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Pao, Victoria (保妙萱)
I entered this program with the mind set that I would teach Taiwanese students English. However, even though I provided a different experience for them,the students also opened my eyes to a whole other world of the aboriginal culture. While we were the teachers during the week, the students became leaders and introduced us to different aboriginal history and culture. During the first day, most of the kids were diffident and unwilling to speak a foreign language in front of the class. With this obstacle, my partner and I used solutions such as games and outdoor activities to encourage the kids to feel comfortable talking in English. Many of the students only retain half of the information from the day before. As a solution, we would always play a review game to stimulate their memory. In addition, most of the time, the same students would answer the questions, making it difficult to provide accurate information on previous knowledge of the students. To solve this impediment, we would play games where all the students would need to know some English words. This allows all of the students to speak in English. Throughout the two weeks of teaching, even though the time passes by quickly, I have gained many priceless experiences that I couldn't experience otherwise.
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Chan, Andressa (陳曉蓓)
AID Summer Camp this July has truly been one of the best experiences I have partaken in. I admit, the first week at 劍潭 was quite boring and intimidating due to the continuous stream of lectures and the point deducting system, but once we got to our respective schools, the environment was much more relaxed and fun. When I first got to my elementary school, I was nervous about teaching and, of course, the kids. On the first day, everyone was shy and lunch time was dead silent, but day by day, we got closer to the kids and I started to enjoy teaching the kids more and more. Throughout the program, the kids were all so sweet, eager to learn, and obedient. They even played basketball with us after school and peeped through the window of our dorm to say hi! Speaking of dorms, the school’s dorm was definitely a new living experience and opened my eyes to the living conditions in remote areas. We survived ant infestations, gigantic spiders, cockroaches, and showering in a tub with no shower curtain, but these all made for better memories, and my A2-8 group quickly bonded over these experiences to become a family. The teachers, soldier at our school, and school administrators were also very nice to us and brought us to night markets, famous places in the area, and always made sure we ate authentic Taiwanese food. The two weeks flew by way faster than I anticipated, and when it was time to go back, leaving the kids was one of the hardest things to do. Tour week was fun, and everyone had the opportunity to learn more about Taiwan’s culture as well as eat delicious food! Though some of the museums weren’t very interesting, it was made up for by the amusement park and various street markets. Inevitably, AID came to an end and everyone was sad. I’m thankful to have had the opportunity to participate in this summer camp because it really has given me the best summer yet. It has made me realize how difficult yet rewarding teaching can be, and I also made friendships and memories that I know will last a lifetime. Thank you AID, my teacher Mandy, and everyone who I met during this incredible journey. Also, s/o to A2-8 for being the best group anyone could ask for!! Love you all <3
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Sun, Emily ( 孫艾玟)
AID Summer 2016 was the most amazing summer of my life. It was so much fun meeting so many other people from all around the U.S. and beyond, and spending 1 month together really brought us all together and made us really feel like a family. My teaching group bonded so much during the 2 weeks that we were teaching, and living together was a lot of fun. Aside from just working on teaching plans together, we killed bugs together, cooked together, and played a lot of games together. It was so much fun teaching the kids, and they were so sweet to all of us. I'll never forget the last day when they showed us a farewell video that they made for us, and filled up a blackboard with all of their goodbye messages. I cried when I saw them. It made me feel so happy when I read one of their messages that told us that they finally came to love learning English. It's really cute how all of the kids message us still and talk to us asking us how we are doing. I miss them a lot, and it makes me sad to think that this program is at an end. During the tour, we got to experience so many different parts of Taiwan, and I'm really grateful to everyone who made this experience possible, especially the counselors and all of the coordinators.
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Tran, MaryAnne (陳佳好)
A month before I boarded the first of many flights to Taiwan, I thought of the place as just a mere island that my parents talked about, a memento from when they visited there what felt like ions ago. Only three weeks after the program, Taiwan is a meaningful site I always praise about. And why shouldn't I? I have been to eleven different countries now but Taiwan is the one that perhaps impacted me the most.
When I was teaching, I had been able to strengthen my leadership skills already in place from camp counselor jobs and volunteer organizations. However, I also learned many things from my students, like patience, context, and fluency. Sure it was hard to reach out to the students at first, but with a bit of time, I will forever be grateful for those lessons and the opportunity given to know my students.
Traveling was a mixture of what I know and first times. So much of the culture took things I have done back home and added depth and density to them, creating everlasting impressions that gifted me with bigger meanings to previously small things. Not to mention the landscape was a perfect blend of nature and urban that cannot be found anywhere else!
However, what I found to be the most important was the people I was with on the trip. When I met each and everyone of them for the first time, I felt a tiny sense of family. Family that I may not be biologically related to, but family that I will always hold close. Forever I will remember the jokes, songs, laughs, tears, and love I got to witness with my family, wo de jia ren.
The things I experienced as both a teacher and a travel blogger are things worth remembering. Post-trip, not a day goes by where I do not remember at least one thing I did, whether it be running through the typhoon-induced rain at the Shihlin Night Market, watching my students play with their yo-yos or clap to We Will Rock You for our music unit, passing by beautiful scenery on long bus rides, learning the routine for the talent show, or, more importantly, bonding with my teaching groupmates. These are p
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Sheneman, Jared (潘哲偉)
This was an amazing experience. I met a lot of chill volunteers and counselors. i made a lot of new friend and had a lot more fun than i expected. The kids were cute and nice and all the staff at chao yang elementary were patient and helpful. I hate how the time is limited when we go out to night markets...etc. but overall this has been really fun. i will really miss all the counselors that made this program run so smoothly. i will also miss all the new friends that i got to meet because of this program. I have learned so much from this program from how to teach kids (specifically new skills teaching English), improvising while teaching to make the most of our time there, and just being comfortable meeting and socializing with new people from different backgrounds.
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Chiang, Max (江家豪)
Coming into AID, I felt kind of nervous. I didn't know anybody or anything, so I hoped for the best. Coming out of the program, however, have I realized that AID has truly changed me as a person. The values I've learned and the friends I made will last a lifetime. My first week at Jientan could be described as exciting or unamusing, considering the 3-hour long lecture classes or those fun times with my friends. At Jientan, I made lots of new friends and talked to many cool counselors. This made the training week more exciting than having to sit and listen to a long lecture. Adapting to life at Jientan took me a while, but soon it was time to departure for our host school. My group, A2-8, was assigned to Chao-Yang Elementary School in Changhua. It was there where I became really close to my other group members. Everybody came out, and it made the two week span extremely enjoyable. While teaching the kids, I noticed how attentive and lovable they were. Our students shared a special bond with us, the teachers, and that made it impossible for us to leave Chao-Yang, breaking the close bond. They came and visited us every night to play basketball with us or just hang out, and the day we left everything changed. In my heart, that was the hardest goodbye I've ever said in my entire life. However, our depressed state quickly faded away as it was time for the Southern Tour. During that one-week span, I had the most fun in my life, reunionizing with my fellow AID friends, and exploring Taiwan with my best friends. AID has taught me valuable lessons, given me the chance to open up and be myself, allowed me to make life-long friends, placed me in the best group ever, given me the most fun I've ever had, and made me gain a new perspective of Taiwan. Thank you for the memories. :)
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Chen, Austin (陳威宇)
This whole AID Summer adventure started all the way back in February when I first applied. I heard about this program through some family friends that had done it before and it sounded very interesting. I was very eager to apply because it meant that if I got accepted, I could have a chance to come to Taiwan again. But not only would I be able to visit Taiwan, I would also have the honor of teaching English to disadvantaged Taiwanese children in rural areas.
When I did get accepted into the program later on, I was thrilled for what was to come. I realized I was going to become a teacher for the first time in my life. That brought nervousness and excitement at the same time. However, knowing that there would be at least a couple hundred other people in the same boat as me, it gave me a little more confidence. So when it was time for the program to begin, I was ready to embark on a month long journey to enrich my life and to hopefully meet more people with similar backgrounds as me.
But now, as the program nears its end, I start to feel very grateful and appreciative. I'm very blessed that I got the chance to go out into rural Taiwan to teach English, and to really see the world for what it is. Although the culture shock was as real as ever on the first day, the following weeks molded me into a better person. My experiences in the past 2 weeks really made me understand just how fortunate I am and that I should be more appreciative of the things that I have in life. The students were all so smart and so willing to learn English. That aspect made me so much more willing to be a dedicated volunteer throughout this program, and to make sure I was doing my job to the best of my ability. Giving back to these kids was the least I could do. The kids showed me that even in the most rural parts of Taiwan, they are still able to find joy in life and be happy in the most simplest of ways. I joined AID Summer to teach kids English, but in the end the kids taught me that true happiness is not bound by wealth or fortune.
AID Summer is definitely a very rare experience and not many people can say that they have experienced it. I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone willing to give up a month of their summer break, because the rewards are worth it. From making tons of new friends to changing the lives of Taiwanese students, the horizons of this program are boundless. The memories I have made these past few weeks will definitely stay with me for the rest of my life.
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Lu, Yi (呂佾)
AID gives me a lot happy memories and it gives me an opportunity to help. During the teaching weeks, I and my group put a lot of efforts into the lesson plans to make the class fun for kids. Sometimes they were hard to control and disobeyed the classroom rules, most of them were energetic and enthusiastic to learn English. The last period of the day was free time, most of the kids played soccer and badminton with me that made me getting know more about the kids even though we only teach for 2 weeks. The last day of the teaching is the most memorable day, and I already feel so close with the students. During the closing ceremony, kids were performing well and most of them actually said the phrases we’ve taught. I feel like I achieved my goal. I also received cards and key chains from those sweet little kids, I love them so much. For the last week of the program, there are many happy memories in central tour. Some of the tourist attractions are pretty good. Lastly, I want to thank to those pink shirts volunteer teachers, they are enthusiastic to help us and scheduled everything.
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Huang, Patrice (黃乃珮)
At first, I really dreaded participating in this program, and I actually had so many regrets. The first few days were really awkward, and I felt like I wasn’t close with my group at all. It was harder to get close because we all seemed really introverted and there were no guys in our group. I was also in a different room with a different group, while the rest of my group was in a room together. I wanted to cry the first two days, and I felt really homesick. I thought it would be really awkward going to school with my group too.
The first time I did a program like this was two years ago when I went to China and taught 3rd graders in a rural area. It was similar to this program, but I already knew everyone before going to the school, so I felt a lot more comfortable and I had more fun initially, so I had really high expectations going into this program, and I didn’t think anything could be better than my first experience. However, hanging out and living with my other 7 group members everyday helped me get even closer to them than I did in China with my friends, and I enjoyed teaching my children even more than I did in China. Since this program was 2 weeks long, I got closer to my students and was able to play with them more than I did in China, and during the closing ceremony, I cried so much even though I didn’t think I would, since I didn’t cry in China at all.
Overall, this program brought me one of the best experiences I’ve ever had, and helped me gain so many friendships. Many tears were shed during those four weeks, but those four weeks were also some of the happiest weeks I’ve ever had. It was like a small taste of college, which is really helpful for an incoming college freshman. I hope that other people will enjoy this program as much as I did. I also realized that being a teacher is a good job, and I might pursue teaching in the future. I am thankful for this experience, and I know that I’m not the only one who had such a good time.
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Hong, Sandra (洪研歆)
I am so grateful for the opportunity to teach at Shilin Elementary. None of this experience would have been possible if it weren’t for Michael, our teacher, and the wonderful seven other students I got to spend a month with.
Some of the challenges that were raised during teaching is that often the students do not understand most instructions in English. However, once you teach the students basic classroom instructions in English (e.g. stand up, sit down, raise your hand) and practice, this problem is easily solved. Another challenge is that there is a skill and knowledge difference between the students, and that made it difficult/impossible to teach them all without some being completely bored and ignoring the lesson. To solve this, we review all of the basic material - review for the more advanced students and possibly new knowledge for less advanced students. In addition, students are afraid often of speaking English, so we ask them to repeat after the teacher. By repeating, the students do not feel like they are being put on the spot.
Teaching at Shilin Elementary is an unforgettable experience. I have learned so much about the Taiwanese and Tayan culture. I hope I can come back and visit one day!
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Martin, Caleb (陳笠恩)
The past 4 weeks have been the best weeks of my life. There have been some ups and downs with the counselors and teaching but in the end it was all worth it. If I was given the chance to do it all again, without hesitation I would say yes. A frustrating part of teaching was the students. Their brains were not developed enough it to learn English it seemed. Then we found out we threw too many words at them (like 12) a day. So we dropped it to 6 and everything turned out good. Overall, I enjoyed it.
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Liu, Dennis (劉元康)
Going into this program, I was more scared than I was excited to be going to a new place by myself. My Chinese isn’t the best so communication was my biggest worry. Now that I look back at it, I am extremely happy that I got to experience Taiwan through this program. The first week of training was interesting on how they planned it. My best experience came during the entire two weeks we were at the schools teaching the students. Never had I experienced students so respectful and interested in learning another language than those students. They showed something students in America these days hardly show and it was great to experience than first hand. Teaching had challenged us to change and adapt which just made this experience a whole lot better. There isn’t many ways I can put how awesome the 2 weeks at Makuang were. The tour was fun because I got to see more of Taiwan. Overall, this program opened my eyes to a whole new world and experience. It has sparked my interest into learning more about the Taiwanese culture and to improve my Chinese. I most defiantly want to go back in the future because Taiwan is a pretty cool place to go.
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Liu, Jessica (劉潔心)
I still remember my first day at Chientan. There were so many people wearing different colored shirts and doing different things. I didn’t know what to expect this month. The training during the first week helped me understand the difference between American and Taiwanese elementary schools and why we should be excited to teach. To be honest, I was really nervous at first, but once I got to Xin Gang Elementary and Middle School, I was surprised by the dedication the school put into preparing us volunteers, both through our living or teaching needs, to teach English to their students. This made me more work harder to help made this camp fun for the kids.
Teaching at Xin Gang Elementary and Middle School in Miaoli, Tiawan is one of the most unique experiences I have had. Not only could I work with a great group of volunteers to teach young students with a large range of personalities and diligence, but I also found myself testing my limits of patience and stamina. It was new for me to show a positive/neutral and excited attitude whenever I could, but to be strict when students were being rowdy or if something wasn’t going as planned. Seeing these kids enjoy learning English made me realize why teaching is so satisfactory. Even though it may take a lot of work to prepare for the class, control and engage the students during the day, and reflecting at night, seeing the student’s smiling faces and that they like coming to class (whether for learning or socializing) is so fulfilling. Something new happens every day, may it be good or bad, but each is a memory that I won’t forget. I made many new friends through the AID Summer Program both at Xin Gang and within my group. I did not think I would long to go back to the school I taught until I started teaching. The administration and teachers at Xin Gang really made life of teaching in Taiwan go smoothly, always looking out for the volunteers and making sure we are getting the full experience.
Touring in Miaoli and visiting the rural parts of Taiwan was also an inspiring experience. Before AID, every time I came back to Taiwan, I always lived in Taipei and sometimes visited Tainan or Kaioshong. It was always the urban cities, which have their good and bad qualities, and never the rural parts. Exploring the rural places let me see a new side of Taiwan. I realized a large portion of the country is kept as what it was originally, making places like the mountains covered with forests and the large bodies of water aweful. Riding bikes, painting masks, touring museums, and dealing with the intense heat and annoying mosquitos were also some of the many adventures I went through this month.
Overall, I am so glad and thankful I joined AID Summer. It surpassed my expectations of nerve-wracking training and teaching and not getting to know many people, and has become one of the most satisfying, enjoyable, and long lasting memories I will have. I have learned to appreciate the dedication Taiwanese students in rural areas put into education and their kindness to foreigners like me. I have many many life long friends with the students and volunteers I encountered and I have been looking forward to return back to Taiwan ever since July 30, 2016.
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Chan, Melissa (陳曉嵐)
When I arrived at Lishin Junior High School, I had mixed feelings and wasn’t sure what to expect. I was excited to meet the students and help them learn English, but I was also worried that I wouldn’t be able to teach well. For strategic purposes, my group decided to tell the students that we didn’t know Chinese so that they would have to speak English with us. This decision proved to be a double edged sword because though it did encourage the students to speak with us in English, it also backfired on us because we couldn’t use Chinese to explain any of the vocabulary or respond to any of their questions in a way that they could understand. However, as the days went by, we started to bond with the kids and were able to communicate with each other using hand gestures, limited English, and, of course, google translate. The worry I had about not being able to teach diminished over time and teaching became a lot easier, but that’s not to say that the students were enthusiastic about our teaching material. Often times, I would see the bored and dull look in their eyes as we asked them to repeat words and sentences after us. At those moments, I was very grateful for our TA, Tiffany, who would lecture/scold the students for us. To be honest, I was more worried that the students weren’t really retaining the vocabulary we were teaching them, but when we reviewed for the post test, I was surprised at how much they remembered. That really made me feel a sense of accomplishment and I was so proud of them. It’s so bittersweet to have to say goodbye to the students and I’ll cherish all the memories we created in the two short weeks. I’ll miss them so much, but we exchanged social media (Facebook, Line, etc.), so I’m sure we will continue to stay in contact.
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Sun, Jeremy (孫振峯)
Looking back, one of the best moments in this entire experience also happened to be incredibly bittersweet for me. On the final day at Ruisui Junior High, we watched our students perform at the closing ceremony. It was happy, in that we were done teaching – no more lesson planning and paperwork to fill out. But I knew, that as our students were dancing and singing to High School Musical, that the closing ceremony was going to be the end. The last I would see the ten students of Class B. And that after all the students filtered out the front gates to the school and the volunteer teachers boarded the school bus to Hualien City, I would likely never see any of them again. Then, the volunteer teachers were called up and were presented with a gift: a small booklet filled with notes written by the students. “Thank you, 啾咪老師, for being a great teacher and coming to teach us English” was the common theme between all the notes. The students’ cute nickname for me put a smile to my face. I thought back to the time when Vivian had first started it all by mispronouncing my name, and the students’ laughter when they realized what the name meant. But I realized that too, after the closing ceremony, it would also be the last time I would hear the students call me 啾咪老師.
As these saddening thoughts passed through my head, I thought, and hoped, that the students would miss me just as much, after the two weeks that we had bonded. A quick glance showed I was completely wrong though – everyone seemed to be in good spirits; laughing, chatting and poking each other as if it were any other teaching day. And when the closing ceremony came to an end, and the students were allowed to say their final goodbyes, the students of Class B came rushing to me, full of smiles, and shouting 啾咪老師! And as they shared their Facebook and contact information with me, I came to realize that they would miss me, but stayed happy and cheerful on the final day in spite of it. Even as I sit here, reflecting on this teaching experience, I hope that even if only a single student gained just as much out of it as I did, then coming here was absolutely worth it and successful.
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Phan, Angeline (潘凱媛)
Coming into this program I had a very different vision of the difficulty and expectations that this experience had to offer. I thought that if I just followed directions that things would go by smoothly without a hitch. Nonetheless the stress and new environment from work and language barrier with the students caused me to work tremendously harder than I predicted myself to. The kids surprised me everyday and brought an energy to the classroom that powered me through the day but also exhausted me. This experience put me in the shoes of a real teacher and made me understand how difficult it is to accommodate to every type of student and level. My viewpoint of the world, children, teaching, teamwork, and Taiwanese hospitals has changed and I feel inspired to apply these new memories and experiences into my life as a way to grow. I am truly grateful to have met these kids and I really do wish to see them again in the future so I can reflect back to these precious moments.
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Liao, Tamara (廖睿文)
I had initially signed up for AID with the simple motive of divesting my knowledge and experiences to the rural children of Taiwan and as goes along with the motto of AID - Assisting Individuals with Disadvantages. Though I sincerely hope that my efforts spent teaching English to the students at Chaoyang Elementary School helped them to improve their English skills and to expand their perception of the world, I feel like I was the one who actually gained the most through this experience.
Prior to AID, I was not a very open person: I had difficulty opening up to new friends and performing in public. So with AID, being forced into so many new situations - meeting so many new friends and little kids, dancing (not my strongsuit) in front of a large number of people, teaching a class, and disciplining the students when necessary - has been absolutely terrifying but liberating in that I could feel myself grow and begin to open up.
Teaching the children has also been very rewarding. Seeing the kids learn and grow so much in the short span of two weeks was absolutely amazing, and though they were absolutely crazy at times, I came to love each and every one of them. Besides the kids, I have also been able to meet so many wonderful people, including my teachers, counselors, and teammates. I will miss these people very much and will never forget them, and hopefully they will never forget me too.
So thank you to the Overseas Community Affairs Council, Republic of China (Taiwan) (OCAC) Ministry of Education (MOE) for providing me with this opportunity and to all the people I have met on this trip for making my experience so unforgettable.
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Takemoto, Logan (蔡尚霖)
Coming back to Taiwan, I re experienced the cultural difference ingrained in going from one country to another, and the AID summer program bolstered this.
I met a lot of different people here, and that diversity was what really surprised me at first came. But soon after discovering that there was a different aspect in all of us, I also found that there were things strikingly similar between me and the people other I had just met. In that way, I was met with similarity, as well as an exposure to differences as well. Meeting new people and even better, friends was an amazing experience that I could keep for the rest of my life.
Teaching English in Beiye Elementary School in Pingtung helped me develop as a person as well. I developed my skills in planning and scheduling in a short time, as that was required to be able to teach students. I also learned how to better reflect and improve in over a short time and figure out my mistakes to improve the same day. Teaching English was something that I could gain alot of experience from.
AID Summer was an experience I will never forget. There were a lot of memories that I collected, and I also gained experience from it all, making decisions and planning.
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Davis, Beth (吳綺瑪)
Part 2 -- Reflection - Sandra Hong, Eajer Toh, Jocelyn Su, Brian Zhong, Jason Nan, Kristy Kao, Albert Yu, Beth Davis
1. You can synthesize the reflection of the whole team, or record individually.
2. List solutions coping with challenges. If you did not solve the problem, put a dash (--) after the serial numbers.
Day 1
Challenges
Solutions
Examples:
1. Students are afraid of speaking English.
2. Students can’t pronounce words/say sentences accurately
1-1 Ask them to repeat after the teacher.
1-2 Allow them to use gestures.
1.Students do not want to participate in the prepared activities, such as songs or games.
2.Students do not understand most instructions in English.
3.Students are too playful and hard to control, which resulted in wasted classroom time.
4.Students have a low retention rate for vocabulary and tend to focus on the game rather than learning vocab.
5.Students are very playful and keep climbing in and out of the windows.
6.Several students decided to try to first climb over and then jump off of the railings around the school building on both stories
7.Students are afraid of speaking English.
8.Students can’t pronounce words/say sentences accurately
1-1 Provide incentives, such as stamps and prizes, to encourage students to take part in the activities.
1-2 Teach students basic classroom instructions in English (e.g. stand up, sit down, raise your hand) and practice.
1-3 Deliver more complicated instructions in Chinese and mix in English instructions wherever possible)
1-4 Keep repeating the information that is taught so the kids can remember the information better.
1-5 Lock windows and discipline them
2-5 Spell out clear consequences for breaking the rules (e.g. a warning, removal of stickers, sent to office)
1-6 Most teachers actively chased and then pulled the students back over. Students received a lecture afterwards that seemed to have worked
1-7 Ask them to repeat after the teacher, answer in a group to reduce being put on the spot
1-8 When learning new vocab, repeat several times so students learn correct pronunciation and correct when they say it incorrectly/give them prompts and clues
Any Other Thoughts?
Day 2
Challenges
Solutions
1.While students can repeat the terms after the teacher, they cannot recall the term when prompted by the teacher.
2.Students are more respectful than the previous day but some still do not listen to the teachers all the time.
3.Students keep hitting each other.
4.Skill and knowledge difference between the students made it difficult/impossible to teach them all without some being completely bored and ignoring the lesson
5.Students would much rather go outside to play than learn, which makes teaching pointless because the material goes in one ear and out the other.
6.Several students have to leave after lunch for a soccer game and miss out on the last two periods of the day
7.Certain students refuse to work with or be near other students during games and activities
8.Students are afraid of speaking English.
9.Students can’t pronounce words/say sentences accurately
1-1 Constantly review the terms throughout the day and into the next day by playing games or singing songs.
1-2 --
1-3
1-4 Review all of the basic material - review for the more advanced students and possibly new knowledge for less advanced students
1-6 try to fit in more review the next morning and don’t teach too much new material after lunch
1-7 Teachers act as a mediator and stand in the middle of groups so the groups aren’t in direct contact, partially unsolved
1-8 Ask them to repeat after the teacher, answer in a group to reduce being put on the spot
1-9 When learning new vocab, repeat several times so students learn correct pronunciation and correct when they say it incorrectly/give them prompts and clues
Any Other Thoughts?
Challenges from the previous day generally occur the day after as well and must be resolved
Day 3
Challenges
Solutions
1.New students do not want to participate and negatively influenced the other students to become less enthusiastic about learning.
2.Students seem to listen to the regular teachers but not to the AID teachers.
3.Students are tired in the morning and lack motivation to participate in classroom activities.
4.Students are afraid of speaking English.
5.Students can’t pronounce words/say sentences accurately
1-1 Separate the students and discipline them separately.
2-1 Observe the regular teachers and use the tactics they use.
1-2 Observe the regular teachers and use the tactics they use.
1-3 Start the morning with a song/dance/game
1-4 Ask them to repeat after the teacher, answer in a group to reduce being put on the spot
1-5 When learning new vocab, repeat several times so students learn correct pronunciation and correct when they say it incorrectly/give them prompts and clues
Any Other Thoughts?
Challenges from the previous day generally occur in the day after as well and must be solved again
Day 4
Challenges
Solutions
1.Reduced time to teach because of the opening ceremony
2.Students don’t respond positively when the AID teachers assert aggression.
1-1 Teach material that the students had a solid connection to and that built off of previous lessons (not so unfamiliar)
2-1 Some students are just playful and don’t understand work time vs. play time. With the communication and cultural barriers,
Any Other Thoughts?
Challenges from the previous day generally occur in the day after as well and must be solved again
Day 5
Challenges
Solutions
Examples:
1. Students are afraid of speaking English.
2. Students can’t pronounce words/say sentences accurately
1-1 Ask them to repeat after the teacher.
1-2 Allow them to use gestures.
1.Aboriginal festival meant that extremely few students were in school. (Expected maximum of 1 student per class)
1-1 Merge classes and do simple activities to keep everyone engaged
Any Other Thoughts?
Challenges from the previous day generally occur in the day after as well and must be solved again
Day 6
Challenges
Solutions
Examples:
1. Students are afraid of speaking English.
2. Students can’t pronounce words/say sentences accurately
1-1 Ask them to repeat after the teacher.
1-2 Allow them to use gestures.
1.Having to get up two hours earlier than normal to prepare food exhausted several teachers
2.Students were more interested in eating food than the lesson
1-1 Take turns teaching with the teaching partner
1-2 Tie the lesson more closely into eating
Any Other Thoughts?
Challenges from the previous day generally occur in the day after as well and must be solved again
Day 7
Challenges
Solutions
Examples:
1. Students are afraid of speaking English.
2. Students can’t pronounce words/say sentences accurately
1-1 Ask them to repeat after the teacher.
1-2 Allow them to use gestures.
1. Students like to fight with each other instead of paying attention to the lesson.
2. The same students answer most of the questions.
3. Students are unwilling to move or participate until after 4th period
1-1 Give incentives such as stickers or candy to students who listen to directions instead of fighting.
1-2 One teacher can be responsible for teaching while the other teacher monitors the student's' behavior.
1-3 Send the students to the principal's office or make them participate by making them do every small part of the activity slowly as one teacher directs and the other continues teaching the rest of the class.
Any Other Thoughts?
Challenges from the previous day generally occur in the day after as well and must be solved again
Day 8
Challenges
Solutions
Examples:
1. Students are afraid of speaking English.
2. Students can’t pronounce words/say sentences accurately
1-1 Ask them to repeat after the teacher.
1-2 Allow them to use gestures.
1.Students refused to play/participate in the games/activities/lessons that the teacher planned.
2.Students show disrespect towards the teacher
3.Students kept hitting each other
4.Students refused to listen to the teacher
1-1 Do an activity that the students would definitely enjoy such as a song or a cartoon.
1-2 Ignore them and make them participate in the lesson - repeat parts several times iif necessary
1-3 Give verbal punishments for the behavior. Make it clear that you disapprove of what they are doing.
1-4 Make your disapproval clear and scold the kids, force them to participate with physical force, if necessary.
Any Other Thoughts?
Challenges from the previous day generally occur in the day after as well and must be solved again
Day 9
Challenges
Solutions
Examples:
1. Students are afraid of speaking English.
2. Students can’t pronounce words/say sentences accurately
1-1 Ask them to repeat after the teacher.
1-2 Allow them to use gestures.
1.Students refuse to practice the closing ceremony dances in the mornings or participate at all in the mornings
1-1 Make them participate via one on one walk-through or try to have them do an activity they’ll definitely enjoy to wake them up
Any Other Thoughts?
Challenges from the previous day generally occur in the day after as well and must be solved again
Day 10
Challenges
Solutions
Examples:
1. Students are afraid of speaking English.
2. Students can’t pronounce words/say sentences accurately
1-1 Ask them to repeat after the teacher.
1-2 Allow them to use gestures.
Any Other Thoughts?
Challenges from the previous day generally occur in the day after as well and must be solved again
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Hua, Henry (華乙澤)
AID was a very enriching experience. I got to meet and befriend a lot of fellow Taiwanese Americans who shared with me the passion to help out underprivileged children in Taiwan. I also got to teach English to elementary school students who I grew to adore. The first week was training week where all the volunteers trained together at Chientan. It was very tiring having to attend 6 hours of lecture every day and another 3 hours of designing lesson plan every night. Throughout completing the tiresome activities, enduring the universally-disliked Chientan food and playing mafia and resistance with other volunteers during the precious free time we get, I bonded with not just my teaching team but also other volunteers. At the closing ceremony for the first week, we were a little sad that we have to leave our friends who were assigned to another county to teach but also excited because we could finally put our teaching plans to work and actually do what we came to do. For the next two weeks in Miaoli, the county I taught in, it was a learning experience. At first, I struggled to keep the class under control as my initially lenient style clearly failed to make my students want to abide by the rules. I ended up having to yell and still barely get the class in control on my first day teaching. At the end of the first day, I had a scratchy voice at the end of the first day and decided that I’ve got to change my disciplining style. From the second day on, I was more authoritative in class. The strategy worked as I became a lot more efficient in getting and keeping the class in order. My teaching style emphasized learning through games because I want my students to associate learning English with fun and I believe people learn most efficiently when they like what they’re learning. My class spent about 3 quarters of the total class time throughout the two weeks playing games or doing activities and only 1 quarter of the total class time learning new terms and sentences. My students and I had a lot of fun playing those games. While I do not think that they learned a lot through this summer camp, I am sure they had a lot of fun playing those games that reinforced some English words and phrases. The two weeks teaching in Miaoli flew by and it was time to say goodbye. It was hard knowing that I won’t be able to have fun playing games with my students anymore. I’ve really enjoyed teaching them. Then came the tour where I got to meet up with the friends I made in the first week. It was fun visiting so many tourist destinations in Taiwan and hanging out with my friends. However, I felt the tour was rushed. We usually didn’t get ample time to fully experience each place we visited. I think it would’ve been more fun if we visited less places but spent more time at each place. For example, instead of spending only two and a half hours at Formosan Aboriginal Cultural Village and then rushing to the next destination which wasn’t half as fun, it would’ve been more fun if we spent a whole day there. Anyways, despite the shortcomings of the tour, I made a lot of great memories with my fellow volunteers who I miss a lot. AID experience was the highlight of my summer and I would love to relive every moment of it if I ever get the chance.
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