We is now Profeshunal English Teachers

We have survived our first week of classes and in fact have been paid for the next month so I believe that I can say that we are now professional ESL teachers. We each have seven classes per week. The classes are 1 3/4 hours in duration but that also includes a short 5-10 minute break. All our classes are in the morning and we are finished by 11:45 each day. Two of my classes are at a second campus located about 15 minutes away so on Thursdays I will take a shuttle bus to this campus and do both the classes back to back. Nonie's classes will all be on the main campus. They have not provided any curriculum for us to follow, they said it was up to us what we would like to teach. We are busy trying to create a syllabus for the balance of the semester. This will keep us very busy for the first few weeks. Luckily Nonie and I can teach the same lessons so this will make planning a little easier.

We get a national holiday the first week of October and are off for the whole week. Sweet! We also get a long weekend on September 15th.
Our final week of classes will be December 22- December 28. The following week (December 29- January 4) will be for our final exams. We are no longer required after that date as the students will be starting their other course exams and we are not expected to teach these two weeks. The spring vacation starts after that and we will start the second semester on February 23. Basically we will have about six or seven weeks off. There will probably be some administrative work on the first week after our exam but it sounds like we are free to roam.

The classrooms are very formal with the student desks lined up row upon row upon row with the instructer up on a platform. They seem to stuff as many desks as they can into each classroom. Most classrooms are set up for multi-media presentations. Nonie and I kept it low tech for the first week but are stepping it up week two with video, audio and powerpoint presentations.

We average about 30+ students per class. The students are an interesting bunch and seem to be very serious about their studies. All are in the masters program at HIT. Many arrive 15 or 20 minutes before the class. They sit very quietly and stare at you as you prepare for the class. It was kind of spooky for our first few classes as we are used to a lot more chatter from students. Once the classes started they seem to relax a bit and even laughed at some of my lame jokes. I sense that bubbling under the surface there is a Chinese sense of humor struggling to get out. I think that we'll enjoy teaching these students.

Nonie has vowed to proof read this update as my last one was a real stinker for typos. I am not allowed to post any more with out her approval. Class pictures next blog.

Nonie here now. As Brett's written, things are under control. This week we hope to get a little ahead on the class planning department. As we get to know the students and what they are or are not capable of, we'll be able to plan more effectively.