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Do you see any kinds of disability represented in your classes?
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Apr 10, 2017 07:47
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Fleta Mcgurn posted:OH gently caress thank you. Fixed.
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Apr 10, 2017 07:49
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Fleta Mcgurn posted:Heck! Heck and darn, I never saw any ads for jobs that good! Well, thanks for the info- hopefully it will help someone else. The universities tend not to advertise, you have to dig through their websites that haven't been updated since the 90's and try and find the contact info of the foreign affairs/office of international cooperation person or whatever they're calling themselves and hope it actually works.
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Apr 10, 2017 07:49
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Tiggum posted:There are still some inconsistent names - not sure if they're real names or you just forgot what your code names were. I read it again; looks like the latter, but thank you, too! Their "real names" aren't their real names anyways; I don't really know why I'm being so secretive other than I'm saying negative stuff about my boss. Jimmy Little Balls posted:The universities tend not to advertise, you have to dig through their websites that haven't been updated since the 90's and try and find the contact info of the foreign affairs/office of international cooperation person or whatever they're calling themselves and hope it actually works. Good to know. Thanks, Mr. Balls. Pixelante posted:Do you see any kinds of disability represented in your classes? Yes, and no. Yes because yes, and no because even if a kid had a learning disability, no one would tell me. Hell, I doubt the parents would disclose it to the school. As for physical disabilities, I know one kid has IBS and Rihanna had surgery to correct a heart defect as an infant, but otherwise none that I know of. Our classrooms and offices are on the fourth floor of a building with no elevator, so I doubt it. There are two students that come to mind: 1. Steve, who is now a junior, can talk a blue streak in English but has tremendous difficulty writing. He's lazy and insolent, but less so than many of his peers, and he's easily the best storyteller in the class. Last year, I asked my boss if it was possible he could be dyslexic. She did follow up, but told me that his parents said "no" and that she thinks they would have said "no" regardless. He's one of the kids who has serious performance issues besides decent skills and being intelligent, and it's not that he never tries, but it's a lot harder for him to read and write than it is for most of his classmates. 2. Linda, a graduating senior. She turns in the most insane gobbledygook I've ever seen. I taught fourth graders in Korea who could put together a more coherent sentence. I expressed my frustration to Nancy, who told me that she has just as much trouble understanding Linda's written Chinese. She cannot read aloud and she has no grasp of English phonics whatsoever. I don't think she's stupid, but there is very clearly a problem with even her L1 acquisition and it has not, to my knowledge, been addressed. No one in the office has exceptional student qualifications and I'm not totally sure that's something that exists here. In fact, my school in Korea only had one para for ELs and she only showed up once a week at most. I would imagine Chinese schools operate the same way. Again, though, the only public schools I've taught in are "elite" and a kid with a noticeable disability would probably not be allowed to attend for that reason. Brain wackiness is stigmatized in Japan and Korea, so I imagine it's the same here. I don't think this program would ever appeal to the parents of an exceptional learner, to be honest; it's a lot of work and a lot of personal responsibility. Linda didn't even qualify for the ESL programs in Singapore. Kids with a far worse attitude/work ethic get in all the time. I don't know what her TOEFL is but I can't imagine she did well. I'm very worried about her. Fleta Mcgurn fucked around with this message at 08:24 on Apr 10, 2017 |
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Apr 10, 2017 08:20
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Pixelante posted:Do you see any kinds of disability represented in your classes? I see zero students with physical disabilities. I do have a few students who obviously have learning or developmental disorders, but those remain undiagnosed as Chinese society does not treat the disabled with kindness. That said, I see far more disabled people out and about here than Korea or Japan. In Korea the downs syndrome kids were thrown into class with the regular students and were guided from class to class by whatever sap qualified for 4F and had to work at a school instead. Japan, being the secret socialist state that it is, had lots of resources for disabled students including special school for behavioral issues and lots of teacher training.
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Apr 10, 2017 09:24
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What's the one thing you wish you guys knew in advance about living/teaching in China?
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Apr 10, 2017 09:44
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deathbot posted:What's the one thing you wish you guys knew in advance about living/teaching in China? Living- that there are almost no loanwords and that almost nobody speaks any English outside of tourist areas and the city center. Where I live, there are occasionally people who speak a bit of English at H&M and Starbucks, but that's it. Teaching- I wish they hadn't told me the smart school was smart, because it really hosed up my plans for the year once I realized it was literally impossible to get them to learn anything whatsoever.
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Apr 10, 2017 09:48
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Jimmy Little Balls posted:You can get a uni teaching job working quarter of the hours for almost the same pay and not have to deal with any of this poo poo. the pay is almost never the same as what you can make in the private sector. In Tianjin I made like four times what the university professors made. They get like 5,000-7,000 rmb a month. They can obviously use their free time to teach on the side but it's not gonna end up being as much as what you can make in study abroad/IB or AP programs
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Apr 10, 2017 10:18
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I'm at a university now though and I'm happy I don't have to deal with all of the poo poo I used to, because I am actually in charge of the program so everyone answers to me, instead of me just being in charge of the international department and education and I still had to answer to HR and the head of everything. It's a lot of bullshit like the story posted here. I'm so not stressed out now thank God
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Apr 10, 2017 10:21
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i havent done china-teaching stuff in maybe 6/7 years but wasnt the english-teaching payscale something like 1. International schools 2. Private language center (small children) 3. Private high school 4. Private language center (adults-kids) 5. Public high school 6. Public University 7. Private University (kids that bombed gaokao but cant get into overseas schools) 3 and 4 might be tied and 5 and 6 might be reversed, and this doesnt really include "on-site english teacher hired directly by a company to train their staff" which is probably around number 2 or 3 in that list In terms of hours worked vs free time, there are some trade-offs that keep things mostly balanced. Like a public school might only give you 12 teaching hours per week compared to 25 hours at a language center, but at the language center you save a lot of time by having the lesson plans and activities pre-made and standardized so you have less out-of-class work searching for inspiration at ESL Cafe or something. and all of these will involve political bullshit because Chinese Culture is involved, so imagine dozens or hundreds of employees at varying levels of influence with a mentality of "you did something once that i think makes me lose some face, i will get revenge my passive-aggressively ruining your life at every opportunity over the next 5-10 years, just because". If you're lucky, being the foreigner means most people will ignore you and you wont have to deal with the politics
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Apr 10, 2017 14:04
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Are there noticeable differences between private and public schools in China? The company I'm interviewing with would have me teaching high school to college-aged students in 'government-owned public schools' similar to boarding schools near Beijing. Do you have personal preferences on teaching locations within mainland China? e: Does it help that I've studied Chinese in college before, albeit currently really rusty with it? How many months of remedial study would put me in good shape before moving abroad (ie before the Fall)? e2: How would you compare mainland China to India? After living in rural India for a few months, I'm used to everything feeling like an overpopulated clusterfuck and honestly miss that feeling of general craziness. (Could never get used to squatter toilets for some reason, though.  )
Teriyaki Koinku fucked around with this message at 14:44 on Apr 10, 2017 |
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Apr 10, 2017 14:33
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As someone from the PYF poo poo Kids Say thread, I can confirm that Rhianna is famous. 4/5ths of Fleta's stories involve her, and she's unironically my favorite teenager in the world for it.
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Apr 10, 2017 17:14
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Im just about some brave rear end kids fighting the man, fellow mens and ladies.. makes me gosh durn proud.
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Apr 10, 2017 18:20
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Choco1980 posted:As someone from the PYF poo poo Kids Say thread, I can confirm that Rhianna is famous. 4/5ths of Fleta's stories involve her, and she's unironically my favorite teenager in the world for it. Tell me more.
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Apr 10, 2017 20:01
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Dude, just go to that thread and find one of her posts and click the lil question mark below her name.
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Apr 10, 2017 21:08
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Fleta Mcgurn posted:On me? Nothing. By Chinese standards I am not very cute.
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Apr 11, 2017 00:04
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Deceitful Penguin posted:Well what about other, more waifish teachers That's loving rude. And not what I meant, incidentally. Ignoring the random act of cruelty, nobody has a crush on any teacher, as far as I know. Rihanna used to have a crush on Indian Math Guy last year and was really into studying Hinduism as a way to get to know him. I still haven't told her he's actually a Mormon because I like the idea of my kids studying other cultures. Fleta Mcgurn fucked around with this message at 01:29 on Apr 11, 2017 |
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Apr 11, 2017 01:24
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Teriyaki Koinku posted:Are there noticeable differences between private and public schools in China? The company I'm interviewing with would have me teaching high school to college-aged students in 'government-owned public schools' similar to boarding schools near Beijing. Oooh, I'm not the best person to ask about most of this, but I'll try: Private vs. public: it depends on which public school, and then it depends on whether they're being honest. The most prestigious public school in our city franchised the name and anyone can now open a crap school with the prestigious name attached. I am not at all sure how this works, but this is what Chinese coworkers have told me, so I believe it. The scenario you're describing sounds to me like you'll be teaching catchup courses at a gaokao boot camp to kids who hosed up the first time. I COULD DEFINITELY BE WRONG. Please make sure you ask questions about everything you can before you sign the contract. One of the biggest mistakes I see for ESL teachers in Asia is not reading and/or questioning things in their contracts. Oh, and a lot of schools here are boarding schools, public or private, which I hate because I think kids under the age of eight or so are too young.  Locations- I have only taught in the Chengdu area, so I can't really answer this, but I have heard good things about Tianjin and Dalian. I like Chengdu because I like being rained on. Not sarcastic. When it comes to where, I think the best criteria are as follows: 1. Public transit. It takes me between 40 and 120 minutes to get downtown because of construction and traffic, and I have to take a bus (between 15 and 60 minutes) just to get to the end of the subway. Pain in the tits. I walk as much as I can, but that can be dangerous on very polluted days because the visibility is low and people still drive like maniacs. But if I have to choose between dodging cars and getting physically stuck on the bus because there is simply not enough room to get to the door, I'll take the cars! 2. Pollution. This may or may not seem like a big deal, but you'll definitely feel it. I have to give up running for most of the year because it's simply not safe, and the breathing masks fog up my glasses YEAH I'M loving COOL. Also I had my hair trained to be washed every three days- took a year- and I can't do that because the air is too gross in winter. So if you have asthma or are prone to respiratory/sinus issues, I would try to pick a place with less pollution. 3. Other foreigners. Everyone gets mad when I say this, but it's true. I'm not even saying people from your own country, just other foreigners who speak the same language as yourself. Of course, the ideal is to have lots of local friends, but if you don't speak Chinese, that might not be possible, just based on location. As I said before, I rarely meet anyone who speaks English in my area, and a lot of the people around me speak better Sichuanhua than Mandarin. I can listen to and get the gist of Mandarin if the topic is everyday stuff, but Sichuanhua is impossible for me. Your question about studying Chinese, I'm sorry, but I don't know. For China compared to India, you should ask Haier.
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Apr 11, 2017 01:49
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Fleta Mcgurn posted:That's loving rude. And not what I meant, incidentally. How is you deliberately misleading one of your students in any way not as rude as that guy?
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Apr 11, 2017 01:52
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Skoll posted:How is you deliberately misleading one of your students in any way not as rude as that guy? Oh, I didn't realize that not disclosing something personal about a coworker that would have had no effect on my student except discouraging her from independently researching a topic she previously had no knowledge about was deliberately misleading. Perhaps you would like an English lesson? I usually get about $50 USD per hour. I should probably close this thread, if all people are going to do is insult me randomly.
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Apr 11, 2017 02:00
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EDIT: Whoops. Nvm But, yes. There does seem to be a lot shitheads showing up. I got my student uprising story, so I'm content. Proteus Jones fucked around with this message at 02:04 on Apr 11, 2017 |
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Apr 11, 2017 02:00
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I have all kinds of stories of crushes but none of them are that interesting. I did receive a text from a student asking if I would sleep with her and another student tried to kiss me after I helped her prepare for an interview. She also invited me to a private KTV which I declined.
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Apr 11, 2017 02:09
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The Great Autismo! posted:I have all kinds of stories of crushes but none of them are that interesting. I did receive a text from a student asking if I would sleep with her and another student tried to kiss me after I helped her prepare for an interview. She also invited me to a private KTV which I declined. What is a KTV?
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Apr 11, 2017 02:09
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The Great Autismo! posted:I have all kinds of stories of crushes but none of them are that interesting. I did receive a text from a student asking if I would sleep with her and another student tried to kiss me after I helped her prepare for an interview. She also invited me to a private KTV which I declined. Private KTV is always a come-on. Give us a story, TGA! I hope you are thin enough, that is very important for storytelling.
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Apr 11, 2017 02:10
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Fleta Mcgurn posted:Oh, I didn't realize that not disclosing something personal about a coworker that would have had no effect on my student except discouraging her from independently researching a topic she previously had no knowledge about was deliberately misleading. Perhaps you would like an English lesson? I usually get about $50 USD per hour. I'm not insulting you and I find this thread, and the China thread ( which I've been reading three days straight now ) absolutely fascinating. It just seemed sort of like a double standard to me.
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Apr 11, 2017 02:16
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Fleta Mcgurn posted:Private KTV is always a come-on. Give us a story, TGA! I hope you are thin enough, that is very important for storytelling. It's not much of a story, I helped her prepare for her interview to get into college. She was really excited she got in. The day after they had their ceremony where they become adults she said she booked a private KTV room for me and her to celebrate. I told her I didn't think it was a good idea and she was really hurt. I said if she really wanted to do something we could go do something in public with one of her friends. I ended up taking them to Harry Potter 7 and then her friend snuck away and she tried to kiss me and I told her that wasn't a good idea. She's modeling in Toronto now. I went out with a few buddies after the incident and my two local buddies from Tianjin were like "dude have sex with her" and my German buddy and I were like "absolutely not under any circumstances". The girl that texted me asking if we could sleep together technically asked if I would "lay with her sexually" and it was spring festival and we were all drinking and I just deleted the message and pretended I never saw it. She never mentioned anything about it so maybe it was a friend or something joking around, IDK
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Apr 11, 2017 02:16
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flosofl posted:What is a KTV? Karaoke. There's always hookers available at them somewhere.
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Apr 11, 2017 02:21
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flosofl posted:What is a KTV? Private karaoke room. Or norebang if you're in Korea. "Safe" space for some hanky or panky. Don't take a blacklight if you go with friends to have a good time.
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Apr 11, 2017 02:21
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Skoll posted:I'm not insulting you and I find this thread, and the China thread ( which I've been reading three days straight now ) absolutely fascinating. It just seemed sort of like a double standard to me. If I overreacted, I apologize, but my personal life and the personal lives of my coworkers are not something that is owed to our students. Especially concerning talking about religion. Oh, man, are we ever not supposed to talk about religion. China, remember? Me encouraging my student to be autodidactic and look things up when she's interested in them- which is rare for kids to do here and absolutely a skill they need to develop- is not at all representative of a double standard. Light trickery? Sure, I guess, if you really gotta assign a negative connotation, I'll give you light trickery. In the long run, the important thing is she became proactive about answering her own questions and relied on herself. My students almost never do that unless we make them. The Great Autismo! posted:It's not much of a story, I helped her prepare for her interview to get into college. She was really excited she got in. The day after they had their ceremony where they become adults she said she booked a private KTV room for me and her to celebrate. I told her I didn't think it was a good idea and she was really hurt. I said if she really wanted to do something we could go do something in public with one of her friends. I ended up taking them to Harry Potter 7 and then her friend snuck away and she tried to kiss me and I told her that wasn't a good idea. Yiiiikes. I would poop my pants in terror if a student tried to kiss me. The weird HR lady kissed my hand once and it was scary enough.
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Apr 11, 2017 02:31
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deathbot posted:What's the one thing you wish you guys knew in advance about living/teaching in China? Grand Fromage actually just posted something in the GBS thread that I think applies here, especially the first half. Grand Fromage posted:Always plan for the worst and assume the school is lying about literally everything, is my main advice for dealing with them. They will say anything to get their cut of the parental cash. And actually this works as a general statement too if you replace "the school" with "the people" and "parental cash" with "your cash"
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Apr 11, 2017 03:08
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Fleta Mcgurn posted:If I overreacted, I apologize, but my personal life and the personal lives of my coworkers are not something that is owed to our students. Especially concerning talking about religion. Oh, man, are we ever not supposed to talk about religion. China, remember? I can understand and respect that. Sorry for the misunderstanding then. Since we're on the subject of religion, do any students ever actually show an affinity towards The Three ways or is it just so thoroughly stamped out that people keep their old holidays and festivals but without recognizing what they meant? If religion DOES come up, how are you supposed to react to it as I imagine the PRC has specific guidelines for foreign teachers when it comes to such things.
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Apr 11, 2017 04:07
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I will use any combination of trickery and skullduggery to get my students to behave according to western standards. They are actively discouraged by Chinese staff to conform to foreign teacher expectations and if they don't learn how to do it now they will be absolutely hosed in college. They'll spend eight years in a Chinese bubble in uni and return home with no skills, not even decent English. Shanghai and Beijing are filled with these kinds of washouts. I'm here to help these students succeed in the west not play the starring role in my own version of Dead Poets Society or Stand and Deliver.
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Apr 11, 2017 06:43
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What's the WEIRDEST thing you guys have seen there?
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Apr 11, 2017 07:15
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deathbot posted:What's the WEIRDEST thing you guys have seen there? http://www.independent.co.uk/news/china-kindergarten-knife-attack-armed-man-11-students-pingxiang-guanhxi-a7508806.html
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Apr 11, 2017 07:31
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LentThem posted:http://www.independent.co.uk/news/china-kindergarten-knife-attack-armed-man-11-students-pingxiang-guanhxi-a7508806.html The weirdest thing is that our school is walled and topped with barbed wire and broken glass. Ostensibly it's to keep things like this from happening. But it's really to keep the students inside. Though, the year before I arrived, two kids got in a fight, one of the student's dads was in organized crime. Apparently the mobbed up dad got his croneys to camp out at each exit waiting for the other kid to come out. I didn't see this myself, but that was pretty weird.
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Apr 11, 2017 08:34
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Skoll posted:If religion DOES come up, how are you supposed to react to it as I imagine the PRC has specific guidelines for foreign teachers when it comes to such things. I just talk about it normally. Proselytizing is specifically illegal in the PRC but it's not illegal to be religious. I am atheist so there's no danger of me trying to spread religion around. There are at least a few Christian kids in the school, I've seen them with Bibles.
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Apr 11, 2017 11:37
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I was specifically taken to the police station in 2009 and put in a private interrogation room without a translator and told if I talked about religion I would be arrested, so I haven't mention nary a peep for over 7 years now.
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Apr 11, 2017 11:49
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Sounds like way more effort than anyone in Sichuan is willing to go through.
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Apr 11, 2017 11:50
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My old university had some sort of exchange program with bring 'em young so we had a bunch of mormon teachers every semester. Those guys would go on about God (or whatever they believe in, all I know about mormons is they have magic underpants and think soft drinks are evil?) in class, they would organise activities for religious holidays like Christmas and Easter too and they never had any problems. There was one of them weird superchristian old Korean guys as well who would talk about religion in class, apparently one of his classes was just him talking about how God gave Freddie Mercury AIDS as a punishment for being gay.
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Apr 11, 2017 12:13
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Fleta Mcgurn posted:
We definitely should. I don't know where the Meat Factory is but, it looks like you are west side. I'm east side, and before that I was Far East side (practically 龙泉驿) so I don't really know anything west of downtown. I'm supposed to go with one of my English co workers to watch a cricket match this Saturday at around 6:30, probably at Hugo's, if your interested in joining.
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Apr 11, 2017 13:47
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