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Perng, Bor-Ping (Erica) (彭柏萍)
This AID camp has been an unforgettable and a great experience, especially the two weeks of teaching English. From the very first week of training to the last week of tour, I have made friends and learned a lot about teaching in Taiwan.
On the first day, I was excited and anxious to attend the camp. Knowing that I am one of the mature volunteer campers, I was unsure how I was going to get along with teenagers for four weeks. When I met the other volunteers going to the same school (FuAn Elementary School), I was glad to have another girl closer to my age. Throughout the training week, I got to get to know my fellow volunteers better. The coach, English teacher from FuAn Elementary School, showed us many good tips and tricks to teaching English in Taiwan. I am grateful and feel very lucky to be put with a young and passionate English teacher coach, and I learned techniques and ways to introduce a new topic and vocabulary and the different drills to practice speaking.
The week of training reminded me of going back to university but in an intense course. There were a couple lectures that were good and a couple of teachers that were contradicting what they were telling us. However, overall I believe the training was good for those who do not have any pedagogical skills.
When the time came to the school, it was another anxious moment. I was not sure where the school was and where we were going to live. Hotel? Host family? We ended up living at the school and in a classroom. It was a bit of a shock, but I got use to the idea. In addition, the teachers and staff we met were very warm and welcoming. They also asked us if we needed anything and attended to our needs—teaching materials, medication and night snacks.
Even though we spent most evenings at Jian Tan to prepare the lesson outline and lesson plans, the first week was very busy after classes in preparing teaching materials. It brought back memories of the time and years I spent at university doing the exact same thing. However, in the classroom and interacting with the students reminded me why I became a teacher. I have learned that no matter what country, a teacher can make a difference and be a positive role model to students.
Throughout the whole two weeks of teaching English and not being able to use Mandarin Chinese to help in my teaching, I learned skills in acting and exaggerating everything single direction I gave to the students. I struggled explaining rules and consequences but found a way to communicate them since they understood what it meant when I wrote their names on the whiteboard. I truly believe by only speaking English to them, helped the students learn a lot faster, especially the younger students.
My most favorite time was spending time with my fellow volunteers and teaching two weeks at the school.
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