New Semester

Ahhh....back to school. The new semester started on the first, but I haven't had the time sit down and write a blog. "Why?" You may ask. Well, the reason is that for the first four weeks or so of every semester, teachers at the school I teach at are busy making sure everything looks perfect to the supervisors who pretend to know more than you do about your subject area(s). If you are going to teach at a University in China, this is something you need to understand. Teachers are required to submit not only our semester course outline, but also all of our lesson plans for the first four weeks (in the case of my school) by the end of week one. I don't know about the rest of you teachers out there, but I usually tailor my lesson plans on a weekly basis based on how each class performs the week before.

This seems logical to me, especially since I teach four classes whose ability levels vary widely. Renji 1 and School of Foreign Language Studies Class 1 for example are at roughly the same level and any one of those sophomores could pass the TOEFL exam and study abroad; it's not them I worry about. Renji 2 however is a class that constantly surprises me in their ability to forget everything. Renji 3--the supposed lowest rank of classes--usually scores higher on their listening exams than Renji 2, but they have difficulty grasping simple concepts in Speaking. I typically find myself changing the lesson plans for Renji 2 in both listening and speaking because they require much more review than the other classes. I do the same for Renji 3 in the speaking class, but for them it is more basic and involves aspects from classes such as grammar, writing, and reading.

On the other hand, Renji 1 and Class 1 are so far ahead that even if I were to make a lesson plan that fell in the middle of the abilities of the four classes, it would be far too simple for Renji 1 and Class 1 and would in all likelihood be far too rigorous for Renji 2 or Renji 3 (although Renji 3 could probably handle the listening class). Yet we are allowed only two lesson plans per week (one for listening and one for speaking in my case) and if we don't stick to it, we receive "visits" from the administration to our classes. This is the dilemma we university teachers find ourselves in at the outset of every semester. The only good news is that they lose interest in us after the first four weeks, so for the rest of the semester we are generally free to do what is needed. I just really wish I could have those first four weeks to actually teach what the students need and not what the administration wants.