|
|
Chang, Emily (張琪雯)
The first time that I came to Lishan there were many windy roads leading to the school, but there were many beautiful, green pastures and mountains along the way. There were many fields of melons, cabbage, and fruit trees along the path. As I neared Lishan Middle and Elementary School, the school was different than I had expected, since I have only been to Taiwan schools in the city. My group settled down into the office where the teachers of the school work and thus began our adventure in Lishan.
I thought that AID Summer was to help children with English difficulties and spike their interest in English. What I did not know was that their English level was lower than I expected. Despite their limited exposure to English, they were still eager to learn the English language. In order to engage the students, I created PowerPoints to demonstrate exactly what the students were to learn for the day. Then I would create games for the student to understand the meaning of the word as well as to reinforce by repetition what they had just learned. At first, most of the students did not know how to construct a sentence properly. However, I utilized the technique of role playing specific sentences to allow the students to gain a deeper understanding of the topic and vocabulary. Through teaching, I was also able to create friendships with my teaching partners.
As a part of Team A2-7, I realized that teaching is not a one woman show. My partners helped me keep the class in order as well as assisting me in games and craft. I was really happy to have met my partners Psalm and Anita, because they both taught me a lot about patience and listening carefully to others who want to be heard. During these past two weeks, they helped me during my craft and everyday phrases sessions. Because of their help, the students were able to read the vocabulary and construct sentences for themselves. As time progressed, I learned about working together as a group as well. It is impossible to always work alone and when help is necessary, it is best to simply ask for it. Not only has my group taught me about friendship, they have also taught me about responsibility by helping the students grow in their knowledge of the English language.
At AID Summer, my sense of responsibility grew immensely. For example, I learned to finish my teaching materials well before the lesson and complete my reflection soon after the lesson. As a result, I am able to apply my new sense of responsibility in daily life, such as studying early before quizzes, tests, and papers. In addition, I realized that disciplining myself would advance my college studies as a nurse in training.
AID Summer has helped me meet new friends, taught me about ample preparation, and allowed me to discover a new sense of responsibility. Because of this program and Lishan Elementary students, this will be a summer I will never forget.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chang, Jonathan (張楷易)
Wow! AID SUMMER sure was a program that I will never forget. It started off with an interesting week at Chientan, then two weeks of teaching little children, and then a tour of Taiwan. I had many struggles and successes. I will be forever grateful for the experience that I got from this trip. Firstly, the training week at Chientan was an interesting experience. I, probably like a lot of other volunteers, was really tired from jet lag. Thus, I found the afternoon sessions to be really painful because it is very difficult to keep my eyes open (felt bad about closing my eyes while someone was teaching). The training sessions, I feel, are a great idea. They were great for learning about how to teach in general and for correcting jet lag. The food and lodging were great, though perhaps a few more washing machines would be nice.
Then, we were off to Keelung. My experience in Keelung would be something engrained in my memory forever. I made new friends, worked harder in my life than I have ever worked, and essentially made a second family. To start, the teacher, principal, and other school officials were great people. They were kind and gentle individuals. They tried their hardest to make sure that we had good food to eat and a great place to stay. I also made friends, which is one of the aspects of this camp that I find to be very valuable. Most of my team members were respectful and compassionate. We helped each other when somebody needed help. We looked out for each other over the two-week period at Keelung. One of the greatest challenges that I faced was getting along with my teaching partner. There were many problems that arose between us throughout the two-week teaching period. Luckily, I had the support my other teammates; thus, we were able to get through the teaching weeks without any serious issues. I learned a lot about collaborative work at this camp. I have learned how to be even more patient with teammates who don't do their share of the work. Working in a team requires everyone doing their part. The things I have learned at the camp will really help me when it comes to working in a group setting in the future. Besides the interactions with my teammates, I also interacted a lot with my students. This camp has taught me so much about interactions with people of all ages. The teaching period has allowed me to experience moments where students are willing to learn English as well as moments where they are not. I have learned to adapt to the learning environment and make sure that the kids (at least the majority) are happy and willing to learn. I adjusted my teaching plan many times to suit their needs. By the end of the two weeks, I feel like I have accomplished my mission of teaching Taiwanese children English. Overall, I have learned so much from this trip. I will be forever grateful for the experience that I had acquired here in Taiwan.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ma, Jessica (麻作欣)
Love is like the wind. You can’t see it but you can feel. Like its purity, I came to Taiwan with an open mind that was willing to express and bare love for the people I was destined to meet. I was ecstatic to hear that I was accepted in the AID 2014 program back in the spring. I had a plan in mind to fully to help others through all costs and provide not only an English language opportunity, but an experience that would allow me to change the kids.
The first week here at Chientan was both intriguing and frightening at the same time. I was terrified to be with 400 some students all from different countries, backgrounds and life experience. I didn’t know what to expect. However through the lesson plans and constant teaching classes, I felt more and more confident as our team came together and worked hard to prepare our best for the children. What really surprised me was the fact that our group really came together well and bonded over the four weeks. The strength of friendship, love and teamwork brought us as one to accomplish a task that not only changed our lives, but affected the lives of the kids that we learned to cherish and love.
When we arrived at Ba-Li elementary school, it was a feeling that I had rarely felt before. Immediately, the teachers, school authorities and housing family all gathered to welcome us into their community. Their sense of love, closeness and community flowed through us the entire two weeks. From preparing breakfast for us every morning to taking us out during the weekends, each action they did for us showed their sincerity and caring hearts. From them, the kids showed the same love and energy as the two weeks progressed into more than just a teacher-student relationship, but to a strong sense of closeness and bonding that were unparalleled. They were eager to learn English through the games and activities we prepared for them, but even more so enjoyed our sheer presence to entertain and play with them during breaks and after school. They changed our lives more than we could imagine as the two weeks opened our eyes to see what was more than just the world that we grew up in, but how their culture and way of life and sense of purity in the simple basic emotions filled them much more than what we appreciated in our daily lives. I believed the impact we had on their lives were just as emotional as they saw us as their big brothers and sisters that they could learn from with not only the English language and culture, but how to enjoy and blend in our life experiences into who we are and how we present ourselves.
As our lives move on and each of our paths go their separate ways, we will remember and cherish each moment that we had in Taiwan. From Chientan to Ba-Li to tour week, each memory that we built together is more valuable than we can ever imagine. Wherever we may be and whatever we may be, the love that we experienced throughout these four weeks will be forever imprinted in the depth of our hearts.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hwang, Annie (黃郁庭)
I’m truly grateful to have had the opportunity to be a part of AID Summer. I learned a great deal not only about Taiwan and its way of life, but also about myself.
Creating lesson plans and executing them was a fantastic experience, especially when working with a partner. Planning lessons ahead of time was a challenge, especially when we didn’t know what to expect from the school nor students’ English proficiency. However, with the help of our group and the teacher, we were able to pull out a good plan. Adding in a partner threw in some interesting dynamics- there was one more person to consult but also to satisfy. My partner and I worked well together, but we were having trouble with communication. We didn’t have much of a relationship outside of the classroom, which made it difficult for me to approach him. I regret not talking to him more. There was one day when I talked to him directly before class to find that he had planned to divert from our original plan, so I ended up simply following along with him rather than working with him. I now realize that I should start approaching others rather than waiting for them to approach me.
I’ve always enjoyed being with children. When my family throws a party, I’m generally known as “the babysitter” because I’m always looking after the kids and playing with them. The kids I worked with in Rei Sui were older than I was expecting, but I was still able to get along with them very well. Our ages were close enough so that we were able to become genuine friends and have good conversation, but large enough so that they still had respect for us. They were really well behaved considering their ages. I realize that they came to this camp willingly, but I was still impressed by their eagerness to learn. The biggest problem we had was probably their willingness to participate. Most students participated, but there was a handful of students who didn’t want to participate in class activities, whether it be speaking or playing a game. Getting these students involved was a struggle, but it was just as painful seeing them uninvolved. Talking to them individually and getting to know each student really has a big impact on their participation in class. That was the luxury of having such small classes- I was able to develop some great relationships with the students and they now occasionally message me (in English) on Facebook/Line. I really admire the students we taught.
I’m really proud of all the accomplishments my group and I have made, but we couldn’t have done it without all the help we had from the teachers at the school, the counselors of AID Summer, and many others. We owe a lot to them for the kindness they’ve shown. Although they were our leaders, we were able to talk to them as friends and have some great conversations with them. It was also a good opportunity to practice and improve my Chinese. I’m so grateful to everyone involved for making this camp such a great experience!!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lin, Andrea (林韵亞)
Show me a room full of sweaty young adults and I would have thought nothing of it a few weeks ago, but after AID I have found myself with nothing but respect for my fellow teachers. AID threw together a group of strangers and expected them to then work together to teach English; I worried about this for days before arriving in Taiwan. But group dynamics are more than just about the type of people you work with. It's also about having a common mission and the passion to achieve our shared goals. After meeting my teaching group on the first day, I could see that each of us wanted to do well, and more than that, we cared.
Nothing ruins spirit faster than apathy, and nothing ruins apathy faster than spirit. Because of my group members, I felt inspired to do as much as I could for our students. Seeing them work for hours into the night made me want to pour more time into my own plans to make sure we engaged our kids thoroughly. Ultimately, the more work we put in beforehand, the less work we had to do while teaching. For those two weeks at Dawu JH School in Taiteng, I experienced what it meant to exhaust yourself everyday and yet not mind in the slightest. While some volunteers taught in less disadvantaged areas, we taught at a small county where there was only one traffic light. You'd see your students at the same breakfast shop every morning, and every night you'd see them again biking around town laughing. We fell into a simple routine within the first couple of days easily.
Unexpected events like, for example, a typhoon forced us to be flexible and adapt our lessons to fit our ever changing needs. What was important wasn't the small text we had typed up, but the new opportunities to give our students a love for English. There were a couple last minute scrambles to prepare games and activities, and things didnt always go smoothly, and we ran out of planned activities at least 3 times, but not even follies on our part deterred our students from showing their curiosity to learn more.
One student took impeccably neat notes with handwriting cleaner than my own, and one student never failed to offer an answer to our questions (right or wrong, but mostly right). Kids like this helped me realize that no matter your circumstances, nothing can stop you from working hard towards your future. My students were very well behaved contrary to my expectations and kept each other in line. I felt blessed to have kids who really appreciated us. Because of it, I felt a duty to them to give them my best. I wanted to serve their needs and beyond that, I wanted to show that I personally wished for them to do well in their pursuits. Before I knew it, I had become emotionally invested in their happiness.
At Dawu, you see the sun rise over the sea every morning and set between the mountains every night. The ocean breeze carried more than cool relief — it carried promise and hope. Promise that the world would keep turning no matter the hardships, and hope that there is something better coming our way soon. I came to AID with a personal goal to make something out of myself, and I am coming out of it now with an unforgettable experience I never would have had otherwise. To be truly selfless might be impossible, but for two weeks I believed otherwise.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kuang, Max (鄺紹耘)
When I first arrived at Chientan activity center, I was really nervous and I didn't know what to expect from the program. However, my fears were swept away when I met my group because they were all willing to help me through the whole process. When I got to my school in Hualien, I was enthusiastically greeted by many of my students (almost all yelled my name like mmmmm-max). Although they liked to poke us and give us massages, the students were well spirited and wanted to learn English from us. The two weeks teaching seemed tough (especially with the typhoon) but in the end I will remember this program as an unforgettable experience. The tour was great and I got to see parts of Taiwan that I have never seen before.
I think the most profound thing that came to me from the two weeks teaching was how different the community was from an urban town. The school was situated in a valley between two mountain ranges: the Pacific mountains, and the Central Taiwan mountains. The mountains were beautiful to look at every single day of the two weeks. In addition, Fuli township (the place where we taught) was a farming community, so there were rice fields everywhere---even the school had a small rice field. On one of the days, we went out to harvest the rice. The sun was really hot, so harvesting under the sun was incredibly laboring. Of course, the school was trying to tell the students how important the tradition of harvesting rice was. However, the biggest take-away for me was that I could never experience this in the city life.
I already miss the kids and the school, but at least I took a lot of pictures!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wu, Megan (吳羽庭)
I am so incredibly happy I had this opportunity to teach English to the adorable and energetic kids of Shueiliao Elemetary School. Initially, I was nervous about designing and carrying out lesson plans for two weeks, but through the collaboration with my teaching partner, we were able to successfully teach our students a little bit about American food, basketball, cooking, and making cards. Every morning during the two teach weeks, I woke up feeling motivated and excited to teach the students English, because they inspired me with their genuine curiosity and enthusiasm. Honestly, I was surprised by how much I grew attached to the students - some tears were shed on the last day. I really hope they can continue to work hard to study English so they may have a chance to visit or study in the US one day. I'm so proud of their accomplishments, especially their production of "Horton Hears a Who," during the closing ceremony. They memorized all their lines in less than 5 days, and they performed it without any fear or hesitation.
Through these past two weeks at our elementary school, I have grown so close to my 7 lovely groupmates - they are all talented and amazing girls, and I know we will continue to keep in touch in the future.
I'm thankful I was able to give back to the my motherland - I sincerely hope the AID volunteers have, in some way, made an impact on the lives of many Taiwanese students.
I hope the tour will be just as amazing as our memorable, two teaching weeks!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lee, Jessica (李易蓁)
Arriving in Chientan, it was already 10pm and I had just arrived. The next day, breakfast started at 8 in the morning, and then the lectures came. Every day, the day from started 8am to 11pm. Lectures for 8 hours, and practicing for another 2, while making new teaching plans with your partner left everyone tired at night. Our 2k14 AIDS group fondly called this week “hell week”. Points were being deducted left and right, and all of sudden so many rules were being broken. The lectures were long, and candidly boring. Teaching plans were required to be done in 3 days, and demo teaching competitions between each group and level were made until a best 9 groups out of 450 people were picked to represent their groups. There my partner and I were selected as the final group representing the B-3 group to demo our teaching in front of all aid volunteers. My partner is now infamously known as the “buttspeller”. Taipei was hot and humid, and the air felt saturated with water. The uniforms were a required long pants, closed toed shoes, and the polos. The AC doesn’t work well because there are too many people and the rooms were tiny; but, because it was hell week, my group became extremely close to each other and we became family. Shilin night market was amazing because it was a time of freedom. However, the best time at AID was the 2 weeks I spent in Pingtung.
For my group, we lived in host families. Due to a mix up, I lived with a guy (I am a girl). But despite the situation, we lived in different rooms and our host families were amazing. They took us out to eat all the time and brought us to various night markets as well as to many shops and malls to shop at. They spent so much money and time to make us comfortable and ahppy and leaving them was heart breaking. Our kids were pretty amazing despite the problems that were encountered. In the beginning, there were some kids that told their classmates they hated English and that this was stupid. At the time, they didn’t know I spoke Chinese so my partner Jonathan Lee just listened in silence. Our kids in the beginning respected us, but as we got closer, the became more and more comfortable; due to this, nearing the end of teaching were some of their worst days and had both my partner and I exhausted and fed up. However, we had amazing help, and our Academic Director was a friendly person who truly cared about us. He took a lot of time away from his family to make sure we were having fun and enjoying the various activity they had plan for us.
The tips I would recommend to future aiders is:
-Bring candy or some kind of reward because reward systems work really well
-Adapt with your kids because different classes react differently to activities
-^this means that your teaching plan may be useless if your kids don’t like it
-^ that means every day you will make a new teaching plan and also be on your toes to improve
- Drink lots of water so you don’t become dehydrated
-Reapply bug spray every 2/3 hours to make sure the bugs don’t get you
-Lastly be respectful to the counselors, teachers, principals, and the parents. It helps to be on their good side.
The 4th week is the tour week, which I am currently “enjoying”. Tour week is mostly for hanging out with your group who you won’t ever see again. It’s a sad moment because you become very close with them since you spend all day with them. The food during tour week is significantly better than the food at Chientan so hang in there for the first week! The rooms are generally nice however those in the hostel in the mountain may have bug infested rooms, with disgusting showers, and malfunctions of all sorts from toilets to fans, to electricity. Needless to say, my roommates and I slept burrito style in our towels. However, being with your group and visiting various places and practicing for the talent show is a lot of fun and while I can say there have been bad nights and days, Aid has truly been an amazing experience. I have not only met amazing people, but I've also seen what a difference teaching English in this program can be. My teacher personally benefited from it and knowing that I changed the mind of several students from hating English, to thinking it may actually be fun is inspiring.
I was lucky to have been blessed with such a great group, school, staff, and living condition. My group is like family, brother and sister in our worry for each other, and the closeness we have become. Our school had enough fans to make up for lack of AC. Our staff really wanted us to have the best experience and the best materials to teach the kids, and ours homes and families have become an important part of the experience. Without them, this summer would not have been as fun as it has been and I truly appreciate that I was given this chance to participate. 2K14 Summer Aid <3
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tsai, Stacy (蔡潔綺)
These past 3 weeks have been very exciting, very exhausting, very enriching, very educational, very challenging, and very fun. It has definitely been a great program for me - as a Taiwanese American, as a leader and role model to others, and as a person seeking new experiences.
During this program, I had the chance to see much more of Taiwan than I had in the past. I have only been to Taiwan 2 times before this, and have stayed mostly in Taipei and Nantou. I rarely have the chance to come back to Taiwan, so this program gave me the opportunity to learn more about where my parents came from and, by extension, where I am from. When people ask me where I am from, I always say that I am Taiwanese. However, after these last 3 weeks, being from Taiwan means much more to me than simply a place on the map. I now have a clearer image of the heritage and culture I claim as my own, and I feel a deeper sense of pride for the country.
I also faced the challenge of being an English teacher, which proved to be quite the obstacle, as I had very little training in English teaching or even teaching in general. The week at Jientan was fun and educational for me and really helped us plan our lessons at the school. Also, I learned to improvise a lot during the day, as our plans would sometimes take longer or shorter than expected. Finally, dealing with children everyday for extended periods of time was difficult. Managing the classroom was undoubtedly the most draining part of the day. I had tutored children before, but not for 7 hours a day. They were energetic, and thus rowdy. That, in conjunction with the fact that many of them did not understand much English, pushed me to find new ways to resolve issues. I spoke a lot of Mandarin (probably more than I should have) and my patience had definitely run low by the end of the 2 weeks, but I think, if anything, I learned that control of the class does not equate influence. As a result, I learned to have a little more fun with the kids and make English learning less of a chore and more something that the kids genuinely want to learn.
Finally, I personally found the most joy in getting out of my comfort zone, both literally and figuratively. This program sparked many firsts - my first flight alone, my first time speaking to my relatives without a family member as a translator, my first oyster omelet, etc. I greatly appreciate the opportunity to leave the US for the summer, as I, admittedly, have grown complacent with the comforts that I take for granted, as well as tired of the monotony of the suburbs. Living and traveling without my family offered me a different perspective of Taiwan - speaking, reading, and writing more Mandarin, interacting with non-English speakers on my own, trying new foods, understanding the metric system, and, of course, dealing with the heat and humidity. I'm very glad that I had the chance to do something worthwhile, exciting, and refreshingly different over the summer, and I will definitely remember the experiences I had and the people I've met here.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chang, Michael (張宇宙)
Before arriving in Taipei, I dreaded that I would have to put forth a great effort to become a decent teacher. A fairly reserved and introverted person, I felt that students would have a hard time connecting emotionally to me. However, the week before teaching, lecturers shared with us their most effective teaching strategies and gave us opportunities to brainstorm our own class activities. The time also allowed our group to bond and become familiar with one another’s teaching tendencies. I regret not focusing more on the social aspect of teaching rather than preparing class activities and general class guidelines.
On the first day of teaching, I regret not being more confident and friendly to the kids. But even though I hadn’t been very outspoken on the first day, the students became very amiable nonetheless. It had been difficult to plan the class even in the second week, but we became comfortable with organizing class activities on-the-go. By planning more activities than necessary, we could be prepared for any change in plans whether it be activities running longer than expected or all-school activities. I’m glad that the kids were so friendly and receptive despite our shaky first day. For me, I learned that people are never too old for certain games. Games like flyswatter, matching, and butt spelling never get old. Especially true for the students, people respond well to confidence in a teacher.
Director Chiu and Coach Lili were extremely helpful in that they were willing to accommodate any issues or needs that we had. Every day after school we were given 5 kinds of fruits to enjoy and time to relax. Lili had lots of different games to play with the kids such as Squares, Super Rhino, and Geistes. She was very easy to talk to since she is young too and understands our position as new teachers. We built a personal relationship with her on weekends when we went shopping, getting new haircuts, buying materials for class, and eating great Taiwanese food. Director Chiu always acknowledged our hard work and appreciated us by taking us out on weekend excursions.
My host family had just sent their kids to college, so they were very comfortable with us rising seniors. They were willing to cook dinner at home every day, even though the mother worked from 8 in the morning to 8 in the evening. They even managed to install air conditioning in the first week that we moved into their home. Although their two cats were always hissing at us, we felt very much at home because of our family’s hospitality. Our family was usually on top of our daily schedule. Every night, the father would give us details about where we would be going on the weekend. The Friday before we left, he told us as much as he could about the monster village, earthquake museum, and fan making. I’m grateful to have had such a dedicated family.
The week after teaching was not as relaxing as I had hoped. I was bitten many times by mosquitoes and bees, and once by a fire ant. A word of advice: bring bug and insect repellent as well as post-bite medicine. However, I would say that the week was fairly fun and enjoyable. I would recommend getting enough sleep each night so that the next day can be enjoyed to the fullest extent.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lin, Rachel (林瑞佳)
I see images – little snapshots of the two weeks I spent teaching English in Chiayi. There’s Elisa playing with her blue soccer ball, Eric flipping through his notebook of new vocabulary, Max drawing the Transformer picture he gave me on the last day, and Vivian trying to hide her phone under her desk. And then there are my teaching partners. I see us playing games at the night market, cringing through foot massages, dancing through Carrefour, and singing as we bike in a line. When I think about the two weeks I spent living in a school and loving it, I want to smile almost as much as I want to cry because it’s over.
At the time, training week felt like an endless drag, but now I remember the constant search for internet access, the transportation-themed poster we made, and the countless classes. Without any of us noticing at the time, B1-4 grew closer. We started talking more, laughing more, and slowly became friends that could sit comfortably in silence together.
When we first arrived Chiayi, we were miserable in the scorching heat and dreaming of air-conditioning. There’s a recording that captures us seeing Shiuan Shin Elementary School for the first time. There are gasps, laughs, sighs of relief, and all the right exclamations.
Teaching is harder and more rewarding than anything I have done up to this point. My partner and I spent long nights preparing presentations, creating worksheets, and making flashcards. In two weeks, I gained an infinite amount of respect for every teacher I have ever had and for every teacher I will have in the future. After the first day, I felt lucky to have made it through with a faint recollection of each students’ name. By the second week, I had students showing me their homes on Google Earth and giving me hand-drawn sketches.
During the school’s closing ceremony, I was on the verge of tears when my students rushed up to give my partner and me parting gifts. When I look at the bracelets they made us and the presents that they shopped for in their own rooms, I can’t help but wish that there was class tomorrow.
Besides the wonderful people in my 8-person teaching group and our head teacher, I met volunteers, teaching assistants, parents, administrators, and countless others. I made friends in Taiwan. For the first time, I didn’t visit Taiwan – I lived in Taiwan.
There’s a student who I’ve still been talking to after the teaching weeks ended. Yesterday, she promised me that in ten years, she will be in America. Fingers crossed.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hai, Rachel (海維涵)
When I first arrived at Chientan, it was really overwhelming. I had no idea where I was, which building I should sign in at, who my roommates were, if my working journal was good enough, etc. There were a lot of things that I didn’t know going into AID and that terrified me. Walking through the doors and into the main building, I could already feel everyone sizing each other up and I really didn’t know anyone, so I just stuck close to my family and headed for my room. When I finally got to my room (keep in mind they hadn’t given me a key), I was fortunate enough to find my roommate sitting in the lobby and she let me in. It was a pretty small room but definitely better than what I had mentally prepared myself for (we got the corner room which is also one of the smallest ones). After settling in and getting a tour, we waited for our other two roommates…they didn’t actually show up till after our first session. I was worried about my group too, as only 5/8 people were at the first session. But we settled in and my teacher was one of the best (she literally asked us what our favorite foods were so she could send the information down to the chef and was very sassy and fun).
But then we got down to business. The days were long and tiring (IT’S HOT AND HUMID AND YOU HAVE TO WEAR LONG PANTS AND YOU FEEL LIKE YOU’RE BEING PUT IN A SAUNA), filled with lectures and working vigorously (I barely used my working plans that I spent like 5 hours on but it’s important to have an idea of what to do). I got to know my group a lot better and we started to relax and really get to know each other. We forced each other to answer questions as we wanted to gain as many points as possible since the team that has the most gets to go to the night market the night before everyone goes together. We made signs, screamed, waved our hands crazily but overall it was fun since I had 7 other people to look dumb beside me (we were THAT group). After we got everything done (no breaks cause we just wanted to get it done ASAP), we were notified that we got to go out to the night market (there was a 4 way tie for 2nd place) because of our enthusiasm.
And so we headed for Pingtung
1. It was hot so we got to wear shorts
2. Our school director, principal, teachers, kids, parents, host parents were the best in the world and some of the most loving and caring people I know
3. We had unisex bathrooms
4. The kids were very unique and charming in their own ways
5. NO AC IN SCHOOLS
6. SERIOUSLY, OUR HOST FAMILIES WERE AMAZING
7. The kids were rowdy but did have a genuine drive to learn
8. My group was supportive all the way, helpful, funny, sassy and everything good bundled into one
9. We had an amazing opening ceremony dance that we get to perform tomorrow during the talent show in front of all of AID
So now I’ll just summarize pretty much what tour week has been so far…Wasn’t as great as I would have hoped for or thought it would be but it’s still decently fun? A lot of walking and aboriginal/hakka village visiting. But we went to this village that believed in monsters that freaked me out a bit because I don’t like having people come up to me in monster costumes. But we also went to an aboriginal village and there was a theme park there so that was fun (went on the UFO twie). However, we did stay a night on top of a mountain (not sun moon lake), and my bathroom flooded and we had to spend 1 hr figuring out where they were going to move us (the guys and other girls had luxury rooms while some of us were stuffed into tiny rooms with 2 floors that had bed bugs and my friends found a cockroach, etc). I almost called my parents to come get me at that point as I was so frustrated, tired and upset while another girl cried and almost left. We ended up resolving it but it was a lot more than I thought I would have to put up with.
But even after all that I have had to go through, the stress, tears, frustration…I think this experience is very eye opening and one of a kind. I came here to serve and help kids and that’s what I did. But living through the kind of conditions I did and being unable to cope with it goes to show how pampered my regular life is. People live in worse conditions than most of the people in AID do, but can still be happy as ever. I’ve met people from all parts of the world and I feel safe telling them anything. I’ve found my second family in not only my group, but also my host family. I cannot be happier with the 2 weeks I spent in Pingtung (except maybe the heat but whatever). No matter what happens, I know this experience will stay with me forever.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yeh, Christine (枼婷恩)
The past two weeks in Yunlin flew by so quickly. The teachers and principle were all so very kind to take our group to many different places in Yunlin, as well as introducing us to the culture there that is vastly unique in comparison to the city life in Taipei, Taiwan.
Starting off, I have been to Taiwan many times before in the past, visiting relatives, going on tours, and of course, eating the delicious delicacies. But one thing that I could cross off my bucket list in Taiwan was visiting Yunlin county. This new experience allowed me to broaden my horizons and see the western side of Taiwan, the schools and students included. Teaching the students provoked different emotions within me, both fear and warmth.
Day one started off quite nerve-wracking. I never would have thought teaching English to Taiwanese students would take so much effort, time, and thought. The planning process made me stay up late into the mornings with my partner figuring out what to teach the students the next day, including the specific activities and the different strategies to fill up leftover time. The first week went by pretty slow due to all of the stress of meeting new students, trying to remember their names, as well as coping with their English difficulties. Fortunately, the second week passed quickly, mostly due to the efficiency of our teaching routines and the practicing of the closing ceremony.
Never would I have thought that these past two weeks would leave such an impact on my life as I see it doing in the next couple of years. First off, teaching in Yunlin county was an amazing experience, especially living in the school that we taught in. Secondly, the students that we taught still continue to communicate with us, some in Chinese and others in English, fortunately. Lastly, the group that I spent the past 3 weeks with awakened and opened my heart. I am seriously grateful to all who have helped out, including the coordinators of the AID summer program, the teachers and staff at Dong-he Elementary School, the students who have made my life plenty difficult, and the volunteers/ group members who have made me smile, laugh, and cry in all different ways.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kuang, Penny (鄺美耘)
I originally decided to participate in AIDSummer because a) I needed something to do over the summer, b) volunteering seemed to be a good idea, and c) maybe it might be a way to help me “talk in a straight line” and keep the same focus in one sentence. Also, as most of my family lived in Kaohsiung, I wanted to explore other parts of Taiwan.
After getting accepted to the program and being assigned to Nei-Hu Junior High School in Hsinchu, I felt excited but also nervous: Even though I had “taught” an English class at a senior center previously, the class was mostly led by the students; all I really needed to do was drop a subject and the class would talk for hours. That nervousness only grew throughout the first week, when previous AID-ers told us that they planned too little and had to improvise five hours after only two hours of planned classes, or when teachers constantly reminded us to talk more slowly and simply when we thought we sounded like idiots already, or when we were pretty much bored to tears in the freezing lecture halls. It wasn’t all too bad, as the games we learned were really useful: we eventually used variations of the fly swatter game (hit the word on the board) nearly every day to review the topics; however, the one thing that kept me going was a comment from one of the teachers at 6:00 AM one morning, saying that our students would love us no matter what happened. I wasn’t exactly sure how accurate she was, but it did help a bit.
Eventually we finished our teaching plan, opening ceremony dance, and self-introductions, supposedly ready to teach. And the first day we were completely knocked over by students that didn’t really talk or do anything. When they did talk, they either followed the exact format (e.g. there is no answer outside of “fine, thank you”) of the sentence or they spoke so quietly that we couldn’t hear (cue in my mom’s “are you a mosquito” comment). They didn’t really respond to our games and looked like us during training week: constant bored face. The ice slowly melted after 7 hours a day with our students, as the connection gradually changed between the hard teacher-student relationship to something more resembling friends (at a more “equal” level); it changed from students trying to avoid us during breaks to playing Hangman in the mornings and dueling with fly swatters. Eventually everyone knew that Kevin was afraid of spiders, Meek liked SpeXial, Henry liked Bruno Mars and blue. We laughed along when they joked that Neal and Winnie were “uncle and little sister.”
After the 2 weeks ended, it felt as if something had been ripped apart; I didn’t want to leave the place; saying goodbye was too hard. Maybe I had not completely been able to talk in a straight line during the two weeks, but both we volunteer teachers and the students found something positive. One of those things for me was re-found confidence. Maybe I’ll be able to talk in a straight line one day. And I know there will be people I can talk to.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lu, Timothy (呂詠恩)
When I first applied to AID Summer back in the winter of 2013, I had no idea of what the program truly was, or how memorable the program could be. Looking back at the experience, I believe that volunteering as an English teacher at Li-ming elementary school has been one of the best experiences of my life. I feel truly blessed to have had the opportunity to teach at Li-ming elementary school through AID Summer.
All the different experiences-from orientation at Cheintan to the tour- created the best international experience of all time. The generosity and kindness of the staff and teachers at AID and Li-Ming shocked me; staff such as counselor Ryan Huang of group B 3-4 at Cheintan and Mrs. Sophia Ho of Li-Ming elementary school did all they could to try to make me feel at home and make this AID experience the best possible. Without them, this international adventure wouldn't have been as successful as it has been.
At the end of the two weeks of teaching at Li-ming elementary school, I felt that although I was supposed to be the volunteer teacher, it was the students that had taught me the most on this adventure. By teaching the students, I was able to learn several life lessons. There is one particular experience that sticks out to me the most during the two weeks of teaching.
On the third day of teaching, the teachers had planned for the students to make ice cream as a hands on activity for the “ice cream” unit. However, what we didn’t expect was that it was going to be 37 degrees Celsius that day. The ice that we were going to make the ice cream with melted within 1 hour, turning our supposed ice cream into sugared milk. In the classroom, only a handful of students were able to successfully make ice cream.
However, the bulk of the students weren’t upset that the activity didn’t turn out the way we had planned. They were happy that they had tried the activity, even though it had failed. Though they weren’t able to successfully make ice cream, they were still able to learn and enjoy the process of doing so. This particular in class incident taught me that sometimes, the goal isn’t about the destination, but rather about the journey.
At the end of the two weeks of teaching, I realized that sometimes, making ice cream is synonymous to learning English. Although we taught English for two weeks, the possibility that all of the students retained the english that we taught them is slim to none. Only a handful of students would remember what we had taught them. However, during the two weeks, the students had fun learning english. We had created an interest for learning english for the students so that they may pursue learning English in the future.
Teaching at Li-ming Elementary through AID Summer has been an extraordinary experience that I will never forget for the rest of my life.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chen, Albert (陳育黎)
Hard work, sweat, and laughter. AID 2014 was an experience I will remember for many years to come. I came in with no expectations and had no idea what I was getting myself into. I’m now coming out with memories and mosquito bites.
When we were making lesson plans, I found it tedious and unnecessary. Why couldn’t we all get the same lesson plans and use them instead? It’s not like we could make better ones than trained professionals. I now understand why we were put through all this work. The objective of this program was not to teach like their English teachers but to teach the students about our culture and try to get them interested in learning English. We as volunteer teachers were brought here to learn their culture and try to bring our western culture to them. I realized all this after making lesson plans, so I had to change my mentality when I taught.
Once the first day of classes arrived, everything I had previously imagined was proven wrong. These middle school students were much older and less obedient than I had expected. They even talked to each other during the pre-test until I asked them to stop. Even after I met my actual class for the first time, the same things were happening. These students knew I wasn’t a local teacher and wouldn’t want to discipline them, so they took advantage of it and constantly talked to each other. As a result, my teaching partner and I had to make a list of rules, and we actually had to write up a list of punishments. These instances taught me that kids are smarter than you think they are, and they will take advantage of you if you’re too nice to them. I wanted to have a teacher-student relationship with them, but at the same time, I wanted to be friends with them.
The teaching experience itself pretty different from what I thought it would be like. I taught the lowest level and the skill gap between these students was huge. Some of the students could form sentences easily while others didn’t even know their ABCs. There were always students that I had to pay special attention to because they were struggling with material that other students could easily do. It was also hard teaching these students because some of them couldn’t even understand me when I spoke to them using simple English. Most of the students spoke just as much Chinese as English during class because they either had to translate what I was saying or ask me something they couldn’t ask in English. I always responded by teaching them how to ask the question in English, but I don’t think they remembered any of them. They always ended up asking similar questions in Chinese because they couldn’t remember how to ask it in English.
Coming to Taiwan as a student to teach English isn’t a very common thing to do. However, it was a great learning experience for me and hopefully the students as well. I went out of my comfort zone many times to achieve things that I never thought I would have. I’ve made many friends from all over the world and vastly improved my Chinese. This trip is one that will stay with me for many years to come.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yu, Angela (虞安琪)
It’s hard to explain what I experienced during the AID Summer program, even in my native language. However, I guess a good place to start is the beginning:
Chientan was tiring but I learned different skills through all the speakers. They all seemed to have a different way of sharing their information with us and helped me become a more dynamic teacher. Unfortunately, I always quickly tired because of how long the lectures were. It didn’t help that the sleeping schedule was so rigid. Although the first week was difficult to get through, I met many interesting people and we were all able to bond over the experiences.
The two teaching weeks went by very fast. Nevertheless, during the moments of teaching, time seemed to drag out. My teaching partner and I were always trying to stretch out activities and lessons to fit the schedule, but we always seemed to use up an entire day’s teaching plans in a few periods. Fortunately, teaching became much easier after the first week. Our teaching group had wonderful host families that we bonded with almost immediately, mostly because of how welcoming and kind-hearted they were. These two weeks were exhausting, and I don’t remember sleeping before 12AM because of all the preparation needed for the next day of class. Even though I woke up groggily each day and sluggishly went through my morning routine, I couldn’t help but start class with a wide smile on my face. Although I was technically the teacher, I felt like I learned as much, or even more, than the students. AID Summer was extremely tiring and trying, but ultimately extremely worth every minute.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Huang, Rosa (黄薇)
Doing a volunteering trip in Taiwan has been a long time dream of mine. I first applied for AID when I was in High School and I was not accepted because I was too young. I’m glad I got to experience this program in College because I think it was the right time for me to be mature enough to appreciate the experience. Being able to spend time with kids and visit a country that I am deeply connected to was amazing and I’m so fortunate I got this opportunity. I was really happy when I got accepted, but the website was very confusing and I wasn’t sure what I had to do. To be honest, I didn’t prepare much before arriving for the program because I didn’t know what to expect. The application process was also inconvenient for participants over 18 because I know most of us don’t live with our parents and I didn’t understand why it was necessary to have parents be involved in the application process. Other than that the program was very helpful and I really liked everyone I interacted with during the program. Most of all I love the girls of my teaching group and our students as well as the teachers and counselors we had. Training camp was tedious and I thought we should have had more free time to spend with our group, but even with a crazy schedule we quickly bonded and were able to work well together. Many of the ideas and teaching plans that we learned about at Jian Tan were very helpful, but I don’t think anything could have prepared us for the intensity of actually teaching at our school. It was very hard to adjust to spending much of our time at a school without air conditioning and living in one room with all the girls. At first I was really nervous and tired, but after our first day with the student we all realize how amazing, smart, and wonderful people they are. We all bragged about our students and of course talked about our trouble makers. Teaching was frustrating, but also incredibly rewarding. I felt like I couldn’t move at the end of the school day, but we still had more lessons to plan and activities to try. I got through the heat, the bugs, and the hard beds by always thinking about the students we had. Even though I didn’t feel like I was a good teacher. They were always encouraging and loved us more than I thought was possible. It was so interesting to see these kids become engaged by different things as well as learn what they liked and what their lives were like. The culture of the school was much different than what we, as overseas youth, have experienced from our own schools so it was quite a challenge to incorporate the different styles of teaching. I still think about how sad it was to leave and how touching it was that some of the students had come to care for us so much. In the end it was all worth it to leave even a little bit of knowledge with the students. The tour is a great way to end the tour, but since I’ve been to almost all of the places we are visiting I see it more as an opportunity to hang out with my group.
On the last day of school I wrote this letter to my students:
Dear Student,
Today is the last day of class and before we say goodbye I just wanted to let you know how truly grateful I am that I had the chance to be your teacher. Thank you for being such great students who put up with our craziness, play our games, and laugh at our jokes. During these two weeks I’ve come to realize that I love teaching English, but even more than teaching, I love spending time with you all. Some of you drove me crazy, but I couldn’t imagine a class without you.
You are smart, kind, and capable of so much. Don’t ever let anyone tell you are aren’t good enough. Don’t ever listen to those who put you down. When you don’t believe in yourself, remember all those that do believe in you. Remember that I believe in you. Be confident in who you are and what you know. I’ve seen you learn so much over just 2 weeks, and I know how smart you are, but I hope I don’t leave you with just new English words, but a passion for learning. It doesn’t have to be for English, but I hope you find something that be passionate about.
I believe that all of you can do great things in the world and I wish for you all the happiness in the world. Thank you for making me laugh and thank you for making me cry. I will always think of my boyfriend as Sofa and remember the drawings of me and Jenny.
You are an incredible group of students and I will never forget the time I’ve spent with you.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kang, Alexander (康源得)
Alright. Hello everyone, my name is Alex Kang and I taught at Ruisui Junior School in Southern Hualien County I had first applied to the program based on a recommendation from my parents and friends who participated in the program in the past. The first week at Chientan was very helpful and getting us to understand where we were going and how to teach the students. I got sick during week one so I do not recall much other than a trip to the clinic and Eric Lin talking to us about his teaching experience and how he plays different games to get student active in learning.
After the first week, we were sent to our school at Ruisui Junior high school. It took us four hours to get to our school. Upon arrival, we were greeted by our two military assistant friends, Caesar and some other person whose name I cannot say. They took us and helped us get food when Typhoon Matmo hit us in week two. They made the experience so much more rewarding and fun for us. We really bonded with the big brothers and they took us to many cool places like Toroko and to make jade stones.
Teaching week was fun. The kids are sometimes naughty, but by the end they really enjoyed learning English. The teaching part was the one the hardest things that I had to do because of how much and how long we had to teach during the day. The first full day of school was so difficult for me because we ran out of ideas and went through the lesson plan too much. I wish that would have been more prepared for class some days because some days we were scrambling and had no idea what else to teach them. However, we adjusted our plans to make sure that the students had learn and still have fun learning English.The students were very friendly and got along with us very well. They enjoyed our company for these last two weeks. I felt like I did the best of my ability to teach them and make them have fun. Hopefully, they will continue to succeed and think that English is fun to learn.
In conclusion, it was a very good experience. I would recommend this program to anyone.The experience is so worth it and you will create bonds and everlasting friendships with students students and people in your group People should really be prepare and have backup plans just in case you finish early. I would like to thank Principal Lin, Chia Yi teacher, Caesar, Hsieh brother, and Kang teacher for taking us in in and making It a never unforgettably experience. It was so hard for me to leave the last day because of the bonds we made with the students. One student even asked me to teach to stay and teach them English. Overall, it was the best experience experience of my life and hopefully others share my same feelings.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Liu, Samantha (石詠榕)
Originally, I was apprehensive about the AID Summer Program, not because of the heat of Taiwan, or the mosquitoes, but because of the teaching. My parents suggested that I apply, and because I love Taiwan and working with kids, I did. After I was accepted, after everything started falling into place, I started to get a little bit nervous. I have never taught English to others before and I didn’t know how to make teaching plans. Although I have experience being a counselor at a Chinese culture camp, I didn’t know how to come up with material to teach English.
During the training week at Chientan Activity Center. I was so excited to meet my group members. We all hit it off and got along really well, which I am really grateful for. While I expected to make friends because of AID, I never expected the bonds to be so close and so strong. I love my roommates and we became the best of friends while we were at Chientan.
However, the days were very long and the lectures were very boring. We were expected to finish lesson plans for two weeks, in three or four days. We were also told not to use the lesson plans we had worked hard to complete prior to arriving at Chientan. Because this task was so large and the time we were given was so little, me and my groupmates were always very tired. The lectures were not terribly informative, and I didn’t find myself using any of the tips the lecturers gave us. Everything was very rushed, and I strongly believe that a longer stay at Chientan or more information given beforehand would make the whole trip easier.
If we had known more about the work we were expected to accomplish before we arrived at Chientan, time and stress would have been saved. I believe that we were not given enough information beforehand to work effectively on our lesson plans. For example, I did not know what age group I was teaching, what their English proficiency level was, what they have or have not learned yet, exactly how long I was teaching each day, or how my living conditions were to be. If I had known, I would have been able to plan accordingly, and work on my lesson plans before I arrived, as well as pack better. The short stay at Chientan would have been doable if I had been able to work on my lesson plan before. My main concern is the lack of information I experienced throughout my trip.
When I got to Dawu, Taitung, where I was assigned, I was very tired. However, when I arrived at the school the first day, I was instantly energized by the kids. Although they were shy at first, I realized they were actually very talkative. Being able to understand Chinese came in handy here because I would listen to their conversations in Chinese, and respond in English. Then, I would translate their responses for them, and they would repeat them. I grew to love my hardworking yet carefree, silly kids, and leaving them broke my heart. I believe my presence there made a difference in their lives, and I will cherish those memories forever.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chen, Rachel (陳鈺鈞)
Rachel Chen
AID 2014 Post Reflection
Before I came to the AID 2014 Program, I did not realize how tiring, yet rewarding the experience would be. For training week and teaching, both parts of the program had their ups and downs. They were both fun at times, but other times they were especially demanding.
In my opinion, training week was mentally exhausting. All of the AID volunteers had to listen to lectures from different speakers everyday for the whole week. Through these talks, we learned about the past AID experiences, what to expect for teaching, and what to prepare. Personally, I did not find some of the lectures to be that helpful. One lecture was about various ways to set rules in the classroom and discipline your students when they misbehaved. However, after I had taught for a few days the following week, I discovered that most of my students were shy or obedient, so I did not have many behavior issues in the classroom. That may also have been because I was fortunate enough to have well-behaved students at my particular school.
On the other hand, parts of training week were helpful. The lectures gave my teaching partner and I many fun, new ways or game ideas to teach vocabulary. Thinking of new activities or games for the students was especially tough when I was writing the teaching plan with my teaching partner. In addition, the extra time at night during training week to work with your group and teaching coach was useful. Not only did I learn how to correctly form a teaching plan, but also my teaching coach told us what to expect when we arrive to the school. We were also able to get to know our group members better and bond with our coach.
When it finally came time to go to our school, I was extremely excited. My group was assigned to teach junior high students, or seventh and eighth graders. On the first day of class, everything was not what I expected. I was nervous because I did not have experience teaching English to middle school students, and I also am not a fan of public speaking. All of the students ended up being especially quiet, and my teaching partner and I were not able to figure out if that was because they could not understand us or if they were just too shy. However, after the first few days, the students and us became more comfortable within the classroom.
My partner and I ended up having to adjust our teaching plan throughout the two weeks because our students’ English abilities were not what we expected. Some of our students had been taking English courses for many years while a few had just started learning. As a result, we had to make some of the material more challenging or simplified depending on each student. Also, we wanted to plan more fun games for them to learn the material we were teaching to ensure that they were not bored. Sometimes activities would take up more time than we originally planned, so we even had to adjust our teaching plan in class.
As the program is almost over, I can say that tour week is a great relief after all the hard work that you put in for teaching. Altogether, I feel that I have gained many skills from the AID 2014 Program. I have not only learned how to write a teaching plan, but also I have figured out how to improvise in front of a classroom of students when slight changes in schedule make you adjust your teaching plan. Also, I have gained more of a sense of independence and public-speaking skills from having to teach and speak in front of students. All in all, I think that this program is one-of-a-kind because the experience differs for each person based on the school that you are assigned. My group was lucky enough to be assigned to a wonderful middle school in Kaoshiung with adorable students. This unforgettable experience is once in a lifetime, and I am so grateful to have been able to participate in it!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lee, Jonathan (李祖言)
My time at AID Summer was an experience that was beyond my expectations. I went in with trepidation: according to the AID Facebook group, I had been assigned with 5 girls and only 2 other guys. The group chat that we made was quiet and awkward. The AID site crashed (I had to re-upload several things many times) and announcements were never made on time. Yet I came out of the program with 7 very, very close friends among tens of others. I remember coming out of the first day excited, looking forward to the rest of the program. Making many new friends, exploring Taiwanese culture, and educating the disadvantaged youth allowed me to appreciate my own accommodations and discover more of who I am as a person.
Training week: prison? My stay at Jiantan for the first week was filled with all sorts of adaptations. The WiFi was 5 bars of useless, the rules strict, and food redundant. Beyond all of the strict rules we had to abide by (dress code, curfew, etc.), long, multi-hour seminars of common knowledge, repetitive ceremonies among ceremonies among ceremonies, concrete schedules and a “point system”, I can safely say that I did appreciate the one week training. The long, boring seminars taught easy games that were EXTREMELY helpful during teaching weeks when you needed a time killer in a cinch. The training unified everyone together: we all stuck through and even though we complained, the activity staff was extremely hospitable and respectful. I personally found myself too much at the convenience store, buying snacks and drinks. The councilors were extremely friendly and our group’s councilor became very close to us. Our group teacher very quickly became our friend and we shared jokes and laughs. As for my group! I could not ask for a better group. We meshed well together and accomplished what needed to be done while having fun. Those boring seminars? We turned them into fun challenges and made the most of the activities. Our group advanced to the final ceremony and we were able to present a teaching lesson to all 425 volunteers. While the stay at Jiantan seemed at first horridly restricting, with the correct attitude, my group and I were able to make it memorable and while thriving at what needed to be done. The rooms were acceptable and all the while I made friends from other groups. The Shilin night market was a blast. Having gone twice (once for our excellent group behavior and once with the rest of the volunteers) I got to explore the rich night life culture that Taiwan is so famous for. The moral of Jiantan? It is what it is…but make the most of it and you will enjoy it much more than everyone makes it out to be.
Teaching. I was assigned to Chung-Wen Elementary School in PingTung County, the southern part of Taiwan. The school was hot, with no AC in the classrooms. The school was an outdoor campus style and it rained about 40% of the two weeks. The first day was hectic, as anyone would expect. My classroom had accommodations that I did not expect; for example, I had access to a projector with speakers. This allowed me to teach with PowerPoint presentations and use music when needed. We spoke exclusively in English for the first week. Non-verbal communication was obligatory to be able to communicate with 3rd graders. More so, we had to pretend that we did not understand their simple Chinese, which was beyond difficult at times when answering questions. A teacher in Taiwan has to understand that the student-teacher relationship is completely different to that of other countries’ relations. The student sees the teacher as a friend, a helper. Authority may sometimes be hard to establish within the classroom. As the first week progressed, my partner and I were able to teach them successfully and keep them occupied for the entirety of class periods. The students, however, became comfortable with us and at times discipline and classroom control (thank you, Jiantan seminar about classroom control/discipline!!!) was necessary. Students fought with each other, swore in both Chinese and English, and bullied each other. As the students knew us better, we lost our authority. But through the second week we were able to sustain a learning environment and were able to also get to know the students for who they are. It was extremely enjoyable and we got to work and get to know more about the students throughout the two weeks. The students were always thankful and willing to learn from us. And they were of course cute and very open to our culture and lives. The second week was when my partner and I decided to announce that we knew Chinese. It made explaining things so much easier and allowed the students to converse with us. That said, we maintained a strict policy of using only English during class time as to emphasize English use. On the weekends, the school’s activity director and a few teachers drove our group of 8 volunteer teachers out to local attractions. They were extremely hospitable and spent quite literally all of two weekends away from their families to entertain us. They were always willing cater to our opinions and gave us an enjoyable stay in PingTung County. Aside from the school staff hospitality, our 8 members were split into 4 host families. The host families were affiliated to the elementary school (school teachers, staff, students’ parents) and were beyond hospitable. They gave us a more than welcoming place to stay and took us out for breakfast and dinner every single day. They became family to us. On school-nights, our host parents would all meet up and take us out together because they understood how much we enjoyed our group time. We went to malls, movies, buffets, and night markets; they offered us all of the foods that we wanted to try in Taiwan. They very willingly did our laundry and were curious to learn about who we were. By the end of the two weeks, I was sad to say goodbye to my host parents and the other volunteers’ host parents. They provided so much for us and made the experience all the better. Saying goodbye to the students was difficult, too. You can only expect to teach so much to elementary students in the period of two weeks; the goal, however, is to demonstrate that English learning can be fun and that they should not fear the English language. I think as a teacher, I fully committed to that idea and provided for an enjoyable time for the students to approach the English language with an open mind. I discovered more about myself and learned that anything can be overcome by using the strengths of your team members’ individual talents. AID is about assisting individuals with disadvantages and I think that I learned more about myself and who I am while accomplishing that motto, even with sleep deprived nights, busy planning, and exhausting school days.
Tour week. I had actually originally planned to opt out of the tour week. My flight home had been planned for just two days after teaching ended. During teaching, I decided that I enjoyed my group so much that I wanted to spend another week with them. I took the hefty air fare fee out my own pocket just to change the flight a week later. I very honestly think that it was beyond worth it!! As I write this just past the halfway point of tour week, I can say that I am having a blast meeting even more people and spending time with people who are now very close friends. The tour schedule looked boring (which is why I planned to go home earlier) but turned out to be amazing; the Hakka theme park is like a Taiwanese Six Flags; the Sun Moon Lake is breathtaking, stunning, a natural beauty; the cycling trip with 250- some people was ridiculous but it was nice to get physically immersed. And just tonight we visited another night market. The councilors let us loose, trusting our behavior and letting us roam one of the largest night markets in Taiwan. Our bus group practices our talent show performance each night as well as on the bus. We truly go from mountain tops to cities, experiencing the rich spectrum of culture and views that Taiwan has to offer. The freedom is liberating in comparison to Jiantan and I am exposed to so many more people. The accommodations are top notch—hotels are luxurious and food is wonderful. More so, I am enjoying it with so many people who are like me: people that understand where you come from, people that you can just “click” with, and people that have lived what you have lived. It is a profound feeling to be surrounded by like-minded, compassionate, and genuine people such as AID Volunteers.
The program has offered so much to me and I am thankful to have been a part of it. I have learned so much about myself and the rich culture that Taiwan offers. I am making friends that I will continue to talk to for years to come. I am learning about the lives of others, skills that benefit human interaction, and how to cope with ridiculously hot weather. I am so honored to have been able to spend nearly a month in Taiwan with such an immersive, rewarding experience. I am gracious to have had all accommodations covered by the MOA/OCA. This is truly an experience that I will never forget. It is full of memories I will cherish. My entire stay with the AID program is not something I can accurately describe. I will remember the hospitality of my host parents, deep talks with roommates and group members, moments of laughter, swelling mosquito bites, spelling simple vocabulary words with my butt in a scandalous manner in front of 450+ people, teasing and playing with students, outings with my activity director and school staff, fun lesson planning with my AID group teacher, allergic heat rash, countless endless jokes, and touring the wonders of Taiwan with people genuinely like me. This experience has taken a unique place in my heart and I will remember it for years to come.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lu, Joshua (吕睿榆)
Aid Program Reflection
Joshua Lu
7/31/14
Going into Chientan I was unsure of what to expect out of the AID summer program. I did not know how the program was to be run, what kind of training I would receive, or to what extent was I supposed to teach the children. All I knew was that I was teaching kids in middle school in Pingtung County which is supposedly hot. I was extremely nervous to say the least. Nervous to meet the students I would be teaching. Nervous to meet other volunteer teachers I would be working with. It was like the first day of school. As this trip comes to a close, here are my thoughts on this AID summer trip.
Chientan was an interesting experience, filled with many class sessions about how to teach and managing the classroom. We also had group time together as Mudan Junior High School volunteer teachers and head teacher. The class sessions were very long and draining. Although there were some helpful tips on classroom management, a lot of the curriculum was not very applicable to my teaching experience. Because we were only teaching for two weeks and as guest teachers some of the teaching strategies could not be implemented with that short time span. Also some of the strategies were more suited towards younger students and not middle school students. Our coach teacher, Alex, did a great job at group time because we were actually able to do some lesson planning and creating a general daily plan. Alex gave us a real glimpse of how students would act and react towards us. He kept our minds at peace even through our many worries. The class time at Chientan seemed unnecessary, while the time with teachers at our respective schools seemed more valuable.
The actual teaching at Mudan was completely different than what we learned at Chientan. I guess every class is different. My teaching partner, Janice, and I were tasked with seventh graders which was a challenge. We created lesson plans and PowerPoint lectures to teach the students. We incorporated games and songs and word searches to help the students learn. What was challenging was disciplining the children. They did not have respect for us as teachers, calling us big brother and big sister. In order to be successful we needed to know how their homeroom teachers disciplined them. It would have been helpful to observe the seventh grade class before we taught the students. Nonetheless I believe that we showed them the joy and interest of learning English. I believe that we made an impact on their lives in the short two weeks. I believe that we as teachers have learned a lot about ourselves through this month long trip.
The tour was pretty enjoyable. But it was not the tour itself that was enjoyable. It was more about the people that I was with, the six of us Mudan Junior High teachers. We are very close like a family. Looking back on this trip I will not likely remember all the wonderful places that we went to, but I will remember the wonderful people that I have met, the teachers, the students, the friends that I have made.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lin, Veronica (林延蓉)
Since this program was designed to assist individuals with disadvantages, or more specifically to teach English to children, half of my reflection is dedicated to my stupendous students:
Aaron-one of the three troublemakers and a bit younger than the rest, full of energy and curiosity;
Andy-secretly a wild child with a large amount of inner energy that only shows occasionally;
Angel-a sweetheart that has mean braiding skills and a lot of enthusiasm;
Apple-a younger, soft spoken, but also essential part of the class; waiting after school with her was always interesting;
Bryan-another member of the troublesome group, a leader and an explorer;
Candy-a humorous and imaginative student that contributed more to the overall class dynamic;
Kiki-the third member of the group that causes a ruckus, stubborn and speaks very affirmatively;
Nina-her interest lies in creating a fun environment for learning;
Nina-another student with glasses who is not quite cherished by the class but is by me; her individuality sets her apart from other students;
Sean-quiet, well behaved, and definitely a ladies man;
Steven-younger and quieter, cousin of Andy, and shares stories about his home life during lunch;
Tim-a half day student that wants to learn more about America;
Tina-her interactions with Sean were amusing and she always knew how to express her feelings for her fellow classmates;
These thirteen students have pushed me to grow tremendously over the two weeks of teaching. I am thankful for this rare opportunity that I was able to take. I hope that the participation of my group in AID has allowed our students to know that there are teachers that care for them and wish to see their English improve. This program has turned out not to be what I expected; however, I would not trade this experience for anything else. My team has endured hardships from living conditions to the way in which we were treated during our two weeks of teaching. Despite this, we have pushed onward to face more challenges during our tour week. We have all grown closer and my second half of my reflection is dedicated to my amazing group:
Andrew-claimed to be an introvert but I would say otherwise, the savior by creating a hotspot(discovered by Laurice) for everyone to have wifi at our living quarters during our teaching weeks;
Grace-agitated but calm, a motherly figure, seems to have a lot figured out about life;
Jennifer-my lovely teaching partner that can be scary when she wants to be; we worked well as a team and I thoroughly enjoyed having the same class as this wonderful young lady;
Katie-master at impersonating a part of the movie Frozen, fun to spend time with especially at the waterpark where we stayed completely dry, she’s simply the best and hilarious <3 <3 <3;
Laurice-short in stature, but her energy and enthusiasm cannot compare to anything, she was also a lifesaver with her chocopies for my class, and eater of all food;
Phebe-has a strong personality, her differences with the group were worked out later but I will always hate her alarm that rings ten million times in the morning;
York-his life motto is “don’t worry about it”, talking to him is interesting when an actual conversation is held;
As mentioned before, there were hardships and negative aspects of this program that all of my group members had to deal with. To focus more on the positive attributes and leave on a high note, I am sure that after this program, I will still have these new friends to count on as they also can count on me.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chen, Emily (陳鈺婷)
The past month has been action packed and a roller coaster of emotions. The hospitality of all the people we encountered was more than what I’d expected. I couldn’t have asked for a better “family” for the past two weeks. Our coach, Lexie Huang, was incredibly trusting and supportive of our motives. Starting from our training in Jiantan, she expressed how she saw our potential and was grateful that we were the more motivated of the bunch. Seeing that our C2-2 consisted of the oldest individuals of the program, we too appreciated her trust and confidence in us.
The children that I taught now have a place in my heart. It was a short two weeks but they left an impact on me. Call me sentimental, but I was the only one to shed tears on the last day of class. Luckily, the class I had taught was ambitious and smart. The majority were eager to learn and I didn’t really face many problems with any of the kids. Me and my colleagues incorporated many different games and activities to encourage the students to use critical thinking when using English. We noticed that Taiwanese students studied by means of memorization in place of using critical thinking.
Overall the experience has been great. The most frustrating part of it all has been the scattered leadership of the AID organization. The rules have been wish washy, with its rules lacking fundamental reasoning behind it. Prior to coming to Taiwan, there was a lack of communication between the volunteers and the people working in the offices. My group and I had been left in the dark with little word from anyone about what to do, bring, or expect. It was extremely frustrating because the AID offices would also not respond to my e-mails. I understand the need for stringent rules since the age range is so large but seeing as I am one of the oldest volunteers out of the group, it was extremely frustrating for my friends and I to be suppressed under such guidelines. We still tried to make the best of our time on the tour.
Besides being nagged about this rule or that rule or being treated like a young child, I managed to enjoy my time on the tour. I enjoyed the sites we saw but wasn’t absolutely able to fully enjoy my time there since everything was so rushed.
I’m happy to have done AID for the experience I had in NanHe and the friends that I made that I believe will be everlasting. But I encourage the AID offices to hire more counselors that can speak better English to be able to communicate with those who cannot understand Chinese as fluently as others. I encourage the AID offices to emphasize the cultural differences between Western culture and Eastern culture during their training in Jiantan. I encourage the AID offices to also become more organized in their entire structure of processing.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Huang, Weiling (黃瑋麟)
When I first enrolled in the AID summer teaching program, I did not really know what to expect from the program. Although I had engaged in many afterschool-tutoring programs throughout my high school career, these were all one on one programs. I had never before actually “taught” an entire class of students. Similarly, although I had experience in working with and interacting with young children through the tutoring program, I had no experience working with them as an authority figure or as a teacher in a classroom. Going into the program, I had the idea that I wanted to experience what it was like to be a teacher, as well as to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to teach younger children.
Initially, I was very nervous on the first day of teaching. I had no idea if the children would be receptive of my lessons, or if they would enjoy the lessons. I did not know how to best talk to and address younger students, or how to handle a large class of 20 students. However, after beginning to engage with my students, I realized I had nothing to fear about the students lacking interest or engagement. They were very willing to participate in the lessons and were very excited to learn English. I realized that my personal engagement and interest in the lessons directly correlated with the students’ attention and enjoyment of the lessons. The more passionate and excited I was, the more eager they were to learn. This was one of the key things that I learned about managing small children and working with them, was how important teacher engagement and emotional control was. I came to realize that if I displayed exhaustion or boredom, the students were very quick to pick up on these negative emotions and would then be influenced negatively by them. However, if I was positive and energetic, the students would be swayed to approach the lesson in a similar way and be much more engaged and excited. Throughout the first week of teaching, my experience and knowledge grew, and my abilities in teaching grew. I was able to create more opportunities for vocabulary and speaking practice, such as making kids repeat words as a group in competitions instead of just as individuals. As my experience grew, I was able to teach the kids more effectively and at a faster pace. Furthermore, I tried to make lessons as enjoyable for the students as possible. I tried to integrate games and activities as much as possible, so that students would not be stuck simply rehearsing and practicing their vocabulary over and over again. As the two week program concluded, I did manage to learn and experience the things I had set out to pursue. I had gotten an incredible experience working as a teacher for those two weeks, and had gained numerous valuable skills in working with small children and working as a teacher. Throughout this program, the 2 weeks of teaching gave me an experience that otherwise would have been hard to come by, and I learned many things from it.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Liang, Ching-E (梁沁怡)
On the first day at Makuang Junior High School, it seemed like nothing fazed our students; nothing we said got them to talk or laugh. But as each day passed, the volume in the classroom grew as students happily chatted with us. They were willing to answer questions in class and would eagerly crowd around us during break time. It seemed like at any given moment, I had a student holding my hand, hugging my neck, or looking over my shoulder. I grew fond of the students and I could tell that the students had become attached to me. The two weeks of teaching flew by and I wish I could have stayed longer. Even though the living conditions were not like what I was used to, I learned from my environment to appreciate what it is like living in another culture. For example, the swarms of bugs, bats, and lizards which dominated the bathrooms made each trip to the toilet seem like a daily battle. Additionally, I was not used to being in a hot, humid classroom which lacked air conditioning. But I was amazed at the dedication and obedience of the students who came to class every day. I could not have asked for a better school; students and teachers were kind and welcoming. The time I have spent with my students and fellow teachers will be unforgettable. I’m so thankful towards the teachers, principal, counselors, and students that have poured out their love towards us for this program. It makes me happy to know that I have had an impact on my kids and I hope that their love for learning continues to increase.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sawyer, Nathaniel (張捷特)
AID 2014 – Reflection
Nathaniel Sawyer
Reflecting upon this past month brings many great memories to the surface – summer memories that I know will remain with me for my entire life. I began the first day in Taipei apprehensive and doubtful, unsure of myself in a room filled with more than 500 new faces, doubtful of my ability to keep up with everyone’s Chinese, and stuffed neatly with fears of not making friends, being a bad teacher, and more. And while these negative feelings filled my every corner so tightly that it had me bursting at the seams with anxiety, I quickly realized that this would be the best summer I’ve ever had.
I don’t use that phrase lightly either. Meeting our volunteer coordinator from Dong He Elementary School, Gary Lin, washed away my fears in one sweeping wave as he screamed at the top of his lungs “Come on 帥哥!” to cheer on one of our group members. Magic is the only word I could use to accurately describe the effect that Gary had on our entire group. Instantly, he motivated us to strive to become a better group, better teammates, better teachers, and most of all better people. With his leadership and guidance, the eight volunteers of our group set off to Dong He in Yunlin proud, prepared, and ready to make as much of a difference as we could as newly trained teachers.
Teaching young students was perhaps one of the most challenging things I’ve ever had to do in my life but it brought me an incredibly amount of perspective from a variety of different angles. Teaching the students brought me a great deal of clarity in empathizing with teachers and students alike having now been in the role both. I found myself leaving the school with an ever deeper appreciation for the teachers that have influenced me already in life and for even the basic task that was given to the 小灰灰. The role of constantly having energy enough to lead a group of reluctant young individuals is a herculean task.
Additionally, the invisible influence of patterns of cultural diffusion affected all of us even within just two weeks. Not only did we get to explain American culture and subsequently cross-world perspectives on basic things like school and food habits and customs, but also to more complex issues like that of coming-of-age ceremonies and traditions. In turn, the students playful teasing and questions about our way of life allowed me to confront an entirely different set of traditions and customs head on and question that, which before, I had just assumed to be true.
While I certainly began this program with the feeling that the phrase “light up your life” was nothing but a catchy, albeit lame, tag line for the AID program, I can say with full sincerity and with all my heart that this has been the best summer of my life for the very reason that my life feels “lit” up; lit up with the clarity provided by the culture and the perspective of so many wonderful peoples on the other side of the world, lit up with the brightness of making even a small amount of difference in the lives of the kids of Yunlin, and lit up with the shining brilliance of the many AID volunteers and Taiwanese volunteers that have truly touched my heart and changed me for life.
A special thank you to the Taiwanese volunteer leaders Sandra, Jackie, Demi, Jason, and Eva for all of their hard work and particularly good leadership. They were phenomenal group leaders with both compassion and authority during both our stay in Taipei during training week and during the tour week at the end of the program and they always put us first. All of us truly appreciated them. Thank you as well to Dong He Elementary School and the according principal, assistant principals, and other administrative workers who helped us out so much. I wanted to mention that while this was Dong He’s first year participating in AID, I am of the deepest belief that they should participate again in the future as they took beyond good care of us volunteer teachers and went out of their way to provide us the best experience possible.
Lastly, thank you to Gary Lin主任 of Dong He Elementary School. I have never in my life met someone who was so quick to make me feel genuinely happy and I’ve smiled the widest and brightest in my life when in his company. His enthusiasm, compassion for both the students and us teachers, and his incredible sense of patience and perspective has truly inspired me. While he may have taught all of us an enormous amount about being an outstanding teacher, working with little kids, and Taiwanese culture, I feel that more than anything I have learned how to live a happy life as a truly good person. Thank you.
Thank you for these memories AID 2014.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chou, Theodore (周子灃)
During my stay in Chientan Overseas Youth Center, the lessons and classes that I attended with my group varied in effectiveness in preparing us for our teaching week. Many of the large group lectures proved to be simple reinforcement of already apparent ways to handle the class. Many of the classes overlapped in their messages and as a result the later classes felt more like busy work than an actual preparation for teaching. On the other hand, the individual class lessons with our adviser proved to be much more effective in preparing for the teaching weeks. Our adviser was able to provide us with more insight into the English and learning capabilities of our students. The most helpful piece of advice was to keep the content of the lessons simple and not to complicated or full. One of the more notable differences between our presentations and the other presentations in group B-3 was the speed at which we explained the material and the content. While other groups tried to relate complex topics to their learning material, we simply focused on short vocab words that were not too difficult to explain nor to pronounce. These small group work activities ultimately helped our preparation in teaching the kids more than the large group lectures.
Upon arriving at Chung-wen Elementary, we noticed that the level of English knowledge of the students was at the level that we expected. Although the level of the children was fairly low, the amount of time we were given in a day was much more than expected. This led to us having to put more lesson plans into the day and also find more ways to reinforce the English we taught to the students. We also made sure to add in activities that didn't necessarily have to do with the vocab but allowed the students to relax. For example, we had a water day afternoon where we had students play with water balloons and ultimately led to the kids throwing water balloons at us. Teaching the kids English proved easier if we stayed in all English and didn't use Chinese. However, using Chinese allowed us to maintain better control over our classroom. Ultimately, teaching the class could be easier depending on the way that the situation is handled by using Chinese. Overall, teaching English was easier depending on how much body language was used. Body language was really helpful in teaching the students English, especially emotion words.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chen, Peter (陳翰傑)
In a program such as AID, favorite memories are few and far between. Since that first, daunting week at Chientan, futilely following the orders of our now-beloved counselors, vainly trying to complete the numerous and detailed lesson plans that would not be followed at all in the following weeks, memories stood out like diamonds in the rough. Ranging from innocuous moments such as meeting one’s roommates and teaching partners to key moments like first arriving at school or performing the closing ceremony, this entire experience has been full of moments. However, the moment that stands out the most, at least in my mind, was my departure from Ligang Junior High school. As departures from summer programs went, this one was particularly bad, for all of the right reasons.
I entered AID in a state of semi-comatose complacency, confident in my summer plans and college readiness. However, after being run through the meat grinder that is the first several days at Chientan, I became acutely aware of the need to support my teaching group and its endeavors in any way I could. Through the exhortations of our beloved teacher and the strident deadlines given by the various other teachers and counselors, we hacked out a facsimile of a biweekly plan. Now, the only step left, it seemed, was to bring the light to the middle schoolers in Pingtung.
Stepping out of the comfortably air-conditioned interior of the AID-chartered coach bus and into the sweltering, muggy heat that was Ligang County, I first experienced a moment of hesitation. Was this really going to work? With these doubts spinning through my mind, I entered the meeting room with my teammates to introduce ourselves to the faculty and host family representatives. As I lay in bed that night, a mere fifteen minute-drive away from school, I pondered the same question, running my lesson plan over and over again through my head.
The first several days of school were, to be frank, an unmitigated disaster. Teaching plans fell through (either too pithy or too complex in nature) and tempers became dangerously frayed. By the end of those days, many things had been thrown – water, stinging rebukes, and chalk erasers among them. By Wednesday, we were tired, sore, and at our wits’ end. How, indeed, was this going to work?
Honestly, it wouldn’t have worked at all if it weren’t for those meddling kids. Though originally apprehensive, these students of ours knew what was going on more than we did, many having been veterans of previous AID programs. With their understanding and allowance, we were able to blindly bumble through the first several days of classes. Though their English ranged from an eight-year stint in Australia to not knowing what “alphabet” meant, every single kid showed vigor and excitement when it came to class every day. Whether it was Tom’s superior yet reluctant utilization of English or Ruby’s fast dodgeballs, the kids made the program, not the other way around. And that’s why the leaving was more than painful.
When the end of the two teaching weeks became a looming reality, I became filled with an unfamiliar sadness. I had done summer programs for similarly aged kids, but never had I been so attached to these kids, or they to me. By the end, the hectic, horrible days of the past had turned into equally fast-paced but strangely tranquil teaching days. We had settled into a routine, with each days lesson merging with the chance yet anticipated spark of humor and vivacity that permeated each day’s proceedings. These kids had grown on me, and we had grown as a class as well.
After a closing ceremony best left unmentioned, the kids and I were happy and tired, yet unquestionably melancholy as well. We knew that this was nearly the end. That afternoon, I parted with my students, some of them crying, all of them saying goodbye and wishing me well. When my host family pulled up to the school gates the next morning, however, I saw that a majority of the students had arrived to see us off. Most of my kids were there, bringing presents and more well-wishes. Though I didn’t cry like some of the others in my teaching group, it came pretty close in the end. As the bus pulled away from school, I glanced back for a moment, catching one last glimpse of my students waving goodbye.
Leaving was extremely difficult, and I regret not taking my opportunity to stay longer.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|