Rationale

        When I started this job I had no idea what to do.  I had never taught middle school before.  I had never taught in a Taiwanese public school.  I hadn’t even been to one of those orientation sessions up in Sanxia.  I went through the Taidong County Government, got hired, disappeared back to the States for a month, and then returned to work with both a bad case of jet lag and extreme anxiety.

        Sure, coworkers offered vague suggestions.  “Just let them play games,” said one person.  “Just make it fun,” said another.  It took time to find a structure that worked for me.  After a couple of disastrous lessons I started to figure out what did work by discovering, the hard way, what didn’t work.  I slowly became aware of the following points:

1.      Class should be fun, at least some of the time.

2.      Learning English can’t always be fun.  It’s also hard work.

3.      Being silly makes things easy.

4.      Coming into the job with realistic expectations helps a lot.

5.      Don’t do anything longer than 10 minutes unless it’s really working.

6.      Switching between different kinds of activities is very important, i.e. playing games, listening, speaking, writing, reading, dancing, singing, moving, etc.

7.      There are some things you will never be able to change about your job.  Focus on what you CAN change.

8.      It is best not to be oversensitive.  Many of the comments and questions you receive are not always meant the way they are interpreted.  This is as true of your coworkers as of your students.

The above points probably seem very obvious.  They are presented because they form the backbone of this unit, and they are also good to remember.

Beyond the above-mentioned points, our focus is… you guessed it… Basic English vocabulary and grammar.  Please also remember that “Basic” here means REALLY Basic.  If you expect your students to be able to write a 1000 word essay on Shakespearean drama by the end of the semester – YOU will be sorely disappointed!