Model School

Posted on August 5, 2015October 15, 2020 by Matt Christensen

Our students were bright and had a wide range of English skills. They could read good. One had previously published an organic chemistry article in an American journal of science. Another was my 7 year old host brother. Many were post-graduate students and some were freshman in college. Most said that they lacked the confidence to speak English and were taking time out of their summer to improve it. It was model school.

Garett and I took turns teaching class every other day. We started our two weeks of Model School with 28 Chinese students. After a couple of days it was 23. By the end there were 14. Clearly our teaching was at the top of it’s game. All trainees are required to go through this feat of strength, and nearly every one experienced the same phenomenon. Many of us had never taught in front of a classroom before.

One time I was trying to explain Batman to my students. I gave the Christian Bale “I’M BATMAN” impression and even drew a chalk figure. When I asked if anybody knew who he was all I got was…

confused-couple-black-and-white-gettyp.600x400 — *WTF?!*

Immersion

I had dipped my toe into the cold-stare waters of cultural immersion. My brain, shocked and panic-stricken, grappled for understanding: Were they too shy to answer me? Who doesn’t know Batman?! A good teacher could right foot pivot this mis-explanation into a golden highway of learning. I found out that it’s hard to do that. So I moved on.

It’s not that my Chinese students wanted to learn about Batman anyway. Most were curious about me and about America. I told them about what it was like going to high school with 81 classmates and they gasped. Their middle and high schools had thousands of people, they said. I showed them pictures of my life back home. College, Colorado, Gracie…

They ate it up. If you’re ever in Model School for the Peace Corps take some time to let your students get to know you first. Pass around pictures. Let them ask questions. It makes everything else come easy. It makes them feel comfortable. They want to improve their English, but they want to get to know you, too.

The important thing to remember during Model School is that you are trying to help your students build up enough confidence to actually use English. They have all had English classes their entire lives full of dictation, writing and memorisation. I have no doubt that many of my students had a better grasp of English grammar than me.

So I did tongue twisters and pronunciation exercises. I had them have small group discussions about the imagery in Louis Armstrong’s song “What a Wonderful World”. I taught a lesson on active listening. It was a challenge, but it was fun!S

School is… Cool?

In the end I was lucky to have a hilarious co-teacher:

Great places to work on my lesson plans:

And a fun, engaged class:

*Can you guess which one is my host brother?*

Model School was a challenging, confidence-building exercise. I met many fun, adventurous young people who affirmed what I was doing every day. It made me feel that I definitely can teach English at a university here in China. I’m thankful for everyone involved and look forward to using the insights I gained in the classroom again soon!

Originally posted on an old blog.

My Peace Corps timeline of service.