Teaching in Taiwan

I taught in a small town just outside of Changhua. I never ever ever ever ever ever thought I would be a teacher. I didn’t think I even liked kids. I never ever knew I would love it so much.

  
They made me laugh.

Everyday they taught me something new.

And occasionally, I could trick them into thinking learning was fun.

My students called me Teacher Ugalee (ugly) because they thought it rhymed with Ashaley (Ashley).

The classroom became like home. I was shocked to see an Iowa Hawkeyes T-shirt.

In the end, they were able to make me cry.

I loved themed lessons. The kids were so creative! I was shocked every time these classes didn’t end in disaster.

For this project, the students were given a country. They had to write about a holiday in this country and draw pictures of the photos they took while there. This was a great project because I heard them use these countries numerous times after.

This was a superhero costume lesson. The kids learned about different super powers and then had to create their own superhero.

 

In the winter, I decided to have the students make gingerbread houses. I had them all bring in their own milk cartons and then handed them a bag of candy.

  

We had a bowl full of sugar frosting and I suddenly felt that things could turn into Lord of the Flies very easily with the children overpowering me in their sugar rush. 

  

  

This disastrous scenario never played out and they made lovely gingerbread houses. 

  

I also did lesson on snow globes. The students brought in a toy and we glued it inside a plastic jar. They added glitter, filled it with water and then we super glued the jars shut.

 

I put a worksheet together that involved the toy they brought to class. They had to fill in what the toy was, colors, he/she/it, etc. This put together a story about their toy and how it became trapped in the snow globe. It then either broke free or stayed in the glass dome forever.

   

Oh dear. Astro and Minnie. They both have my heart forever. Astro had a rocket ship backpack that suited his name. Minnie selected a plastic box as her toy for the project. It was hilarious to read about the adventures of a box escaping a snow globe.

Some students drove me crazy, but I loved that about them.

  

The project was successful and no children were injured in the process.

My little monsters.

I was worried that I would favor girls more than boys before I began teaching. I was happy to discover that there was no favoritism between the two, but I had my favorite students none the less.

He grew so much in 4 months!

  

Every class had a different feeling and atmosphere.

Sometimes, they were very naughty.

One of my coworkers said that when I punish students, I should try and keep it with a positive message. This was my solution to that.

The student work always amazed me. I couldn’t believe the things they could do. I was known as the teacher that focused on writing. I had students take home first and third place in a nationwide speech contest and a nationwide creative writing contest. I also had a very high number of students accepted into the writing contest.

   

I encouraged my students to not all write that they were good (I knew some of them were definitely naughty all year). This was the only student I could get to write from that perspective. I couldn’t stop laughing.

  

I also taught private classes to adults. They kept me on my toes. I think I learned more English grammar this year than I did in my entire time in school. I always had to have an explanation ready for why certain things are done in English.

I was lucky to have enthusiastic coworkers, who helped me every step of the way.

  

    

For my going away party, they did the traditional hotpot. I avoid any celebrations where I will be the center of attention, but this was very nice.

This job was very different from my other careers. The moment I was in the classroom, I was happy. I never counted down the clock, I always wished for more time.

They annoyed me, mocked me, frustrated me, and were the cause of many headaches, but also impressed me with their skills, made me laugh hysterically with our own private jokes, made me cry with happiness when they did something so cute I couldn’t take it, and broke my heart when I left them. This is the best job I’ve ever had.