|
|
Liu, Annika (劉馥瑄)
Going into this program I thought it would be boring and like another one of those Asian camps but it's the complete opposite. I thought it was worth a whole month of my time, and to be honest, it flew by really fast. I had so much fun meeting new people and teaching little kids English. Hopefully, we can have a huge meet up next year!! Also, #tbt to the time when I said Hi to Anson and he looked at me weird :) "It was an accident!!" He said... Ok.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kung, Charles (龔浩)
When I first stepped into Chien Tan on the first day of AID, I didn't know what to expect. I just wanted to get straight to the teaching week and have fun on the tour. I didn't expect for the whole month to be as fun as it is. I wanted to just get training week over with, but it turns out some of my best moments and memories came during training week. The amount of new friends and experiences I gained was unbelievable, and teaching week just made it better. During the teaching weeks, I learned a lot both about teaching and gained respect for the teachers out there. While I had many down moments with the students like yelling at them and giving them homework, it gave me a perfect opportunity to test my patience and gain a relationship with them through the down moments. I still had a lot of fun with the students, and I truly missed them during the day we left, especially on the bus ride to the tour. I had so many awesome experiences during the teaching week I can't even count them. As for the tour, although we were monitored very strictly, the places themselves were pretty cool and breathtaking. There were a lot of fun adventures and great memories. I truly won't forget this experience.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chang, Kelly (張艾寧)
Being in AID has opened my eyes to so many things I did not expect. There were so many ups and downs throughout this program, and those unexpected turns were when I learned the most. Though there were three parts to this program, I'm only going to talk about two: Chientan and teaching week
At Chientan, I was expecting to meet so many new people. That was not the case. I ended up only meeting my roommates and a few new people. I found it difficult to try to talk to others because of the existing cliques. Granted, I had stayed with my friends from home, but I would've liked to branch out more. Social circles had never seemed so intimidating to me. It was at Chientan where I learned the importance of connections. The entire program is based on who knows who. You wouldn't be able to make your way to a group of people if you didn't have pre-existing friends in it. It'd be impossible to say "I'm going to be friends with that group of people over there." I remember when my friends and I went down floor by floor to try to say hi to people. Most groups were receptive enough (though they didn't do more than saying hi), but there was one group in particular that just stared at us. There were a few scattered "hello"'s, but they did not seem happy to see us. At this point, Chientan was considered a "down." The rules kept us inside and it was difficult trying to make new friends. Though it was a bit rough, I'm glad I had this experience. I learned that there was more to making friends than what appeared on the surface.
During teaching week, things got rough. My group had a tough time with teaching and making plans. We weren't allowed to speak Chinese to the kids. And though most teaching groups broke and spoke Chinese, our teacher and director was adamant about us not being able to use it. It was difficult trying to speak to the kids because of their minimal knowledge of English. We were led to believe the kids would be able to communicate with us using English; however, their English skills were not good at all. It was very hard to teach and watch the kids struggle with understanding us. They would discuss their confusion in front of us in Chinese, and since we weren't supposed to know Chinese, we had to pretend that we couldn't tell something was wrong. The language barrier made me realize how difficult it is to move to another country with almost no knowledge of that country's language. With this realization, I understand my parents' struggles of going to America. Another thing I was able to understand was the struggle of being a teacher. The kids were naughty sometimes and would not listen. It made the teaching part even harder than it actually was. In addition, it was hot and humid, making the entire day a struggle to get through. I appreciate teachers so much more now. Plans were also difficult. Our group would go back to the hotel after school was over and eat dinner, shower, and then work until 1 am. Every single night this cycle repeated. I never expected to be doing so much, but since our school specializes in English, they wanted to make sure the kids were actually learning like they would in school. We barely had time to ourselves. We'd only go out to make 7-11 runs and then go back to the room to continue work. I never realized just how much effort teachers have to put in in order to teach. I'm glad that I had this opportunity because it allowed me to understand my teachers and their struggles.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chen, Ryan (陳翰儒)
After finishing two weeks of teaching at my school, I realize that such an experience has given me more knowledge about Taiwan and life as a student here. From the first week of training, learning about the different aspects of teaching alongside 400+ other unique individuals, to the intriguing, but not so interesting tour. Matsu, the school I taught at, was a wonderful experience from the start, beginning with a tiny airplane ride to a secluded island off the coast of China. Throughout our weeks of teaching at Matsu, it made me so happy to see the progress that students made. English is my first language which made teaching it as a second language difficult for some of us teachers, but through the struggles and problems each day, we were able to succeed in teaching these wonderful students. The connections we made with our students, teachers, and even bodyguard complimented the tough aspects of teaching at a remote island. Finally, after finishing the tiring weeks of teaching, I was able to relax on the supposed amazing central tour...until I found out that multiple days consisted of six a.m. morning calls. Following the early wake up calls, most of the tour locations I had already been to...and there ends a month long trip in Taiwan.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Su, Katherine (蘇孟琳)
Training week:
During training week, we sat through many seminars and classroom sessions in order to learn teaching strategies and develop our own lesson plans. The seminars were only sometimes helpful and engaging. Some things that they should focus on more are classroom-management skills (i.e. ways to get the kids’ attention) and teaching students who know very little English (i.e. what to do if the kids’ English level is not what you thought, or if some students know more/less than others). In addition, we didn’t actually use the lesson plans that we wrote during the classroom sessions because our students weren’t at the level at which we thought they would be.
The residential life during training week had its ups and downs as well. Since we were not allowed to leave the Chientan campus, it felt like we weren’t really making use of Chientan’s prime location! In addition, it was difficult to do laundry towards the end of the week because the laundry room was very crowded. However, the rooms at Chientan were quite nice, and it was a lot of fun getting to know roommates from different groups.
Teaching (the good stuff):
I enjoyed teaching at Shulin Elementary in Taoyuan. Some things I liked were the cute kids, yummy food, proximity to 7-11, and generous teacher, principal, and staff. The people at the school were very welcoming and hospitable. In addition, the kids were open to speaking with us (although they needed encouragement to speak English). Some things that I did not like were the cockroaches, a giant spider, and the rowdiness of 5 year-olds/all children. The kids were very wild (i.e. lying on the floor, telling stories about poop into the microphone) on occasion. Sometimes, I thought to myself, “If the MOE could see us now, they would be amazed or maybe upset. :’(” One thing I would have enjoyed is having more outside-of-school experiences. For example, some volunteers picked rice, rode bicycles, or made soap. However, during our school days, we were not able to do those things.
Tour:
The tour was great as I was able to see a lot of new places in Taiwan! However, I would have appreciated more free time. Some places (i.e. Sun Moon Lake) were too pretty or fun not to go out and explore, so it would have been nice if counselors had given us permission to leave (or even come with).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tsou, Tiffany (鄒佩璇)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Khz7n_7MvP37L2erghCgTG2R-eQD7-GMDen2Rg-7ZpM/edit?usp=sharing
Day 1 July 11 , 2014
Volunteer Teacher: Tiffany Tsou & Alan Poe
Topic:
Introduction
Language Focus:
My name is ___. I am ___years old. I like ____.
Learning Objectives:
Have basic introductions/ perform what they have known
Learning Materials:
Test Sheets, Crayons, Multimedia aids, Games
Total Teaching Time:
8:30-3:20
Stages
Procedure
Time
Pre-teaching
(Warm-Up & Review)
Greetings, Introduction,
Teachers will introduce themselves to the students and familiarize themselves with the classroom setting
Classroom Rules
Teachers and students will work together to create classroom norms
Making a name tag and Self Introducing
Students will create name tags and introduce themselves to the class.
Opening Ceremony
Teachers will perform the opening ceremony to the class.
3 Periods
While Teaching
(Presentation / Practice / Production)
Pretest (Read, Write)
The students will take an exam on reading and writing
Pretest( Speak, Listen)
The students will take an exam on speaking and listening
Camp Songs
The students will learn and sing the camp song.
4 Period
Wrap-up
Camp Song
1 Period
Assignment
Practice Song and Write Alphabet 3 times (Upper and Lower case)
Part 2— Reflection
You can synthesize the reflection of the whole team, or record individually.
List solutions coping with challenges. If you did not solve the problem, put a dash (--) after the serial numbers.
Challenges
Solutions
Examples:
1. Students are afraid of speaking English.
2. Students can’t pronounce words/say sentences accurately.
Ask them to repeat after the teacher.
Allow them to use gestures.
Change in schedule (opening ceremony was postponed)
Pre-test took longer than expected and students were bored
Students are too shy
Improvised a letter/spelling game and more name games
Told students to draw and to create a list of words that they know already as a competition
Encourage them to speak louder and more through repetition and applause
Any Other Thoughts?
The children were very well behaved for the first day. They made our job easy!
Day 2 July12, 2014
Volunteer Teacher: Tiffany Tsou & Alan Poe
Topic:
Classroom Objects
Language Focus:
What is this/that? I have_____. I don’t have___.
Learning Objectives:
Say what materials they have and identify what they see while in class
Learning Materials:
Picture cards
Multimedia aids
Worksheet
www.abcfastphonics.com
Game
Total Teaching Time:
8:30-3:20
Stages
Procedure
Time
Pre-teaching
(Warm-Up & Review)
Alphabet Review/ Phoics sound out
Students will review the alphabet and practice the pronunciation of the letters, both hard and soft.
Hangman
Students will practice spelling by playing hangman
1
While Teaching
(Presentation / Practice / Production)
Vocab teaching about classroom objects
Fan, Paper, Whiteboard, Computer, Notebook, Crayon, Marker, Projector, Poster, Table, Light
Book, Pen, Pencil, Eraser, Door
say and repeat (pronunciation)
Say and ask them to point and say
point to object and ask what it is.
Stick the vocab onto the classroom objects
students will label the classroom objects with the name they just learned.
I Spy
Students will play “I Spy” with everyday classroom objects to review the terms they learned
Students will find objects around the room and describe them until the rest of the class can figure it out
Daily Dialogue/ Camp song
Students will practice speaking using the terms learned and practice the camp song
4
Wrap-up
Bingo/ Draw and Guess
Students will review again the vocab terms learned.
Students will draw out pictures or write out the words of the classroom objects and write the term in English on a bingo sheet while the teachers will call out the different terms
Students will try to draw the Vocab terms while their teammates try to guess it.
Crazy Turtle
Students will play Crazy turtle to solidify their understanding of the vocab
Students will have to unscramble letters that spell out the Vocab. If there is a turtle on the slide, they will have to draw a picture of it too
2
Assignment
You can synthesize the reflection of the whole team, or record individually.
List solutions coping with challenges. If you did not solve the problem, put a dash (--) after the serial numbers.
Challenges
Solutions
Examples:
1. Students are afraid of speaking English.
2. Students can’t pronounce words/say sentences accurately.
Ask them to repeat after the teacher.
Allow them to use gestures.
It was difficult for students to learn the vocabulary words in the one period we had planned.
Students were afraid to participate
Used the rest of the day to review the same words over and over.
Showed students that it didn’t matter if their answers were wrong
Any Other Thoughts?
The students were really well behaved and seemed like they were having fun.
Day 3 July 13 , 2014
Volunteer Teacher: Tiffany Tsou and Alan Poe
Topic:
Emotions/feelings
Language Focus:
How do/does you/he.she feel today? I feel ____. He/ She feels ___.
Learning Objectives:
Express how they feel
Learning Materials:
Picture Cards, crayons, multimedia aids, www.starfall.com, games
Total Teaching Time:
8:30-3:20
Stages
Procedure
Time
Pre-teaching
(Warm-Up & Review)
Phonic sound out
Students will use Starfall.com to practice the pronunciation of the phonetics.
1 Period
While Teaching
(Presentation / Practice / Production)
Vocab teaching about emotions
Happy, Sad, Scared, Angry, Bored, Nervous, Cool, Lovely, Annoyed, Tired, Sick, Silly
How are you feeling?
I am feeling_____
How is he/she feeling?
He/She is feeling ____
Unscramble Game
Students will get into two teams and send up one representative each to compete at the board. Each competitor will be given a vocab word with the letters scrambled and they will have to write the correct word with the correct spelling while the remaining teammates have to act out the emotion. The first team to complete this wins the point.
Make Emotional Face
Students will review the words learned by Saying and repeating the words as well as making the faces themselves. Also, they will play Act and Guess where the teachers will make a face and the students will have to respond with what emotion the teacher is making.
Daily Dialogue/ Camp Songs
Students will practice speaking with these words, using the objective phrases of “How do you feel today? I feel_____” and practice the camp songs
Matching game with emojis
Students are split into two groups and each group will send a representative who will recieve a post it note with a vocab term on it. They will then have to stick the term onto the respective emoji. The team of the first representative to correctly match the term will then have to spell out the word before winning the point.
5 Period
Wrap-up
Duck, Duck, Goose
Students will play duck duck goose, a game where the students sit together in a circle while a designated Goose walked around outside calling off duck, duck, duck…. until they decide to call out goose and the person which is called goose has to chase the existing goose around the circle, trying to tag him or her as the first goose tries to sit in the vacated spot.
1
Assignment
You can synthesize the reflection of the whole team, or record individually.
List solutions coping with challenges. If you did not solve the problem, put a dash (--) after the serial numbers.
Challenges
Solutions
Examples:
1. Students are afraid of speaking English.
2. Students can’t pronounce words/say sentences accurately.
Ask them to repeat after the teacher.
Allow them to use gestures.
Did not prepare enough activities for the entire day.
Students got bored during activities.
We had the students review the vocabulary words they learned yesterday and played spelling games.
Told the students if they behaved they would be able to go outside and play at the end of the day.
Any Other Thoughts?
Students are getting more comfortable with us, speaking up more in class, which is nice!
Day 4 July 14 , 2014
Volunteer Teacher: Tiffany Tsou & Alan Poe
Topic:
Food/Drink
Language Focus:
I’m hungry
/thirsty. I would like some___, please.
Learning Objectives:
Express what they want
Learning Materials:
Picture Cards, Multimedia aids, sandwich making ingredients, games
Total Teaching Time:
8:30-3:20
Stages
Procedure
Time
Pre-teaching
(Warm-Up & Review)
Phonics sound out
Students will use Starfall.com to practice the pronunciation of the phonetics.
1
While Teaching
(Presentation / Practice / Production)
Vocab teaching about Food/Drink
Food
Apple, Bread, Vegetable, Meat, Candy, Rice, Noodles
Drink
Water, Milk
Describe
Sweet, Sour, Spicy, Salty, Bitter, Hot, Cold, Good, Bad
I am hungry/ thirsty
I would like some _______, please
Songs and Videos
Students will learn and sing the “Guacamole song” (https://www.musixmatch.com/lyrics/Dr-Jean-Feldman/Banana-Dance-Vocal) . They will also watch videos on youtube about food (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo59LlkTDe4) . These videos will not only help them better understand food vocabulary, but also more of the American culture in regards to food.
Swatting Game
Students will be split into team with each team sending one compeitotr to the board at a time. The two competitors will listen to the teacher who will say a food word and then have to find the picture of the word on the board. The first one to swat the word wins a point. The he or she can then win another point by spelling the word
Daily Dialogue/ Camp songs
Students will practice speaking the words using the traget phrases of “I am hungry/thirsty. I would like _______” and practice the camp songs.
Wrap-up
Let’s make a sandwich
Students will make sandwichs with a partner, begining by drawing the plan on paper and labeling the ingredients with the correct term. They will then actually make the sandwich and describe the taste.
2
Assignment
You can synthesize the reflection of the whole team, or record individually.
List solutions coping with challenges. If you did not solve the problem, put a dash (--) after the serial numbers.
Challenges
Solutions
Examples:
1. Students are afraid of speaking English.
2. Students can’t pronounce words/say sentences accurately.
Ask them to repeat after the teacher.
Allow them to use gestures.
The words we prepared were too easy
Sandwich making was hectic because one of the stoves did not work
Added more difficult words during break
Had everyone cook on one stove top, took more time but ended up working out
Any Other Thoughts?
There were a few problems with the sandwich making but other than that, the day went by really smoothly.
Day 5 July 15 , 2014
Volunteer Teacher: Tiffany Tsou & Alan Poe
Topic:
Four Frame Comic
Language Focus:
Common greeting or dialogue
Learning Objectives:
Design and draw and four frame comic
Learning Materials:
Posters, Crayons, Markers, Picture books
Total Teaching Time:
8:30-3:20
Stages
Procedure
Time
Pre-teaching
(Warm-Up & Review)
Group discussion with the whole class, students will brainstorm about what they want to draw their comics on. Teachers will show examplse of four frame comics to give the students an idea of what they want to make.
1 period
While Teaching
(Presentation / Practice / Production)
Vocab
Run, Say, Read, Hear, See, Give, Walk
Boy, Girl, Dog, Cat, Bird, Tree, House, Store
Four Frame comic making
Give all the students the supplies they need to make comics. Give them time to draw their comics. Share comics with the class. The students will be using the vocabulary words they learned over the week to create their comic.
After comics, we will read picture books to the class. This will give the students a better understanding of how to use the vocabulary terms they have been taught and teach them new ways to use them.
Wrap-up
Play dodgeball at the end of the day to end the week with a fun activity.
1 period
Assignment
You can synthesize the reflection of the whole team, or record individually.
List solutions coping with challenges. If you did not solve the problem, put a dash (--) after the serial numbers.
Challenges
Solutions
Examples:
1. Students are afraid of speaking English.
2. Students can’t pronounce words/say sentences accurately.
Ask them to repeat after the teacher.
Allow them to use gestures.
Comic making took longer than expected
Some students were not participating
Students were being rude to their teacher
We did not go over the camp song until later in the day because it was not as important, the students already knew how to sing the song.
Told the students that if they did not participate, they would not be able to play dodgeball.
Punished the students by having them dance in front of the entire school.
Any Other Thoughts?
The students have been getting really good at English, they are more comfortable with answering questions.
Day 6 July 18 , 2014
Volunteer Teacher: Tiffany Tsou & Alan Poe
Topic:
Foreign Culture
Language Focus:
Wh- questions
Ex: What do you like to eat? How old are you?
Learning Objectives:
Learn about foreign culture from their teacher’s lives
Learning Materials:
Pictures, Multimedia aids
Total Teaching Time:
8:30-3:20
Stages
Procedure
Time
Pre-teaching
(Warm-Up & Review)
While Teaching
(Presentation / Practice / Production)
American Life
The teachers will present to the students about the typical American’s daily schedule and compare it to their own schedules. The teachers will also present on common American hobbies and contrast them to the ones of themselves and discuss with the students common hobbies here.
American Music
The teachers will show the students some common American songs from genres ranging from country to jazz to pop. The teachers will also explain some of the meanings, significance, and history behind the songs. While listening to the music, the students and teachers will all dance together
American Culture/ Landmarks
Sears tower, Statue of Liberty, Goldengate Bridge, and Space Needle.
Students will be assign groups and split between the monuments and have to role play as a tour guide, giving a short presentation to the class about the building from a poster they made. They will get the information from information sheets given to them, which they will read aloud with the guidance of the teachers.
Q&A
An open session where the students are allowed to ask the teachers any question regarding American Culture. Should there be no questions, teachers may present more about music or a monument or whatever is more convenient.
American Food
Students will be making Cookie Dough in class. The teachers will then explain the cultural significance of this cooking process and relate it to that of cooking in Taiwanese culture and in the lives of student. The students will also hear about a classic American candy, Bazooka Bubblegum, which the teachers will present about as well.
5
Wrap-up
Prepare for Closing Ceremony
Students will have to continue practicing for the closing ceremony performance.
Picnic Games
Students will be taught and will play several traditional American backyard games such as Hula Hoop relay and Wheelbarrow race and Tug of war.
2
Assignment
You can synthesize the reflection of the whole team, or record individually.
List solutions coping with challenges. If you did not solve the problem, put a dash (--) after the serial numbers.
Challenges
Solutions
Examples:
1. Students are afraid of speaking English.
2. Students can’t pronounce words/say sentences accurately.
Ask them to repeat after the teacher.
Allow them to use gestures.
Students were tired, so they did not want to work.
The information was a lot to take in for the students.
We went around the classroom and made sure every student was working, if they weren’t working we stood by their side until they started working.
We reviewed everything we talked about and made sure that the students understood it all.
Any Other Thoughts?
Students tend to be more outgoing if they see us having fun and being silly.
Day 7 July 19 , 2014
Volunteer Teacher: Tiffany Tsou & Alan Poe
Topic:
Clothing
Language Focus:
What are you wearing today? Im wearing ______.
Learning Objectives:
Identify common articles of clothing
Learning Materials:
Picture cards, worksheet, crayons, multimedia aids
Total Teaching Time:
8:30-3:20
Stages
Procedure
Time
Pre-teaching
(Warm-Up & Review)
While Teaching
(Presentation / Practice / Production)
Vocab
Shirt, Pants, Socks, Shoes, Hat, Dress, Jacket, Glasses
Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple, White, Black, Dark, Light, Big, Large, Small, Medium,
Pictionary
Students will be split teams and each team will send a repreentative that will be given a word. At the same time, both competitors will begin drawing a picture of the word while their teammates have to guess what word it is and write it out on the whiteboard. The first team to complete this gets the point for the round.
Fashion Show
Students will plan and create clothing designs out of paper and wear them. They will have to write a couple sentences describing the articles of clothing they created and present this to their small groups. Then, the groups will elect a representative to present to the class, which will then vote on the student who created the most original design and is able to best articulate the description.
Guess Who
Teachers and studentswill describe a student’s clothing to the class, which will have to guess which student is being described. Teachers and students will then play the game again but describe an individual from a slide with images of celebrities.
Friend Bingo Game
Students will create a bingo board themselves with each block using a adjective and clothing article (E.G. Green Shirt). They will then have to go out and find a friend that is wearing that listed article of clothing. The winner will be the first ones to get a Bingo match.
6
Wrap-up
Prepare for closing ceremony
Students will have to practice the closing ceremony presentation.
1
Assignment
You can synthesize the reflection of the whole team, or record individually.
List solutions coping with challenges. If you did not solve the problem, put a dash (--) after the serial numbers.
Challenges
Solutions
Examples:
1. Students are afraid of speaking English.
2. Students can’t pronounce words/say sentences accurately.
Ask them to repeat after the teacher.
Allow them to use gestures.
Didn’t plan enough activities for the whole day.
Students had a tough time remembering all the vocabulary
Improvised a new game to fill the extra period we had planned.
Repeated the words over and over, showed pictures and used activities that helped them remember.
Any Other Thoughts?
Students are very visual, adding in hand motions helped a lot.
Day 8 July 20 , 2014
Volunteer Teacher: Tiffany Tsou & Alan Poe
Topic:
Countries
Language Focus:
Where do you come from? I come from _________.
Learning Objectives:
Identify different countries and their flags
Know about the landmarks
Learning Materials:
Picture cards
Construction paper/Glue /Crayons/
Scissors
Total Teaching Time:
8:30-3:20
Stages
Procedure
Time
Pre-teaching
(Warm-Up & Review)
While Teaching
(Presentation / Practice / Production)
Teach countries and flags
USA, China, England, Korea, Australia, Japan, France, Egypt, Taiwan
Teach popular landmarks and features
Eiffel Tower, Uluru, Pyramids, Big Ben Tower
Matching Game with Counties
Students will play a game to review the countries learned by matching the name to the respective flag.
Flag making
Students will work in groups to create the flag of an assigned country. They will then have to practice writing simple sentences such as “This is the flag of ______” and “The flag is _____”, describing the colors and shapes. They will then practice speaking by presenting and sharing the flags and sentence to the class.
5
Wrap-up
Prepare for the closing ceremony
Students will practice for the closing ceremony.
Play World Cup
Students will be split into pairs and will then choose a country name with the teachers playing goalie. They students will then try to score the ball into the goal while competing with the other student pairs. When striking for the goal, they must shout out their respective country names in order to win the point.
2
Assignment
You can synthesize the reflection of the whole team, or record individually.
List solutions coping with challenges. If you did not solve the problem, put a dash (--) after the serial numbers.
Challenges
Solutions
Examples:
1. Students are afraid of speaking English.
2. Students can’t pronounce words/say sentences accurately.
Ask them to repeat after the teacher.
Allow them to use gestures.
The countries were difficult for the students to remember in English.
We used repetition and constant review to help them remember.
Any Other Thoughts?
Students were very good today, everyone participated and worked hard.
Day 9 July 21 , 2014
Volunteer Teacher: Tiffany Tsou & Alan Poe
Topic:
Sports
Language Focus:
I like to play ________.
My favorite sport is _________.
Learning Objectives:
Know basic sports and action words.
Learning Materials:
Picture Cards, Multimedia aids, Worksheet
Total Teaching Time:
8:30-3:20
Stages
Procedure
Time
Pre-teaching
(Warm-Up & Review)
Teaching vocab about sports
Football, Soccer, Basketball, Baseball, Frisbee, Track and Field, Swimming, Volleyball, Badminton,
Ball,
Basic actions of each sport
[throw, punt, kick, tackle, touchdown], [kick, block, goal], [throw, dribble, dunk, hoop], [swing, pitch, catch, ball, bat, run, field], [huck, flick, field, disc], [run, sprint], [swim, breathe, dive, pool], [pass, set, spike, serve, court, ball, net], [Spike, serve, hit, birdie, court, raquet]
2
While Teaching
(Presentation / Practice / Production)
Play charades
Children will review the terms they just learned by playing charades. they will be split into two groups with each group sending up a representative. THis representative will receive a word and they will have to act it out while his or her team tries to guess what it is.
Sport posters
Students will get into groups and make posters about the sports learned today. They will draw and label the different parts. The groups will then present their posters to the class before moving the posters to decorate the gym
2
Wrap-up
practice for closing ceremony
Students will continue practicing the end of program performance.
Play sports outside
Weather permitting, the students will play the games learned today, namely Volleyball, Basketball, Track, Frisbee, and Badminton
3
Assignment
Challenges
Solutions
Examples:
1. Students are afraid of speaking English.
2. Students can’t pronounce words/say sentences accurately.
Ask them to repeat after the teacher.
Allow them to use gestures.
The students would not sing
Students did not want to do the post test
We made the students who not sing stay and sing while the other students who did sing got to play
Told them if they did the post test they would be able to go outside and play
Any Other Thoughts?
Students could’ve been better but it was overall a good day
Day 10 July 22 , 2014
Volunteer Teacher: Tiffany Tsou & Alan Poe
Topic:
Closing Ceremony
Language Focus:
Learning Objectives:
Present what they have learned in the last two weeks
Learning Materials:
pictures, multimedia aids
Total Teaching Time:
8:30- 3:20
Stages
Procedure
Time
Pre-teaching
(Warm-Up & Review)
post test
Students will take the post test to measure how much they ahve learned over the span of the last two weeks.
3
While Teaching
(Presentation / Practice / Production)
prep for closing ceremony
Students will have a last minute practice session for the closing ceremony
closing ceremony
4
Wrap-up
goodbyes!
Assignment
Have a good summer!
Challenges
Solutions
Examples:
1. Students are afraid of speaking English.
2. Students can’t pronounce words/say sentences accurately.
Ask them to repeat after the teacher.
Allow them to use gestures.
We didn’t have any plans for the beginning of the day
Let the kids have free time and made them practice the songs
Any Other Thoughts?
It was a sad day because it was the last day with the students.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lin, Shannon (林敬純)
These past few weeks have been such a great experience for me, from teaching the kids to gaining new friends. I am extremely priviledged in getting the opportunity to educate kids in a totally different environment than the U.S. Being with the students for two weeks has taught me so much, and I hope the connection I had with them carries on in the future. Not only did I spend time with the kids in class, but during field trips as well. I will never forget all the quality time I had in getting to know the students better. This relationship between tudent and teacher will never be forgotten for me, and I hope to keep in contact with them after the two weeks.
Teaching the students was only part of the whole AID experience, as the time I spent outside the class was with my new friends. All seven of them made an impression on me, and I've gotten to know some of them better than others. The first week was a little more rocky, as all of us had just met each other for the first time. However, the time we spent in Keelung had bonded us in an odd but unique way. We've shared many stories, experiences, and mostly laughs that are never to be forgotten. Being in Taiwan has added a different factor to the situation as well. All of us are accustomed to the American culture, but the environment of another country has sparked new opportunities to experience new things together. At Keelung, I also met many new people who have taken care of me and who I will always remember. Whether it was the military men who cracked us up, the principal's daughter who kept us company, or the teacher who became our "mom", I was much appreciated of their help throughout the journey. I personally do not think it was the culture of Taiwan that made this trip special, but the people I met: the acquaintances who became friends, a teacher who became a mom, and students who became kids that I'll never forget.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lin, Shannon (林品萱)
I came to Taiwan to teach students English but through these four intense, energetic, and exciting weeks in Taiwan, I believe I learned more than I taught. We started off in training week where I learned effective teaching strategies and started to bond with my group. It was a great time meeting new people and adjusting to the heat of Taiwan. Our skills were then put to test in the next two weeks teaching students. We were undoubtedly sleep-deprived and stressed but the kids made it all the worth. I noticed that there was a big gap between the students- there were those who had the ABCs down pat, but there were also those who could not recognize A even on the last day. It was tough adjusting to each students' skills but the most effective solution was playing games in teams. I would separate the kids based on skill and they would be forced to help each other in order to win. Beyond the classroom, the students loved playing sports with us after school and asking us questions about life in America. The two weeks ended with tears and hugs as we went our separate ways. It was finally time for tour week! We spent many many many hours on the bus, but in the end, it was a great time to hangout with my group for the last time, and to bond with other bus mates. It was fun touring all over Taiwan even though we only got as little as 30 minutes in one area. I wish that we didn't visit as many museums and went to less commercialized areas, but I still had a blast. I would definitely recommend this experience to others- in fact, I already have! This program helped me to not only grow as a teacher, but more importantly, as a person.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chen, Ruth (陳若得)
I remember the excitement of logging online to find that I had been accepted to AID. It seems like just a couple weeks ago that I felt the excitement of finding out that I was assigned to Hot Spring Elementary in Taitung and I was scrambling to find the other members in our group. As I reflect on the past three weeks, it is weird to think that so much happened within this time period and how quickly it all happened.
Our training week at Chientan felt like one pointless activity after another. Sitting through six hours of lectures a day was not an effective way to show us how to teach the students. Although I learned a few tips, I did not learn six hours worth of lectures. I would have liked to hear insight from past AID volunteers about what worked for them and what didn't because our role in the school was different than that of just a typical English teacher. There was also a lot of disorganization during the first week and weeks leading up to AID. I made a total of three teaching plans, two of which were useless. The first teaching plan we made during the summer did not help me at all or give me an idea of what I wanted to teach because our school ended up assigning topics to us and giving us afternoon activities. I felt that I could have used the time I spent making my teaching plan during the summer to do summer work that I would not have time to do while in Taiwan.
So far, the best experience of this program has definitely been the two weeks at the school. Although the preparation for teaching was difficult and tedious, I think that ultimately the two weeks taught me a lot about people and the way that we communicate.
During my two weeks teaching, I met and encountered such a wide range of people, from naughty students to teachers. Disciplining the students was hard because our school did not let us speak Chinese to the students. If we were able to speak Chinese to our students, I feel like I would have been able to teach more effectively and bond more with the students. By the end of the two weeks, I did not think I would miss the students as much because of how tiring teaching was. But the last couple days teaching, I found that I was sad about leaving the students. I wanted to spend more time with them and for them to learn more. I realized that I would miss their boundless energy no matter how tired it made me.
I also learned a lot about the role of being a teacher. As a teacher, we were required to be flexible and improvise on the spot, something I am not comfortable doing. I am the type of person who likes to have a set plan of exactly what I want to do. Because of that, the first couple days of teaching were difficult because I could not follow some of the activities I had planned because they turned out to be ineffective. A teacher's job is a lot harder than it looks, and my two weeks teaching have definitely offered me a new perspective on how difficult it is to be a teacher and to appreciate my good teachers at school, because teaching is definitely a gift that only certain people have.
But I've also found that a teacher's job is incredibly rewarding. Although it seemed like the students did not learn as much as I would have liked them to, it was still exciting to see your efforts amount to something significant.
In Taitung, I appreciated the school's efforts to make sure we were comfortable. Our living accommodations were very nice, and the many places they took us on the weekend were fun.
In Taitung, I felt like my group finally had a better understanding of one another. Although my teaching group had such a wide range of different personalities, I am thankful that I was assigned with those people. Although our personalities would sometimes clash, it amazes me that people with such contrasting personalities could somehow find a way to work together. Our daily 711 runs to our "amazing" singing on car rides are memories that I will associate with AID.
Being a Vegetarian, I was thankful that there were always veggie options available at Chientan and tour week. Even the teaching weeks, I appreciate the extra effort my school made to make sure that my meals were Vegetarian.
Even during our tour week, I already miss the weird comfort of being back in Taitung with the students and my group. Although difficult and very tiring, I am still very thankful for this unique opportunity. It is weird that my previous AID anticipation is quickly turning into memories. The positives of this experience definitely outweigh the negatives, and I am glad that I will have happy memories to look back on.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chang, Allison (張蘊辰)
My experience with AID began in May with a phone call asking if I would accept my teaching assignment to the Matsu Islands and since then I had been unsure but curious about what to anticipate. My time at Matsu gratefully lead to be some of the most rewarding and unique weeks of my life and with the conclusion of the tour, us volunteers left the program with remarkable memories and new connections.
I’ve had experience with interacting and teaching children but this proved to be more invigorating and engaging with the challenge of fully managing the classroom and joy from spending time with the children. We were driven to devise creative ways to keep their interest yet also practical ways to dispel class conflicts. In the end, the sweet kids we bonded with were so difficult to part with and I came to cherish our shared conversations about our live, expanding their English knowledge linguistically and culturally through leading lessons and camp activities and their bright personalities and happy enthusiasm.
My team of 6 alongside our mentor and soldier filled our downtime exploring the beautiful island of Nangan’s unique landmarks, natural landscape and modest lifestyle, interestingly often running into our students (even on our ferry to a neighboring island for the weekend). Our time around Matsu, in and outside the classroom, proved to be very worthwhile (and gladly, the time and friendships with our students rewarding).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harvey, Emily (陳穎立)
As the cliché goes: I went into this program not knowing what to expect. What I did know was that I was going to teach English. I think by the end I figured out that this experience was meant not so much for me to teach but for me to learn.
One thing I learned from this program was that I want to be a certain person during difficult situations. I don't want to be the type of person who freaks out and stresses everyone else out. I want to be the type of person who is calm and assesses the situation before making a decision. Dealing with certain people made it clear that other people would rather work with someone who is calm rather than stressed out.
Another thing I learned was how I have to work differently with different types of people. From my own peers, to my superiors and my students, I have to treat each differently and change the way I approach trying to work with them.
Finally, I learned how important family was. At the beginning, they told us that all 450 of us were one big family. While I found out that was not really true, my "family" of 8 plus our teacher who became our mother figure ended up being a team. After 4 weeks of living, eating, sleeping, and breathing with each other, we became one big, dysfunctional family that I will probably never see again but had a bond that I will remember for the years to come.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hong, Vivian (洪韻雯)
The experience at AID summer has been absolutely amazing. At first, I was scared coming into this camp, not knowing anyone and having bad Chinese. However, the way they set up the camp allows you to get close to your group members and others from the camp. Everyone is friendly and willing to help. Even if you don’t really know much Chinese you can survive. Training week is a lot of work, and can tire you out, but its all worth it when you finally get to teach at your school.
Before arriving at my school, Ruifang Junior High, I had very low expectations at first. That only helped to improve what I felt when I actually got there. We stayed in teacher dorms which was very impressive. It was clean, and they provided A/C, dehumidifiers, beds, blankets, toiletries, etc. therefore I am very grateful of how much they have taken care of me. They provided more than enough materials, food, and others to help us during these past two weeks. This place feels like a second home to me.
Designing the teaching plans were stressful since it was a lot of work starting from scratch. However, it was a great experience being able to creatively adjust and develop new teaching plans. When it came time to teach the students we always planned extra games for the students. Playing games and seeing the smiles and laughter of the students always makes my day. That is exactly the reason why I came to teach at AID summer camp.
I had gotten 9th grade students assigned to me. Although the students were shy at first, they have really opened up and were able to volunteer. By getting them involved or trying to get them to use their creativity, they were able to absorb the material that we taught. Not only that, but they were bright students already. There were a select few that had very good English coming into the camp. Those few really helped in the class when they helped other students to translate what we had said. I could really feel how they felt in the last few days that we had together. They admired or felt that we were friends, yet keeping the same respect for us as teachers. They took care of us knowing that we were international students that also came to get some exposure to the culture. One time, they gave me Taiwanese candy for me to try. I was really touched by their act of kindness. The teachers and students got together especially well, therefore our bonds were pretty tight.
I truly wish that we would have a longer time to spend together with the students. Also, I wish that there was some bigger way to repay the generosity that Ruifang Junior High school has given us. They fed us many good foods and treated us like family. They did everything in their power to make our stay at Ruifang comfortable. If I could explain how much this experience means to me, how happy I had been, I would describe it as a happiness meter that does not have a limit. There was never a dull moment, every day was exciting.
The touring part of AID summer camp was great as well. There were a lot of opportunities to buy foods and trinkets, that was a lot of fun. The hotels, hostels, or activity centers we stay at are really incredible, well some of them. The food they offer is great as well! It’s great being able to explore the beautiful and cultural parts of Taiwan with the close friends we have made during AID summer.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shen, Michelle (諶灏恩)
The AID Program was a thoroughly rewarding experience. However, the first week of preparation and general information about teaching could have been run better. Much of the information seemed to focus more on the methods of teaching rather than how to teach certain materials and how to cater to each age group and how to address different problems that could possibly arise with students. The two weeks of teaching went extremely well; many of the students responded well and were eager to learn. I learned to adapt quickly and how to encourage students. One small hiccup was the planning and revising of the teaching plans due to the gaps in English language knowledge and the age difference. There was also a gap between coaxing the students out of their comfort zone and teaching them too difficult concepts and material. The final tour week was a good experience in the sense that I was able to see much of central Taiwan, especially the most common tourist areas and the places most unique to Taiwan. Despite the fact that there was not much time spent in places where we could shop, much of it was enjoyable. However, much of the schedule was constantly changing, which was frustrating because we could not prepare well in advance, and much was extremely disorganized and spent waiting around.
Overall, this program created an unforgettable experience and provided an opportunity for me to utilize my skills to help the Taiwanese youth; despite the cultural and language barrier, I saw the beauty of my heritage and of the country itself.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chi, Kristine (季庭)
Upon the few days before this program started, I regretted applying knowing I would be away from my friends and family for a month with little contact. However, little did I know that I would find a new group of friends that quickly became my family for the next 4 weeks.
The first moment I walked into my classroom I could already picture my students laughing with the teachers, learning English, and playing so many games until they were sick of them. I could hardly contain my excitement for the upcoming Monday.
I not only learned how to be flexible and adapt to situations that I did not prepare for, but my patience also grew a little with each day’s lesson. Working so closely with these children was an experience I’ve never gotten before. I have never been able to become so close with people that I was helping. Getting to know the students as individuals made teaching them so much more enjoyable because I could see their growth and improvement at the end of the 2 weeks. Nothing made me happier than seeing these kids smiling while learning English, knowing I was the one helping and shaping them to become the future of Taiwan.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Liou, Rachel (劉玥彤)
Upon arriving to Taiwan, I was quite nervous as I did not know what to expect during teaching, and I was not confident in my Chinese.
During the first week, I was quite stressed out since I was not used to the living conditions, and I struggled with classroom management. However, as the week passes, I became used to the lifestyle, and classroom management became easier as the students got used to the teachers. Soon the stress was gone.
By the end of the two weeks, the students have learned quite a bit of English, while my Chinese have improved as well. There are benefits for both students and teachers--students learn English, while teachers learn (more) Chinese. The students, teachers, and staff have also shared a great family atmosphere by the time teaching was over.
The past few weeks have been a very educational and fun experience for me. While I learned many things about Taiwan and how to teach effectively and efficiently, gaining leadership skills have been a very rewarding thing throughout the journey. I have also learned a lot about myself, and after living in an unusual rural environment for two weeks, I appreciate my home more and would never again take it for granted. I will leave Taiwan with a better understanding of different cultures.
And now that teaching is over, we can all celebrate our hard work and success with some nice views from the tour.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hu, Annie (胡宜)
The program was fun and educational not only for the students but also for us, the teachers! We learned how to manage classes by setting and reinforcing rules, and we learned how to keep the students interested by choosing topics of interest for them. One thing I would change about my teaching would be to allow for more student-driven projects so that they can gain an intrinsic interest in learning English. I would also suggest for the AID program to allow for a longer teaching period and a shorter orientation period because the best way to learn how to teach is to jump right into it! Instead of one week of orientation, maybe have half a week of orientation and two and a half weeks of teaching. This way, we also get more time teaching the kids and have more options for how to teach.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lee, Kathie (李雙安)
Week 1 (Chien Tan): Some speakers were very engaging and interesting to listen to while others were boring. The activities they had us do though during the lectures were nice because they helped us get to know our groups and work together. The lectures were too long though and that time could've and SHOULD'VE been used to make lesson plans. The day was too long; it would've been nice if we had more free time at night and more freedom (GO TO NIGHT MARKETS!!!! EXPLORE THE CITY BY OURSELVES, LEAVE THIS YOUTH ACTIVITIES CENTER!) The counselors are too strict and overbearing. The food was not good and it would have been nice if we didn't have to wear the long pants and green polos every single day. ALSO THE WIFI WAS BROKEN THE WHOLE TIME. The opening ceremony was way too long and most of it was just aimed for the “important government officials” to watch and be impressed with instead of the students who were actually going to be doing volunteer work. The way we were forced to sing songs and dance to welcome the government officials in were ridiculous. We had to sing children’s songs to important government officials.
Week 2&3 (Matsu Islands): AMAZING. I absolutely loved the islands and the kids were adorable. The kids are truly what made this experience worth it. However, we had a VERY long day every single day. We'd stay at the school working on the lesson plans for the next day, working on pre and post tests and reflections for the program very late. Until 9 or 10 every single day. This could've been prevented by preparing our lessons while we were at Chien Tan. This was my favorite part of the entire month.
Week 4 (Tour Week): The counselors are too overbearing and treat us like kids. They constantly blow their whistles at us while we cross the road and make us line up in 2 lines as if we are elementary school kids. The counselors are also very uninformed about the schedule or what we are doing; they failed to answer our questions about the day's activities and details about the places we were going. The methods they use are impractical for such a large group. Making 399 kids wait to eat a meal just because 1 person is late is not a good way to teach us about "family" and "teamwork". They also don't let us sleep on the bus!!!!
The tour itself though has obviously been planned with good intentions however the attractions and locations they take us to are boring, too small for our large group, or too hot. It is not planned well; we only get an hour or two at the most and we never followed the schedule we were given. The counselors wouldn't even tell us where we are going until an hour before or sometimes just as it is about to happen. We would get on the bus every day confused and blinded as to what we were about to do that day. The places we went were clearly picked to help us overseas students better understand Taiwan. Although this was nice, it seems that it was not remembered that we are teenagers and we like to be active (not go to museums) and we'd like to actually enjoy the place we were at. Also, it would be smart not to put the outdoors location we were going in the middle of the day. We were originally going to visit the famous Yehliu but instead 大姐changed the schedule once again and took us to see a movie about the problems of Taiwan. This tour is designed for us to see the wonders of Taiwan, NOT LEARN ABOUT HOW BAD IT IS! I understand that they just want us to be educated abuout Taiwan’s problems because we are the future and can help solve them however it was not the time and place for this experience. We watched the movie early in the morning and everyone just fell asleep and took a nap…INCLUDING THE COUNSELORS! The southern tour and central tour were on very different schedules. The southern tour got to go to so many more different places than central. The central tour only got to stay in the center of Taiwan for a few days before coming back to Taipei. It was a poorly scheduled tour if the intention was to “show us Taiwan”. The living accommodations were either amazing or awful, and there was NO WIFI. We were told that the last week was amazing and that it would make the experience worth it but the high expectations we had were crushed. We did not get to see the beauty of Taiwan.
The closing ceremony was nice but like the opening ceremony, WAY TOO LONG! You DO NOT need to name every single individual person’s name. It was a waste of time.
The counselors always said that they answered to “大姐” and that she was responsible for the entire program and she was the reason why we did not know where we were going. She was the person in charge but we NEVER knew who she was if we even wanted to talk to her. She was never accessible to the students and it was as if she was just a “figure head” that controlled everything but didn’t care about the students.
Overall: The teaching techniques and the way the counselors were trained to treat us students was horrible. We are teenagers and young adults and many of us were older than the counselors yet they treated us like children.
I appreciate that you tried to split us up based on age and where we live, but it would have been nice if you did not do that. I did like that everyone in my group was the same age, however it would have been awesome to meet people who lived in other states and countries.
I know my reflection may seem like a giant rant but I just wanted to be specific and to notify you of my take of the experience. I promise you that I am not the only one who thinks this way. My entire group and the friends I made at the program agree with what I have written above. I am so so thankful for this experience though, the time I got to spend with the kids in Taiwan and learning about what school is like there was amazing. I'm so glad that I got to go on this trip and I really hope that AID will be able to continue for years more. I just want this program to be improved for future students to enjoy because it was truly an experience that I will remember for the rest of my life.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wang, Albert (王恩柏)
Wow, a whole month already flew by. This was a very interesting experience, so let's see what I got to say.
For the training week, it was cool to meet new people (and even some familiar ones too), so that was nice. For the training themselves, they were pretty...monotonous. I realized that everything we did was in a very repetitive atmosphere, kind of like high school. What I mean is, there are a lot of "team-building" exercises and presentations. I really didn't know what most of the training was for, a lot of the slides were just suggestive teaching ideas. Most of them which never really came to mind when we did the actual teaching, nor did we use the posters made during the training (since we used power points). And we did just fine.
The uniforms were also unnecessary since we hardly went out nor did we have anyone in particular to give a good impression towards during the week.
For the teaching weeks, I have to say our group was one of the luckiest. We barely dodged a typhoon, a train accident, and having a team member in the hospital. We also happened to be placed in the top tourist city in Taiwan. Also, from what I heard from the other groups, we had one of the nicest set of kids to teach to COMPARED TO THE OTHER VOLUNTEER TEACHERS IN THE PROGRAM. The kids of the other cities, as it turns out, were highly disrespectful to the other volunteer teachers in said other cities. It seems that even though our kids weren't the most attentive, they were well behaved and got along with my team pretty well. When we were teaching, no one was complaining, they liked what we did, and were generally nice. Of course, I could name a few things they weren't so nice about, but that's not important.
What I wonder the most is why the behavior of the children was left out?
The thing is, it's so hard to teach kids who cannot understand you. Our Chinese is very limited compared to the staff, so communication was a large problem with the program and to the kids, especially since there are people WHO HAVE LITTLE TO NO EXPERIENCE WITH CHINESE AT ALL. However, in our teaching we used that to our advantage. One of our team members knew very little chinese, not enough to get around. So, we had the kids teach him some chinese words the way we taught them english words. So that was fun.
But for the other groups, I can't tell how they managed to work for the two weeks. Because of communication issues and unsettling kids, it's really hard to set a decent relationship with them. When we left the kids, no emotion. Not from us and not so much from the kids. Just some courtesy hugs and goodbyes. Maybe a kid or two teared up a little, but that about as much we can get. I believe in the video where the kids were crying was from only ONE school.
I also believe that we were supposed to get reimbursed for the meals we paid for, but we never did. I thought the meals were provided by the program?
Finally for the tour week, it was nice. It was a good time to relax and hang out with my new friends. The only thing was I've been to most of these places before (but that's because I attended CYC 3 years ago).
To summarize, this program was a little stressful. The one thing I appreciated the most in the month of AIDS was being able to bond with my new friends. Everything we did or feel about was just about the same with all of us. I loved hanging out with these guys and for most of the program that's what kept me going. The training was tediously long and the teaching was repetitive (but that's just work in general).
But you know, I'm actually alright with most of what happened during the program because the experience is all that matters. Something about "don't cry because it's over, be happy because it happened" and stuff. I got to make new friends, see new places, muster through issues and stressful events, and I guess have my moments of fun.
Will I do this again?
no.
Because I never read the same good book twice.
...
...
...
Oh, the picture? I won enough Pikachus to give one each to my teammates. Each one represents us and our friendship. Our experiences and memories shall forever be stored inside the one we own.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chen, Lihan (陳麗安)
My experience with AID has been a positive one. I had the opportunity to meet many amazing people in AID, whether it be the counselors that have taken care of us day to day, the teachers that took care of us and did all they could for us during teaching, and most of all my group members in C2-3. We all take care of one another and got close in a short amount of time. Each person was amazing and has motivated me to improve myself because each person is very dedicated to their passions whether that be travelling, hiking, music, composing or anything else. Additionally, I was able to receive a lot of love from my students. Despite my class being the craziest and loudest class, they were very happy for us to teach them, often came with little gifts, and gave us notes at the end telling us they would miss us. Coming away from this experience, I think I am a lot more motivated and refreshed to continue the year. The camp has me excited to meet new people and get to know their passions in the coming year. I hope to keep in contact with all the people I came to know at AID and continue our friendships into the future.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Poe, Alan (蒲奕丞)
I had a great time on this trip. Though the beginning training week was too long and boring, the rest of it was pretty fun. I learned during my teaching period how to improv and think quickly on my feet. Though we planned and prepared a lot each night, we still had to be able to adapt to each day and suit the plan to each day that would be best for the class. I thoroughly had a blast working with all the kids, even when they were naughty. I am elated to know that I was able to make a difference in their learning experiences. Additionally, I thought that the staff at my school, NanZi, was very professional and took excellent care of us. They were always there to make sure we had what we needed and responded well to the feedback we gave them. I think that most of the counselors are very nice and approachable, but there are still many counselors who were unprofessional, incompetent, rude, and condescending. Despite this, the tour period was still very enjoyable simply due to the other volunteers with whom I have become very close friends with. I feel that this trip is made complete by these new friends I made that I plan to keep for a lifetime!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lao, Michelle (劉婉姿)
At first, I was very hesitant about participating in AID. I hadn’t used Mandarin in over five years and never traveled to Taiwan before, let alone been on an airplane! However, I don’t regret my decision at all. Despite the grease-filled meals, long dull lectures, and tiring teaching days, my experiences made throughout this program were unexpecting, yet enjoyable and meaningful. I met an overwhelmingly number of people who had similar goals of wanting to share America’s culture and a strong desire to indulge in a variety of ethnic dishes at the local night markets. I am so grateful to have made such unforgettable memories and so many new friends from AID!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pen, Andrew (彭家恩)
Overall my teaching experience in Taiwan was phenomenal. The school that I taught at (He-Ping) Elementary was well staffed and very welcoming to us volunteers. The organization was well prepared yet very flexible to the teaching style of us teachers. There were occasionally issues with the students misbehaving but other than that they were very obedient and eager to learn. I felt that individually, I struggled with teaching the students because my Chinese wasn't that good so I couldn't efficiently help students understand key vocabulary words. However, the lack in proficiency was made up for by my teaching partner who helped me translate words. I felt that I bonded with several of the students over the course of the the 2 weeks and know that I will forever cherish this experience. I was very disappointed with the tour. The tour, as well as training week at chientan have too strict of rules. We shouldn't be constantly herded around like sheep and not allowed to eat until everyone arrives. The lack of freedom kills the enjoyment of the tour and makes it seem like a chore. I also think the fact that a talent show is necessary for all volunteers to participate in is ridiculous, stupid, unnecessary, and should be revised. I'm not against the idea of a talent show, but I don't think it should be forced upon everyone. Us volunteers just want to relax, not be stressed out over what to perform. The talent show should just be open to whoever wants to perform.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yang, Shan-tang (Tony) (楊善堂)
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. This camp was quite unfulfilling but still an experience that I enjoyed. I didn't expect much to begin with since I was only going to be teaching for two weeks. And the process of teaching them for such a short makes me question my purpose in coming here, especially since the time at Chientan and the subsequent tour disappointed me heavily. Most of the time was spent on the tour buses and hotel rooms without wifi. The only thing that made me miss AID was the people that I met. As cliche as it sounds, the statement about the journey being more important than the destination holds true in this case, because we definitely did not go to a lot of fun places. Only the connections made between your students and other volunteers make this camp worth my time. I really will miss the month that I stayed under AID, despite how horrible the overall experience was. Nonetheless, we all need a respite from our monotonous and constricted lives. I for one was heavily disappointed when I found out that I had been assigned to a suburban area in Banqiao. Despite the ineptitude of the AID program to teach us effectively for the first week or give us more than enough time to shop on the tour, the 2 weeks of teaching and forming friendships with the students will forever be ingrained in my memories. I just regret that I could not have made a bigger impact on these kids' lives.
If I had the opportunity to come back again, even with all of my expenses paid for, I would not hesitate for a second to say reject the offer. But I would still encourage others to come and introduce them to AID just for the sake of the experience.
lololololol.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chang, Jason (張靖宣)
Jason Chang
7/28/16
After completing the teaching portion of the volunteer program, I feel like I have learned how fortunate I really am to be able to come back to Taiwan and teach these kids. Seeing how eager they were to learn helped me realize all the opportunities I had at home that I didn’t really appreciate. Saying goodbye to them was especially hard, in part because I was seeing them go as my students, but mostly because I was leaving my friends. Although there were times when I had to be strict, every day was an absolute pleasure to teach and learn with them. I taught them English, but they taught me what it meant to be a teacher. The effort we put into the lesson plans, games, and activities we made every day showed me how much my teachers back at home care about us. My best memories of my students came during the closing ceremony. Before the ceremony had even finished, one of my most reluctant students started to bawl his eyes out. Knowing how much he missed us makes me miss them more, too. I’ll never forget each of the 22 students I taught, and I know they will never forget me.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wu, Tiffany (吳思维)
In the beginning, I was really excited and nervous about teaching the kids in English. I have taught others English before, but not to the scale of going overseas and doing it . This included of meeting my group of eight volunteers coming together to teach English at a selected school. I have the personality of being really patient, hardworking, organized and kind towards other. However, my personality was being tested in the two weeks of teaching. At first, when I meet the kids, I was feeling shy and enthusiastic about teaching them. Then after the first day passed, I realized that it was going to be a long first week because of how the kids were hyper and distracted easily by playing around with the teachers. Also, I had a partner that would help teach the kids in our grade, which was second grade.
During the teaching, I experienced many different situation that dealt with disciplining the kids. I would be stressed out at times because I would have to punish them for not listening to instructions and not following the rules. Sometimes there would be a situation that would be uncontrollably and I would call the discipline teacher to help us control the kids. We would have to make the kids put their hands on their head and stay quiet for a long time. However, there were some good times too because of how we would teach the lesson in a creative way and make interesting game to let the kids be interested in the class with us. As time went on, the kids started to enjoy the lessons that we made for them.
At the end of my teaching, I learned that there are times where you might me stressed out about how to deal with a situation that might take a long time to correct. However, as time goes on, all your hard work that you have done well play off. I remember the time where we had our closing ceremony and every volunteer was starting to cry. Our student were also crying with us as we started to say our goodbye. Also, you will miss your kids even though they can cause trouble.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yen, Jessica (顔穎祺)
Teaching at AID taught me how to be patient with students that struggle with something that is easy for me. For example, when students were struggling with simple English words even though I had just taught them the words, it could be frustrating to know that my teaching methods were not working. AID also taught me endurance. Teaching in a room without air conditioning for two weeks was a very humbling experience and definitely raised my tolerance for the heat.my favorite part of AID was interacting with the students and learning about their lives. It was very interesting to get to see the difference between loving in Taiwan and living in America. I feel like I have definitely grown from this experience because I know how to better interact with kids and know how to keep them interested. I have also learned how to improvise because sometimes I would have to alter my lesson plan during class. Overall, I am very happy with my AID experience. I learned a lot of new things and saw a ton of new and exciting places during he tour week and made tons of new friends! Doing this program really increased my appreciation for teachers and Taiwan.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Loh, Harrison (陸孝德)
Aid was a interesting trip and had both ups and downs for the month. The first week of training to me at least was not very helpful as I had already understood most of the concepts of what was being taught. However it may be important for others who do not know or have not taught before. I think there should be a way to teach people who already have some teaching experience something new. For the two weeks that we taught at the elementary schools was really nice. It was a new experience that no one had every done before. The children were noisy and loud or quiet, but each had their own personalities and made the class different. I was not impressed by the knowledge of the program the counselors had as they seemed to be told some information and was unable to inform us about certain topics. For the tour week, I believe that we were extremely restricted. The counselors did not need to guide us on every road and path. They also had us meet at odd and illogical locations where it wasted time for us to look at store or the market. Generally speaking, meeting on the bus is a good policy instead of deep in the middle of the market where we have to march in 2 line. Please be aware that we are all at least 17 years of age and most of us understand not to be stupid idiots.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fang, Elena (方禹華)
I came into this program not really knowing too much about it; I wasn't anticipating or dreading it, but honestly just took it as an opportunity to experience something new. The first week at chien tan was one of the most stressful things I had ever encountered because of how disorganized a lot of it was. I distinctly remember sitting through hours of unnecessary lessons and making working journals that we ended up trashing anyway. I also remember being super anxious to start teaching because I had no idea on what to expect, especially because I had no idea what skill level the students we had were at. Immediately after my group and I made it to our little school in Taitung, teaching proved to be an extremely difficult task. Because our teacher didn't allow us to speak Chinese while teaching, our kids had an extremely difficult time understanding what we were saying -- especially when we were trying to explain game rules. However, as our teaching days went on, we learned both to how to communicate with our students and how to understand what they were trying to say to us. The preparation time to create new lesson plans and fill out or working journal decreased throughout the days as we gained new perspective in what the kids liked and were able to do. During the first few nights, we were up until past midnight, but by the end of our teaching week, we were finished before 8. The pressure our principal put on us to create results created a considerable amount of stress, but watching the kids finally understand things and knowing that I could have potentially made a difference was extremely rewarding. Although the program, for me, was considerably tiring and stressful, the experience, new perspective, as well as the new friendships I made were what made AID special and completely worth it.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yee, Serena (易韶人)
AID was an experience that I will never forget. Everybody involved with this program has impacted my life in and infinitely positive way. Teaching kids taught me life lessons that I could not have learned in any other setting. I learned how to think outside of the box to accommodate to all learning styles and how to be patient and understanding. This experience opened my eyes to a very different culture than I am used to and I am so grateful for that! This group of kids are so cute and smart and have made a huge impact on my life! It was so much fun to work together with my peers in order to achieve something greater than we could have ever done by ourselves. Every night and all of teaching week we cohesively worked to think of educational yet exciting activities that the kids could play while learning English simultaneously. One situation we were put in was that there were a couple of kids in our class that were rowdy. We combated this by understanding that they simply wanted more attention and putting them in the front of the classroom solved our problem! Overall I am so glad that there is program like AID available because it is absolutely phenomenal.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wu, Maureen (武遠欣)
The 4 weeks spent in Taiwan this summer with the AID Volunteer Program has been an eye-opening experience. Being the child of immigrant parents from Taiwan, Taiwanese culture is something that has always been apart of me. However, this culture is not something that I have always embraced and had an interest in learning about. In recent years I have been gaining an interest in learning about the people I am from and thus lead me to come to Taiwan for the first time. From the moment I stepped off the plane it became a culture shock for myself and there were definitely some cultural norms that I had to adjust to. But, like many things, it just took some time to adjust. Being able to fully immerse myself into the culture has been a great way for me to improve my Chinese. Coming here my Chinese was definitely below average, but after having to communicate with kids and counselors in another language, I can confidently say that I have improved. Being able to go to the more rural parts of Taiwan to teach these kids English has not only been an amazing way to bond with my teaching group, but has opened up my eyes to those who are not as privileged as myself. I think that often times people can get stuck living in their own “bubble” and forget to look outwards at those who are less fortunate. There was not only a cultural but socioeconomic difference that I saw when I taught these kids and it has been a very humbling experience. But I think what I enjoyed most about being a part of this program is getting to know the 7 other students in my group. Where I am from, there is a lack of Taiwanese Americans and being able to bond with these students has given me another outlet to connect with Taiwanese culture. I am sure that the 7 others in my group are individuals that I will continue to form relationships with and look forward to what the future has in store.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fan, Alexander (樊奕宏)
When I first arrived at the AID center in Jiantan, Taiwan, I was completely underwhelmed by the restrictive and structured environment of the program. Volunteers were only allowed to explore the inside of the AID campus. Despite the multitude of people in the program, I still struggled to form any strong relationships. By the end of the first week, I found the other volunteers’ analogy of the campus to a prison well-validated and had little hope for the rest of the program to be any better. However, this flawed notion was quickly destroyed by the new relationships and teaching experiences that followed after the first week of the program.
During the first week at Jiantan, I had trouble building relationships. Any social thread I attempted to pick up seemingly wilted in my grasp. The words I had to offer to the verbal pool of conversation were quickly steamrolled over or else lost under the voices of others. Even within my own group it was a struggle to hold a casual chat with any of them because we hadn’t done enough together for us to talk about. However, all of that changed when once the teaching portion of the program began. Starting then, we worked together, lived together, and exploring the sights Matsu (the island we were based on) together. My team and I went from minding our own affairs and occasionally exchanging words to cooperatively completing lesson plans, chatting and making jokes with each other, and having fun together. All of us became closer than we had ever been before, and I now have seven great new friends thanks to those weeks of AID.
Another splendid part of the AID program was the teaching itself. When I began my first day as a teacher, the greatest impressions about the school left on me were from the students. Mischievous, smart, and enthusiastic, they were as capable of looking for loopholes in class rules and socializing as they were comprehending the English my peers and I were teaching them in class. The energy they exuded was infectious and it motivated me to put forth my best in teaching them as well. Of course, the simultaneous experience of managing the classroom and teaching students was always the most tiring and infuriating part of every school day. Yet it was always worth the tumultuous effort because of the successes that were achieved, whether in the form of children successfully writing sentences with newly learned vocabulary or slowly but correctly reading out phrases, or striking up a conversation with their teachers (including me).
Through AID, I have made friendships and bonds with people of many backgrounds that would have never existed without this program. I received the exhaustively rejuvenating experience of working with wonderful children and giving them tools for their future by teaching English to them. Though the program may initially seem like a disappointment, it is anything but; for me, it is one of the most memorable events of my life and I would recommend it to anyone who wants a great experience.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|