Two semesters, 10 months and thousands of classes later, yesterday I finished teaching at my school in China. Having taught well over 1,200 students in my time at Shishijiaxing Foreign Language School, I have learnt so much about myself as a teacher and about the work ethic of students in China. It has been such an honour to watch them grow in confidence and ability since February this year, and I am so proud of myself for helping make that happen.
I worked a lot harder in my second semester to make lessons easier for some students and more challenging for others. I found that my students were quickly learning from grammatical mistakes that they had been making for a lot of the previous semester. And I was making more of an effort to remember their names; although that is very hard when you teach over 1,000 students a week!
There is nothing quite like the sensation of entering the school gates every morning and having students chanting my name because of how excited they are to see me! It’s a surreal feeling and makes me wonder if I’ll miss it! Although I certainly won’t miss my primary school students barricading me in the classrooms every afternoon because they don't want me to leave!
It has been so much fun being a Laoshi (老师) here in China, and I am sad this chapter has come to an end. But I am so grateful for all the memories I have made and gifts I have received.
I look forward to giving my students a surprise visit when I take another trip to Chengdu in the future!
Bobbi 老师
B x
No comments
Post a Comment