My First Day

I set my alarm for 7 am...woke up...grabbed a shower, and got ready for my first day at Er Shin Junior Senior High School in Keelung. I moved around my tiny little apartment in Taipei to get myself a bowl of Special K. I ate it, only it didn't taste like Special K...but it would have to do. I walked out my door and got into the car for my ride to school...

I wasn't sure what to expect. I tend to over plan, and then end up going with the flow when it comes down to it...but I would NEVER go to class without a detailed lesson plan. Well, until today...because I had no idea what to expect.

Before today, my questions to the school went something like this: "What do you do if there is a fight? Or if a student curses at you, or walks out of the room? What do you do if they refuse to work?"

The response I got from the dean: "Never. Not here." I couldn't speak directly with Mr. Liu because he does not speak English well himself, but through translation I could tell he was shocked by my question...probably just as shocked as I was by his answer.

As Jon (the other English teacher) and myself were driven to Keelung from Taipei, I couldn't get that thought out of my mind.

What would it be like in a quiet classroom? What would fill the silence? Was silence even okay!?

I wasn't sure what to expect.

At Er Shin, the students start their morning at 7am, and stay in school until 6 pm. (Talk about a long day)! Some of them go to school on the weekends, too! As I walked into my 7th grade class, they all turned around and looked at me with anxious little faces, curious about their new teacher. You see, the 7th graders have learned English up until now, but most of them have never had foreign teachers, so I was really interesting to them. They were polite, but couldn't help but look at me and giggle, whispering things I could not understand in Chinese. I could see the excitement and interest in their eyes...and I loved it. However, all I kept thinking was...I can't believe I have 55 kids in one class!

I learned very quickly that the students were less willing to speak English alone, so I quickly made notes on my plans to implement more choral reading and speaking to start to build their fluency and confidence. I introduced myself and told my new class where I was from. I explained that I moved here only a few days ago and I did not know any Chinese. They looked at me, and I swear some of them gasped, almost to say, How are you going to survive? In my head I realized I had been wondering the same thing...

The first class was so quiet and shy it was almost unbearable. I could lie and say that I tried to break the ice by falling on purpose, but truth be told...I fell on accident. The classrooms at Er Shin have these little stage-like structures for the teachers, with a podium on them. Not being used to the raised stage, I misplaced my footing and fell right back...onto my bottom. I picked myself up expecting to see kids rolling on the floor laughing...but to my amazement all I saw were blank stares.

Toto. I've got a feeling we aren't in Kansas anymore. -- Exactly.

My second class was not as shy, but truth be told...they were still painfully quiet.

I chatted with Jon, the other teacher at lunch and talked to him about how quiet the kids were. I expected them to be quiet, but surely this can't be how they are ALL the time...

Jon suggested that I call them by their assigned numbers instead of asking for volunteers. I kind of hesitated because I didn't want to reduce my kids to numbers...but then again I am teaching at a school with 5,000 students!! So I tried it, and it worked! The kids even liked it and I could see them hoping their number would be called next. (Who would have thought...)

My last two classes went great, and I think I felt a little more at ease, which transferred to the kids. I made some more improvisations throughout the day - like sticking magnets on large index cards for vocabulary words to stick to the board. This way, I can have a portable word wall. That went over really well with the kids, and they were getting up and using them during our writing exercises and speaking activities.


All in all, it was a wonderful first day. The students are bright and ready to learn. They are motivated and want to impress their teacher. They are respectful, and appreciate the role of a teacher. This is something I can definitely get used to...and that is a good thing because I will be here for a year.

Dào mùqián wéizhǐ, wǒ xǐhuan táiwān.
So far I like Taiwan. (Thank you Google Translate)


Here are some pics from school today:





This was my lunch today. It was very good! They deliver lunch to my office everyday...for free! :)




Here is the view of Er Shin from the English Office. Er Shin is in Keelung, which is a port city. The school is located at the top of a mountain/hill that overlooks the water. The campus is HUGE...and for good reason. The 5,000 students have to be able to walk somewhere!

That's it for day 1!