Thank you and 10th grade English

Life is busy. That's one thing I have learned since coming to Taiwan. I remember my first year or two being surprised at how quickly my time filled up. Between teaching, Bible studies, church activities, and social events, it seemed like my time was not my own. I remember thinking, "Wow this has just been a busy streak this these last couple of weeks or month...things will settle down."

Well, four years later I am faced with the realization that LIFE is busy. It's not just Taiwan, or teaching, or serving as a missionary, but as people we make life busy. We jam our schedule full of different activities, and as soon as one ends it is not long before we find something else to take its place. I am sure it is the same way for you reading this, wherever you happen to be.

As much as I would love to say things will settle down, they never seem to in the long run. New things always pop up and the time goes by just as quick. So I realize it comes down to priorities, and how one schedules his or her time. What do you make time for, and what gets left behind in the busyness of life?

For all of you who read my blog, I am sure you can tell where my priorities lie sometimes. Obviously blogging is not always at the top of my list. As much as I say I would love to write consistently...truthfully I don't always make it a priority. And I love to use the excuse that I have been busy lately, but let's be real...life is busy.

So all of you who do come back and read, in spite of my sporadic posting, I thank you. I hope you enjoy it, and I hope you continue to come back...even when I am not consistent.

I want to write today about my 10th graders. I teach a 10th grade literature class here at Concordia Middle School, which is comprised of students who have advanced English for their grade level. I absolutely love teaching these students, and this class in particular has been a joy to teach.

I really feel like they have come together and taken advantage of the opportunity in front of them to learn and practice English. In my classes, I like to have small group discussion groups to respond to the reading that we have done. These groups consist of 5-6 students and they analyze the plot and make connections between the book and their lives.

This is my third year teaching this class, and every year it seems to be a battle to get students to use English. Usually groups will try to discuss in Chinese because it is their native language and it is easier for them. I often going around the room, feeling like a policeman on patrol saying, "NO CHINESE!!!"

It's not that I have a problem with Chinese being spoken to communicate an idea. It's just that I want to maximize the amount of English my students use, to make them the best they can be. I have used participation scores based on English use in these small groups, as an attempt to help curb laziness and encourage English. Inevitably, it has always been a battle.

For the first part of this year, it was much the same. Students would fall back on using Chinese as they discuss the reading or work on their group projects. However, the last couple of weeks have been different. The students have really grown and now start to use English much more and I notice a different attitude with them as they are discussing in their groups. They now are eager to use English and encourage each other to speak and participate in the group.

It all started a couple of weeks ago when I was being observed by a couple teachers. They came to sit in on my class and watch me teach. Realizing this, my students went on their best behavior. They spoke up in class, and during our small group discussions they were all speaking in English. I went from group to group and heard nothing but English. I no longer felt like a police officer, but rather went around the room simply listening to the ideas being discussed.

After the class period, I had a chance to talk with one of the teachers, who said that he was impressed with the class. I informed him that this was a really good class and that I too thought they did a good job.

The next day we had class and some of that attitude seemed to carry over, as students still did a pretty good job using English in their small groups. I was impressed and felt really good about the class' attitude.

The following class, I decided to talk to them about how things were going. We talked about when the teachers came to observe and how the class went. I told my students that I was really proud of them, and that they did such a great job of using English and participating in the class.

I then talked with them about the opportunity that they have...the opportunity to study and learn English with a group of students who also have a high ability. I talked about the importance of using each day to improve and do their best to learn, and that we were approaching the end of the school year and they should take full advantage of their last months in 10th grade advanced English.

I really think my kids bought into it. I feel like the culture of our class changed and that now they want to learn and improve. It has been really refreshing to teach them, and these last few weeks have been outstanding.

I look forward to finishing the semester. Soon we will start to read The Giver by Lois Lowry. This is one of my favorite books to teach and I really am I excited to see how this group responds to the novel.