the thin academic line

Tomorrow begins another week of teaching. Gone are the sleep ins only to be awoken by the prospect of MLB.tv. playoffs. While I enjoy teaching and trying to cram 1 minute and 20 seconds of oral english per student into the wide range of my 21 different classes, it just reminds me of the increasing challenges ahead facing a foreign teacher within a chinese education system. They say those that can't do, teach, but In my opinion those that can teach are doing the work that professionalism neglects. We have a larger audience with a variety of needs. The line between futility and progress is as thin as they come and self doubt is a constant reminded . Teach to a test, is what I'm told, but bring in American styles of education to improve the classroom in the same process. Sound like a paradox? well that's just the game we play. Progress isn't measured by leaps and bounds, it seems only to come to during those seldom moments of serendipity when something actually sticks.

Some class periods, you leave in a state of euphoria, feeling as though you had made a connection between your students. Other periods, you wonder if anything sunk it at all, and find solace in the after class 10 minute break where one or two students will come up to you and ask you less informal questions pertaining to the material. I like the challenge, and I like changing outlooks of students locked into "rote memorization" mentalities. Here, you take a chance and ask that your students will do the same. Some gravitate toward novelty, other's recede back into the shell of conformity. Each class period is a social experiment. Who will step up, and who will duck their heads into their desks?

This week is my big push for independent thought. I expect to see many students with "deer in the headlights" looks, but for those few that have become fed up with the "stand and deliver" mentalities of repetition, it could spell trouble or the beginning of something worthwhile. Because my time is limited with these kids, It makes more sense to take a crack as something new, than let the spiral of mediocrity continue its steady decline toward mundane expectations. The great experiment is on.