Monday, October 24, 2011

Gong Kai Ke

Last week the English dept. at my school invited me to teach a "gong kai ke" or an open class. Basically, it's a class taught like any other of my English classes, but it's filmed on video and observed by any and all teachers interested in observing. This is generally followed by some feedback, which is culturally very different than our American "constructive criticism," but I was expecting the unexpected so did just fine.

My co-workers kept asking me "are you nervous?" And I wasn't really until they asked me. I guess its a much bigger deal and more pressure for them than for me. But then again, when you're a foreign teacher teacher a language that students barely understand (which is the only language I can communicate in with them), things are pretty much a high pressure situation every day.

I celebrated my successful class that evening by going to bed early. I'm just that awesome and that exhausted from the experience.
--
Byron Yee
TEFL English Teacher - Shenzhen, China

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