Teach English in Caitun Zhen - Liaocheng Shi

Around three years ago I came to China with degree in teaching but with extremely little TEFL experience. That time I`d been looking for something interesting, not complicated, and definitely I was not about working with adults. After a while, I have found a job in kindergarten which I didn’t expect to be so hard and fun at the same time. At that place I had my own class with twenty-four kids of 3-5 years old. Chinese children are very smart and are willing to participate in every activity I suggested, but still I had the kids who took part in absolutely nothing. It`s worth mentioning that the parents are very demanding in their majority. So, I have been getting my experience while teaching and facing a lot of obstacles and issues. I would like to start with very important thing: Children need more than young learners at school or adults in the college or business company. Small kids can act unpredictably, they always watching your face, your location in the classroom, your actions. Why? Because kindergarten teachers establish the foundation of all education. Kindergarten classrooms and teachers are very important to little children who are just beginning their formal learning process at a new school. Kindergarten teachers are the most important in a child’s education. When I have realized it, I started controlling myself. The reason is that kids are very sensitive in these ages. The point is you have to take your emotions, mood and reaction under control and treat the students equally. To be honest, in real life it is not so easy as it seems. But luckily it is possible to get used to it. It turned that teaching preschoolers is very rewarding for me. Young learners soak up the new material like little sponges. The best thing for me is to see how much they grow up, how they develop new skills in English and become confident in themselves. I realized that first thing I have to do is motivate the students. Most of them didn’t pay attention simply because they didn’t understand what I was talking about. Second thing I needed is having a tone of interesting ideas, fun games, finger games, songs and dances. It seemed quite weird to me that time. As far as I was concerned study is study, we can’t have fun all the time. We can! Playing while studying is the best formula to the success in preschool learners’ improvement. In other words, it plays a vital role in teaching this level of students. Of course, besides playing games and having constant fun such things as drilling the vocabulary or choral, writing and reading activities still exist. This is an integral part of the studying process, even if children get bored. It turned out that it is easier for me to work in a large type class than in a small group. It goes without saying that in this case teacher saves a lot of time and lessons go faster. Another thing I found a bit difficult is that life as a kindergarten teacher can be very hard as well. The teachers basically have a big job to do because sometimes teacher doesn’t know what happens to the kid at home, outside of kindergarten, also some parents just don’t care about their child’s school work and home work either. Time to time we need support from the parents who will help their children get the program fast by reviewing and practicing English at home. Cooperation is very important! Moreover, the teachers will never know how a child is treated at home unless they tell you. So, that’s why I think that kindergarten teachers are extremely important in a child’s education. We have to understand that the teachers will be the only way a child will get through school. During my work in kindergarten I also understood that cooperation with the teachers in the classroom is very important and difficult job. We have so different points of view, system of education and culture that it was difficult to get along at the very beginning. It is important to let them understand that you are reliable person and try to find compromises in your team work. My job was not teaching all the classes at school, but was so called “staying”. I had to be in one class with the kids the whole day, to have the lessons and constantly talk to them. It is the best choice for the parents who try to chose place for the kid with “full immersion” or English atmosphere. That classroom is a place for learning experiences. Also, our class had a kitchen play house set, it contained water paint, a computer, blocks, puzzles. Our classroom was very colorful and bright, it helped to motivate students and keep their mood high. If we had the problems with children’s behavior, we used smiley chart, it is called a behavior chart; this chart is a scale showing a range of behaviors from high spirits to low or disappointing behavior from a teacher’s point of view. All these things are basic in teaching career and I enjoy it very much! I have always loved children and it was a good reason to become a teacher. I am very glad that I have got the opportunity to get the degree in teaching, especially of English, because I believe English is the language which connects all the nationalities all over the world. I want to mention that lately I am working with adults, people just want me to talk to them on different topics, discuss something interesting for them and so on. Yes, it is very pleasant to work with adults, they understand everything very fast, you don’t have to explain things one thousand times in a row, you don’t have to dance and jump in front of them. But I still believe small children give you something more than just their knowledge progress but also the pure feelings that you can’t find anywhere else. To sum up I have to confirm that the kindergarten class would not happen without the teacher. The teachers will help the students to get all of the foundation needed to go on to the first grade. In essence, kindergarten teachers are very important to a little child’s educational career.