Oh by the bye, I am currently an employed teacher in Taipei. It all happened rather quickly, and suddenly I found myself surrounded by lots of children screaming in Chinese. On Friday I began a day of observation, beginning with the 'Yo-Yo Class' in the morning. Don't know what age group 'Yo-Yo' means? I didn't either, and here's the shocker: two years old. I am in charge of teaching a group of eight toddlers--or rather, supervising said toddlers while sprinkling in the 'Alphabet Song' and random single digit numbers to the hour. I walked in with a smile, but the eight pair of eyes called me out as an intruder; they're really going to have a problem tomorrow when I'm the one that shows up, instead of the teacher they've become comfortable with.
It was decided that after one full day of observation I would co-teach the 'Yo-Yo' class on my second day, today. I went in early this morning to review the portions of the class I would be in charge of during my first co-teaching effort. I would be responsible for 'Alphabet Time' and 'Storytime', both of which included lots of time with minimal material. I received four weeks of training for lesson planning in Prague, but I sat and stared at the page of ideas like I'd never done this before. But I haven't...how do I lesson plan for toddlers?! I was starting to think I might have to wing it--their attention spans are less than three minutes, after all. I jotted down a few ideas of questions to ask while reading and ran upstairs just in time for 'Exercise Time'.
I determined that I was not nearly fully prepared for 'Exercise Time' when "Bohemian Rhapsody" began to blast from the speakers. All four of the kindergarten classes combine to complete their morning stretches...and jumps...and twists...and dances. As a teacher of these morning classes I am responsible for leading these thirty or more children in completing these stretches (jumps, twists, dances, etc.) by participating, myself, in the very front of the room. Yes, I realize that I have little to zero coordination; this is of little consequence to the screaming children though. Since it was the first time I'd seen the whole event I was a little lost with the choreography and thus spent the majority of the fifteen minutes laughing at how much fun the kids were having. Tomorrow I will attempt to do the routine in it's entirety, and I will never listen to Queen the same again.
'Toddler Watching' may be my new favorite form of 'People Watching'...they interact in the most curious manners. It didn't take me long to lean toward a few kids as favorites either, but I was assured by my roommate that this is "only a bad thing if you don't hug the ugly children." That's a good rule. The child who I find the most intriguing to observe is also the one who administers the most intense of the 'intruder glares'; I have a sneaking suspicion she can see into the depths of my core. My smiles are not acknowledged, and she doesn't even blink when staring me down--it's amusing and nerve-racking all at once. I intend on befriending her first; she might have pull with the others. I also plan on befriending the child that jumps everywhere, because he's just plain cool.
When preparing for my lesson before class the head teacher was teasing me for telling him I was nervous...it's silly, because they're just children. Wrong. Individually they're children, but together they are a tough crowd. I received minimal audience participation, and started to sweat in the spotlight. My portion of the act seemed to go fast, but I have much material to perfect for tomorrow; I plan on coming up with a list of the same question in 8-10 different word patterns. It wasn't just me though, the class was just quiet in general--it seems even toddlers get a case of the 'Mondays'. My training teacher noticed their lack of spirit too. "Watch them go mental," he said as he pulled out the secret weapon: bubbles. Remember in "Knocked Up" when Pete confides in Ben, "I wish I loved anything as much as they love bubbles." Oh my goodness, I had no idea. Suddenly they were awake and full of energy. There was screaming, running, jumping, clapping and pure, flawless joy. Toddlers straight up love bubbles. I've already penciled that in as a back up to most of my lessons...you know, just in case.
Oh, and I think the kids misunderstood my name and I'm now 'Teacher Mindy'. I heard it just as I was leaving; clearly this will have to be corrected.
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