretty outside, most of them go out to the playground. Both days I was there, the weather was gorgeous, so all 135 of them stampeded the field. From what I could tell, kids from different grade levels were mixed together everywhere. Some of the boys went into the equipment shed for soccer balls, baseballs, and gloves, while some others started up a baseball game with a plastic bat and rubber ball.

Through all of this, there was only one teacher on the field. He wasn't even supervising--he was playing with some of the kids. At first I was worried, but by the end of the first day, not a single kid got in a fight, skinned a knee, threw up, or even cried. The teachers don't even come corral the kids when recess is over--a bell chimes, and everyone just moseys back in. It was awesome!

Oh, and I still haven't gotten a kancho.