Category: the classroom

Picnicking Chinese Style

Earlier this week, some students invited me to join their class picnic. While I did not teach them this semester, I had taught their class for two years, so knew the students quite well. In the midst of… Read More

The Fourth Annual Spelling Bee

For the past four years, the freshmen spoken English teachers have held a spelling bee for their students. The students compete in class, and then the top two spellers from each class advance to the big stage. I… Read More

Saying farewell to teaching…for now

This week is my last week of teaching lessons. Come noon on Thursday, I’ll be retiring my chalk. Come Thursday a week from now, post exams, I’ll also be retiring my red pen. I have truly loved most moments… Read More

Unpredictable comic relief

I teach three writing classes this semester, which translates into the weekly task of reading and responding to 75 journal entries. This being my sixth year teaching in China, the journal entries have become quite predictable. Give me any… Read More

Get your vote on {Flags}

Recently, my sophomore spoken English students were tasked with creating a new flag for China. We studied various flags of the world to learn about characteristics many flags share, and the students were then asked to create a… Read More

The good & terrible lion

This semester in the graduate reading and writing course I teach we’ve been studying The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. It has been a great joy to teach one of my all time favorite books, and to watch… Read More

From the news

Seniors at our university don’t attend classes. They pay the same tuition as their first three years of college, and even have a few final exams come the end of the semester, but no one is expected to go to… Read More

Welcome to the library

Around these parts the days are growing shorter and the to do lists are growing longer. We’ve now reached the point in the semester where we can count the classes remaining on one hand, and the point where… Read More

Sunday Snapshot: The Freshmen Halloween Party

This is the team’s second year in a row to throw a halloween party for the freshmen in one of the teaching buildings on campus. In the past, we’ve done Halloween open houses at our apartments. But we… Read More

The Five Stages of Grading

For all of you teachers out there, this is a must read. Just a little taste to get you to click on over… Everyone is familiar with Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and her stage model of coping with grief popularly known as the… Read More