report

I experienced my first in class correction this week
from one of the students. As I've shared with you
I'm teaching Middle school teachers. This student
offered the correction or advice in the middle of
my lesson and stated "I should find another lesson
to present besides the one I planned to do that
day." I accepted the advice and have figured out a
plan to shift my focus and lesson to the class that
this student is in. With three class and levels I'm
trying to figure out which lessons to present and
which ones to hold for the following day. I wasn't
expecting the correction but we discussed the
situation and went on from there. I'm not how I
would've handled that situation in a American
classroom setting.

I'm feeling much better this week after going through
last week with a cold. The shift in weather must've
been the cause for the illness. My students were
helpful in getting me medicine and offering health
advice.

This Monday through Wednesday we will have our
students prepare and present their own lesson plans.
It will be a good break from teaching but we still
have to prepare for the two additional periods in
the day.

Our teaching will conclude next Friday with a formal
closing and banquet. Next Thursday will be a hard
day to go through because I have to start saying
goodbye to the students. The 1;30pm (Thursday) period
will be hard because I will present gifts and bid
my beginner class goodbye. They have become my
"favorite" class to teach and spend time with.

We're planning to transfer back to our 1st hotel next
weekend and then have a debriefing session with the
rest of our teams. I'm not sure if I will be able to
send a report next Thursday but will try to send a
final report before we depart on the 10th of August
for America.

update.

I have had a cold this week so I'm going through a
illness on top of the transitions our team is
progressing through.

My favorite class thus far to spend time with has been
the beginning level class. We have a section
of advanced and intermediate level students. The
students we're with on a daily basis in the beginning
level are very eager to learn and have asked many
questions of me and about English. I have to be "on
top of my game" when I prepare and present the
lessons. The beginning level students provide a extra
ounce of encouragement for me and I try to praise them
orally on a daily basis.

Temperatures have reached the 90's (F) so we have to
drink plenty of water and rest at our hotel as much
as possible. Our classroom environment is warm and
humid so we have to be extra cautious and on a
constant outlook for our students well-being.

I'll try to send a message next week as my team mates
and I go through the third week of teaching. Thank you
in advance for your prayers.

week one.

Our first week of teaching was complete this
afternoon. (Friday) There are three of us that are
presenting lessons and two of us that are teaching
English to tourist bureau workers. I'm on the
three person team that is teaching to the Chinese
Middle School teachers.

This week went well from a outside view but from the
inside view it was a week to get used to a variety
of activities. We're using a rotation schedule to
teach a different class each hour. I'm finding it
it a challenge to remember what classroom and language
level I'm supposed to be with.

Included in this is the Beijing weather, eating
schedule, rest periods, lesson planning, and finding
a balance in saying yes or no to requests. Requests
have come and will continue to come from our team
mates and from students to change the focus of the
class structure.

In all of this, I'm having fun and trying to reach
out to my team mates, students, and most of all God
for my energy. There are three weeks to the teaching
schedule and I'm looking forward to this Saturday
to interact with the students at the Beijing Zoo.

Beijing, China

It's Tuesday and we're all get getting settled in our
new home. Our living situation is a training hotel
that is connected with the school we'll be teaching
at. Each of us has our own room and the rooms are
in a two level setting.

The living room/sitting room is on the bottom and the
bedroom with two beds is on the second floor. The
rooms are connected by a staircase that is just big
enough for someone smaller than me. It's really nice
and the trainees who staff the hotel are welcoming.

We eat our meals in the restaurant that is connected
to the hotel. There is also a tea ceremony room where
the school conducts training in tea presentation. All
of this is included in our contract.

We had our welcoming banquet this afternoon and met
our school officials. We went through 16 different
dishes between 7 people. Life is rough on the field.

Location: Our hotel is located southwest from the
Tiananmen Square and we can reach the Internet Cafe
by subway( Xidan Station) or taxi.

Name of our hotel:

Beijing Foreign Affairs Service Vocational High School Training Hotel

Tours: Our whole team toured the Forbidden City,
Summer Palace, and climbed the Great Wall. Most of
the sites we saw were the same ones I saw in 2003.

Classes: We start classes on Monday morning at 8:00am
and will have 5 separate classes between the five of
us.

Teaching Assignments.

• Henen University of Technology (ZhengZhou)
• Jian Su University of Science and Technology (Zhenjiang)
• Tian Jin Normal University
• Shanghai Training Center (Chong Ming Dao)
• Baotou Iron and Steel Company
• Shangdong University of Tech (Ti'an)
• Beijing Luhe Middle School
• Shanghai Jiao Tong University
• Beijing University of Chemical Tech
• Beijing Hotel and Tourism Management School
• Brian Timothy
• Robin Tina
• Cynthia Christina
• Melissa Ada Cheryl
• Alex Caleb
• Jackson Mark
• Kendall Jane
• Lindsey Saemina
• David Jordan
• Patti Kimberly Steve David