Clean up in class room three

One of the biggest rules in the ILP program is that we're never to leave our kids alone in the classroom. Ever. And we never let a child go into the hall by their self either. Ever. So when someone has to go to that bathroom, EVERYONE goes to the bathroom. And when we have an emergency, the teacher next door has to watch both groups of kids, while the other goes and finds a Chinese teacher. 

So, when Erica (co-teacher) poked her head into my classroom today in the middle of my lesson, I immediately knew there was something crazy going on. 

"I need you to come here," she said, waving me towards the door.

"What's wrong?" I asked, while trying to keep Phil's hands out of my backpack and Emma planted in her seat.

"Oh, wait, never mind." She said, and she walked back into her room. Confused, I turned back to the seven faces looking at me, waiting to hear in detail what the Dwarves of Snow White do underground. Before I could get a full sentence out, Erica was back in my door.

"I really need you to come here, she really has to go to the bathroom, she's crying..." 

I got up, turning quickly to shout: "STAY IN YOUR SEATS!" and walked to my door and peaked around the corner, into Erica's doorjamb. Standing in her own little puddle of tinkle, her hands by sides and her tiny head hanging low as she cried silently, was my precious Ruth. Erica stood there, dumbfounded at the fact that there was piddle in her classroom and the other kids were pointing and laughing at Ruth, so I immediately flew into action. I told Erica to take my class into her room and then reached out for her hand, told her: "It's okay, sweet pea, let's go find someone to help us," and walked out of the room with her in tow, listening to the tiny squishy sounds her footsteps made down the hall. 

We walked down the steps to the third floor, where Kelly's (foreign coordinator) office is. I felt a knot of dread in my stomach as I realized the lights were off and no one was there. What on Earth was I going to do now with this small, sad, wet child? I told her quietly that we were going to go back upstairs, thinking that we might see one of my head teachers. Thankfully, Shantel was at the top of the stairs as we climbed up and after discussing the situation, Shantel called Kelly on her cellphone and received instruction on what to do with Ruth. 

Moral of the story is that when a kid has to pee, you take them to the potty, even if you have to take every one with you, and even if it cuts into the middle of a good lesson. Because there is nothing more heartbreaking then having to hold the hand of a small child who has peed her pants as you frantically search for a teacher to help.

Just a few things

1.     1. Today, we went into downtown Weihai to get KFC. KFC is a big deal in China. They are like Dunkin Donuts in the East…one every few blocks. After we went to KFC, we caught the 30 bus back to school. A cute Chinese girl, about our age, tapped Terri on the shoulder and said: "Can I make friends with you?" We were all so excited; she told us all about the Zoo we should visit on the other side of the city. Woohoo for Chinese friends.

2.     

2.      2. When the Chinese try to write things in English, it never comes out correctly, so it results in Chinglish. And it's HYSTERICAL. The other day, at the Jia Jia Yue, I saw a shirt that said: "Lemon tea. Summer. Sometimes you hug me. Sometimes you do not."

3.   

         3.  So, squatty potties. Haven't fallen in one yet, (although I've only used one three times). The McDonalds in the city has a regular toilet, so when I went to use it, I was really surprised to see footprints ON the toilet seat…apparently Chinese either don't understand how to use a westernized toilet, or they refuse to, because they climb up on the toilet and then squat over it.

4.    

      4. On Friday, I told my kids the story of Snow White and we discussed how the Dwarves whistle while they walk home from the mine, and then we all tried to whistle. All of the kids who couldn't whistle said: "Teecha, I don't can whistle!"

5.  

TIC-This is China

1. I have killed two cockroaches in my apartment since being here. I have cried about it both times, but at least I'm facing my fears of them instead of screaming like a two year old and standing on top of my bed until someone comes and kills it for me. 

2. Today, I took my kids to the circus for class! We talked about the different animals there and made noises. And then we talked about clowns. And I had each kid draw one part of a clown face. While it was a BIG hit with them (I've never heard kids laugh so hard) I'm convinced I'm going to have nightmares tonight. They liked giving their clowns bloodshot eyes, pig noses and sharp teeth. 

3. I also popped popcorn for each student to try, because when we go to the circus, we eat popcorn, right? While they were super excited about getting to have a snack, they were surprisingly MORE excited to have the germ-x I had them all rub into their hands before I passed out the popcorn. After I gave them a little squirt, they each said: "THANK YOU TEECHA!" and rubbed it in and then sat there smelling their hands.

4. Our first vacation wasn't supposed to be until the first week of April, but we just found out today that the school is giving us next Thursday and Friday off. Also, the school decided that every Friday will be early release, so all of the kids leave at 3:30, which means I only teach for an hour and a half on Friday. Basically, the school throws crazy things like this at us all of the time. 

5. Whenever we encounter something weird or different or just down right funny and crazy, my roommate and I look at each other and say: "T.I.C!" or in other words, This is China! And as we walked up to the cafeteria after a long afternoon of meetings and teaching, we stopped to watch this giant pomegranate-red globe of a sun drop down over the yellow sea....and as I watched it slowly sink into the horizon, all's I could think of was: "I love China."

New Pictures!

1. One of the castles on the beach

 2. My roommate, Dana, me, and our friends Terri and Cyndi at the beach

3. My co-teacher, Bryan and I at McDonalds

Want to see some of the most precious faces on the whole entire planet?

a weekend adventure

I think we've finally found a bit of a groove when it comes to our group of kids and how to teach them now. We've separated all of our kids into "homerooms" that they stay with throughout their rotations, and by doing so, we've separated all of the "handful" kids into different groups that make them easier to manage. I took Walter in mine, and I've made a TON of progress with him; and at the end of every day, he comes back to my room to say goodbye to me. I love it. I love teaching him and the rest of my kids. I've also made it a goal to go say goodnight to them AT least once a week, because they love that and it helps them bond with us and behave better for us. And who wouldn't love tucking in those precious faces and singing them lullabies?

Yesterday (Saturday) we went into town on our own (as in, without our Head Teachers) and we didn't get lost! We caught the 38 bus to go to the JiaJiaYue and the bank and we spent all afternoon looking at shoes, trying on clothes and buying food. The Chinese LOVE shoes, and they love sparkles, so it's impossible to find shoes that haven't been bedazzled. The Chinese also have tiny feet compared to us Americans, so it's also impossible to find a shoe that fits. I've been in need of boots, and after trying on almost a dozen pairs that were too small or too sparkly (usually both) I found a pair of imitation uggs that have super thick rubber soles, and are BRIGHT red. Also, they are lined with white fluff, so it seriously looks like Santa Clause turned into a pair of boots. They are still a little small, but I love them and they are warm and I got them for 79 Quai, which is about 13 American dollars. Can't go wrong there! After, we took a Rabbit Taxi back to our school, and then almost left again with our group and took caught the 30 bus into downtown Weihai. (We live on the outer most suburb of the city). Kelly, our foreign coordinator, had gotten us coupons for McDonald's, so we went there to sink our teeth into hamburgers! It was a lot easier to order there, because we just gave them our coupons which had pictures of what we wanted on them. And my big mac tasted so yummy, it took every ounce of willpower I had not to go get another one! 

Our group broke off after McDonalds, and we were in a bit of panic for a minute, because we didn't remember where we were, or how to get to any of the markets, but we found the bus stop, grabbed the 30 back to the JiaJia, and got off and went to the night market there. We were so proud of ourselves! It was a big boost in confidence for us, because we now knew we could navigate the bus system and the city on our own. 

Today, after church, we took a fifteen minute walk to the international BEACH! Yes, I live 15 minutes away from one of the coolest beaches in the world! There are about six different castles that are on the beach, and from what I could tell, there used to be an amusement park on one end too, but it looks like it's been out of business for a while. The beach was beautiful, the sun was shining and we took a ton of fun and pretty pictures that I will hopefully be able to have Symone post soon. It was refreshing to see the ocean and to see BLUE skies (it's smoggy hear 90% of the time) and to feel the sun soak into my pores. I like standing by the sea an awful lot; it reminds me how small I am, but that I still count for something anyway.

We're relaxing right now, before we start another round of meetings, lesson planning and crafting for this week of teaching. I'm gearing up to do Snow White and the 7 Dwarves with my kids this week in Drama and I think it'll go well, as long as I keep control of them. 

We're going on day three without hot water. Yes, my hair is gross. Yes, I did put it up into a "hair bow" a la Lady Gaga. and yes, every little girl I taught on Friday pointed to it and said: "Teeecha, BEAUTIFUL!" 

So precious. 

Day Two=Children running rampant.

SO today's teaching experience was entirely different then yesterday's. To say it simply, it was downright insane, frustrating and discouraging. 

Our first group of kids (2nd graders) were bouncing off the walls. No one listened, everyone was pushing, and speaking Chinese and no one cared about my lesson, even though I made it much more entertaining. I spent most of the first hour block telling kids to sit in there seats, putting them in Chinese chair and keeping them off one another. Thank goodness for sweet Norah, who kept looking at me with her big brown eyes and did everything and anything I asked her to do. She helped me keep my head.

We have a ten minute break between our groups, so after we dismissed our first group, my team and I sat in our opening room and we all cried, because we all had a terrible time. One of the kids swore at Bryan; another one wrote "I hate teacher" in Erica's classroom. When our next group came in, we were all in slightly foul moods, so we immediately started off opening with "we aren't taking your crap" attitudes and kept the kids in their places. I also placed kids who were picking on each other in separate groups when we broke off into rotations. When we got to my classroom, I made them stand on the line and repeated the call to attention until they got it down, which sometimes took 5-10 times. (Call to attention is our way of getting them quiet and ready for the lesson. I clap twice, they clap twice and fold their arms). I realized that I needed to establish a strict routine and the more structured and predictable I was, the better behaved they were. I also did my best to level with them and instill the fear of their Chinese Teachers in them. I said to them: "I am having a rough day, so if you step out of line, I WILL go get your Chinese Teacher. Do you understand?" That worked like a charm. They all nodded and stood perfectly still. I have one student, named Anthony, who wanted SO BADLY to promise me that he would be good. "Yes teecha, I will be so good!" Oh man, it melted my heart. I also realized that I have to have control over every little thing in my classroom for it to run smoothly. These kids are huge on being praised, so whoever is being "the best" gets to sit down at our table first. This also helps me separate the trouble makers so that they won't hit each other and it helps me place out all of my sweet girls so that they won't talk to each other. Another tactic I've developed is to specifically point out a child who is breaking a rule and make them repeat it to me-they hate it when they are caught breaking a rule and they typically won't break it again. Although, sometimes when I use my "stern voice" the other kids laugh because they think it sounds funny. I usually look at them and say (in my stern voice) "That is NOT appropriate" and they quiet right up. And I've learned to keep the trouble makers  next to me, so I spent fifteen minutes with Walter practically on my lap, because I didn't want him to be out of my arms reach. Needless to say, after making these small adjustments, everything in my second group went so much smoother. Even though I felt like such a mean teacher, I had established order and a routine which helped the kids to know that I was in charge. After that, we had SO much fun doing our lesson, and we were all laughing and joking and enjoying each other's company. I still have a few kids who are handfuls, like William, who we call "Asian Harry Potter" Today, Dana and I had to physically put him in Chinese chair because he refused to sit in it. I left him there for a full minute before I let him come back.

I know that this makes my kids sound like they are all terrible, and that I'm a really mean teacher, but I promise you that they aren't and that I'm not. I just am learning how to establish order and how to establish the fact that I am their teacher. I noticed that after I established that with my second group, they all listened, worked hard and had fun. And as they all left my classroom, they said: "Thank you, teecha!" Melt my heart. I love them.

My team and I are dreading tomorrows first group a bit, but I think we're more prepared with how to handle them after learning what adjustments to make. We're going to work hard on establishing our call to attention and we are going to make sure we have order before starting our activity. This is only day two, and I know there are going to be good and bad days. I keep on reminding myself that after I establish a rigid routine and get the kids to a point where they know that I AM their teacher and they cannot walk all over me, that I can be more fun and a little less stern. But, I love them, nonetheless, and I love what I am doing. 

After teaching today, our foreign coordinator, Kelly, took us downtown to a Pizza buffet (which was more like a buffet of a lot of Chinese food trying to be like American food, with pizza). We ate to our heats content, and I tried several new things, like sesame pork, fruit bread swirls and peach pizza. (The Chinese love anything with peaches). After we ate, I SUCESSFULLY USED MY FIRST SQUATTY POTTY! I didn't fall in and I didn't get any tinkle on my pants. I was so proud of myself. Across from the street was a Pagoda, so we took some pictures there. It was cool to see traditional Chinese architecture up close. We walked through a night market and then took a taxi back to our school. Our taxi driver was so funny, he kept on using his radio to translate things into english so he could talk to us. We eventually figured out he wanted to wish us a Happy Valentine's Day. It was really cute.

Some random things about China that I learned today:

-When the Chinese take pictures, they do not say Cheese. They say the Chinese word for "Eggplant." No joke.

-The Chinese love Santa and keep him up for months. Our school also plays Christmas music during lunch, like Jingle Bell Rock. It's so weird. And really funny.

All is well in China. Even on rough days, like today, I remind myself why I am here. I have already learned so much in the few short days I have been here. 

With Love,

Chelsie in China

P.S. To those who leave me such sweet comments on my blog, thank you so much, they are forwarded to my email. I love reading them, and they help me feel better when things are rough. I appreciate all of your support and love, it means the world to me.

Teecha Cheltzie!

I've never fallen in love with kids so fast as I did today with mine. I love them all-even the ones who are crazy and a handful, like Walter. 

This afternoon started off with our first group of kids. We had 29 of them in the first group and they all came into the opening room, where we line them all up and go over the rules, sing songs and talk about the day and month. They came all right in, stood on their lines and when it came to sing a song, they decided that BINGO would be the first one. Holy smokes, it was like the national anthem, they were all screaming at the top of their lungs. I loved it.

We split into our fifteen minute rotations. My subject this week is Drama, so we are reading "The Hungry Caterpillar" and acting out parts of the story. My kids are SO smart. They've been in the program for a couple years, so they speak English pretty well. I started off with showing them a picture of my family from America. I'm pretty sure that was their favorite part of the lesson; they LOVED seeing my family. They kept on pointing to different people and saying: "you mom? you dad?" I would point to each one and say: "This is my dad, his name is Jimmy!" They would all take turns pointing to dad and saying "Teecha's Dad!" They also LOVED how blonde everyone was. In one of my classes, I had a Kate, Jake and a Jimmy, so when I told them how my dad's name was Jimmy, they all started laughing and Jimmy looked like it was the BEST thing ever to have the same name as my American father. Same for Kate and Jake. It was so funny. These kids just want to be loved and praised by me, and will fight over who can sit next to me and who can help me with the lesson. 

Our second group was just as great, just more advanced. I only had to put one kid in Chinese chair today (a chair outside of the group for when they keep on speaking in Chinese after being reminded that it is English only). That was Walter, and he was a crazy kid and probably my most challenging. But, I kept my stern face on, and kept him in control.

We talked about the caterpillar egg, and I had them guess what animal would be in the egg, while showing them different stuffed animals. I even brought my bear hat and had them try it on, which they thought was a hoot. 

Some of the high-lites from my first day of teaching is:

-Three little girls looking at me and chanting "You are so beautiful"

-Ian looking at me and asking me: "Does it snow in America?" and when I said yes, he looked at me like I was the COOLEST person on the face of the earth!

-Michael breaking out into Justin Bieber's "Baby" in the middle of our discussion of baby bears-and then being really embarrassed because I got SO excited that he started singing.

-After showing one group the picture of my family, I said: "cool, huh?" and all of my kids repeated me a million times, because they thought it was the funniest saying ever. They kept on laughing and saying: "cool, huh?"

As wonderful as today was, I have to totally revamp my lesson plans for the rest of the week, because I didn't expect my kids to be so advanced and they were getting bored in some of my groups. And as fun as it was, it was exhausting and overwhelming as well. It's only day one, but I can tell you that REAL teaching is by far the hardest and most rewarding thing I've ever done. (Besides fighting cancer)

Our group is still getting along great, but is a little frustrating with some of the people because I don't think they came to China to teach; they saw it more as a cheap way to see the country, so they complain a lot about teaching and don't put as much effort into it as they should. I hope that will change as they spend more time with the kids, because they really think the world of us and just want to make us happy.

After teaching, we went up to the cafeteria and had dinner (not my favorite tonight-Lamb and eggplant stew) and then we were in meetings for two hours after. I finally got into my room to send this, and to look at my lesson plan tomorrow. We are going out with our foreign coordinator tomorrow into the City for Pizza (she really wants to take us there) so it will be a fun way to celebrate valentine's day with the group.

Until next time,

Teecha Cheltzie