Lunchtime

Agnes enjoys lunch with one of the teachers attending our teacher training. Notice the umbrella? They are very common as this has been a very wet summer in Doumen. It has rained everyday. The team wishes we could send some of this rain home to Indiana.

Post by Charlie

Jumbo, Adam and I agree that Monday was the best start we've ever had to the second week of camp. That's the day that we added a whole lot of little bodies to our very sweaty and happy group. I traveled over to Yung Wing School yesterday (Tuesday) to see Donna, Ruth and Jenaya. It was good to catch up with them during their last week at Yung Wing. They will be going down to Macau this weekend and then coming up to Doumen on Monday. Yesterday, I had some business matters to discuss with the English Department officials at Yung Wing School. We had a candid conversation that will hopefully produce good results. This afternoon, Shoshannah, Jumbo and I will be going over to the Doumen Experimental Junior Middle School. Shoshannah will begin teaching Chinese this fall at Huntington North High School, and her students will have the very cool opportunity to connect electronically with students from the Experimental School. Jumbo helped Greg and me line up this partnership in January. So, today, Shoshannah will be introduced to English teachers and students from the Experimental School.

I am often amazed at the quality of folks that have come together to make this project a success. Everyone is doing a great job!

Luke

Student helpers are very important

Chinese college students are valuable assets in the English Camp. Right to left, Luke talks with Tom and Shower at lunch. These students are English majors and help with student activities in the English Camp. They are eager to help and learn from the American teachers.

Post by Charlie

Student activities

Greg with a group of primary students playing "Where's Waldo." Chinese students love learning English through games and activities. This group is no exception. Yesterday, we played Nerf Basketball. Sorry, no picture of that activity.

Post by Greg

In the market

Terry and Agnes successfully ordering a smoothie. The heat and humidity make such skills essential.

Post by Greg

The Doumen Camp newspaper

Middle school students put together a camp newspaper. Students interview American teachers for our paper and everyone in the camp will receive a copy on the last day.

Posted by Charlie

Lunch is a great time to practice English

Students talk with Terry during lunch. Although it is near 90, hot soup is always part of our meal. Today we had a surprise for lunch, chicken feet!

Post by Charlie

The academic team presents sample lessons for the Chinese teachers

Following a morning opening for teachers and students, members of our academic team present a sample lesson for the Chinese teachers. Here you see as Shoshannah begins her morning lesson.

Primary students start the day

Each day primary school students begin their day in homeroom. Anne leads an activity for students.

Opening for middle school

Each morning we start middle school activities with singing. Bridger leads the group in our morning song.

Post by Charlie

Alumni visit

It is great to visit with English Camp alumni. Mandy (left) and Cindy (right) attended the English Camp and now have moved on to high school. Mandy is attending the number high school one school in Doumen and Cindy attends the number one high school in Zhuhai. Both ladies worked on our camp newspaper and Cindy recently was a reporter for her school to a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) meeting in South China. It is good to see former English Camp reporters move on to bigger and better things.

Post by Charlie (middle)

Breakfast

Luke (Greg in the back) talk with students during breakfast. We all enjoy breakfast and lunch. These meals provide time for visiting with students and teachers.

Post by Charlie

Starting Week Two - The Children Invade!

I woke up this morning to the calm, cool sounds of my neighborhood.  Roosters were crowing (I live kind of on the edge of town and many people have gardens and keep chickens) and I could hear the sounds of a few neighbors starting to stir as they prepared to go to work.

 

But all of that is going to change in a little over an hour as THE KIDS COME!  As Luke mentioned yesterday, we had initially planned for a little under 100 primary and middle school students.  As of yesterday afternoon (Sunday for us), there were 128!  Various people with influence had heard about the camp (remember, it was on TV and in the paper!) and had called asking to get their children into the camp.  That means we go from about 13 students per group (in Middle School) to about 21.  It will be a zoo!  A squirmy, fun, smiley, loud zoo – but still a zoo.  The energy level will be high and it is going to be a lot of fun.  Personally, I’m not convinced that there won’t be a few more last minute additions – but we’ll see.  It will all work out.

 

So I’m going to read from my Book, commit the day to the father, and head out shortly.  All of us hope that you, too, will be remembering us as we start today.

 

Jeff Sherlock

Schedules for Camp are reviewed

Luke and Adam (one of the Chinese administrators) review our schedule for students.

Post by Charlie

English Camp Planning

Joy works on material for Monday's start of English Camp.

Week one done!

We have finished the first week of training.  It went very smoothly.  Everyone on the team is doing a great job.  Folks seem generally healthy except for a few minor digestive things generally associated with international travel. 

Since arriving, we found out that they had a difficult time controlling the number of kids enrolling in the camp beginning next week.  Lots of officials have asked for their children to have a place in the camp.  So, instead of the 96 students that we planned for, we will have 128!  A challenge, but not really a problem.  I appreciate everyone's positive and flexible spirit.

Some of the Chinese teachers seem very intimidated to teach in front of their colleagues and the American trainers.  By the end of the day yesterday, everyone seemed to be embracing the challenge, but there were a few stressful moments for folks along the way.

Bridger and Bronwen will join us in Doumen this evening.  Charlie is on his way and will arrive in Doumen at 11:00 AM on Sunday.  On Sunday afternoon, the whole Doumen team will meet at the training school to prepare the rooms for Weeks two and three.

Greg will be golfing this afternoon with Mr. Li, a very important official in the Doumen government.  We hope they will enjoy fruitful conversation about future expanded opportunities on the golf course.

Post from Luke.

What's wrong with me, Doctor

"Doctors" meet with "patients" to ask about "symptoms" and write notes and "treatments" on their "charts." Jana shows the teachers how to work with large classes. She can quickly get an idea of student's progress by looking at the charts.
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Publicity

As the camp has gotten under way, the news media has shown up. Early in the week, Luke was interviewed on TV. On Wednesday, the local paper came. Yesterday, a TV reporter attended our afternoon free talk.

In this picture, a group of teachers discusses moral lessons from the story, "Hans the Shepherd Boy.". The caption says something like, "American Professor comes to teach English."

(posted by Jeff Sherlock)
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How many students are in your class?

Many Chinese teachers teach classes that are unimaginably large by North American standards. In this picture, Jana Hoobler talks to two teachers. One teacher has about 70 students; the other has 64. Teacher's aides? Nope. This was Jana's introduction to her lesson, "Challenge #1: Managing a Large Class." a quotable Jana-ism from her lecture: "It's brutal out there."
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Ni Hao!

Hey there!

My time here so far has been wonderful! The host family they connected me with is awesome! They love to laugh! Sometimes we sit around the table at night laughing hysterically about four different things (because of the language barrier)! AND I LOVE IT! They are such good hostesses. They have helped me feel right at home.

The teachers camp has been going very well. We have "Free Talks" everyday so that the teachers have an opportunity to speak and practice their fluency. My group becomes more and more comfortable speaking in English.  In some ways, I feel honored that they feel safe around me and the rest of the group to step outside of what might feel comfortable to them. I thoroughly enjoy hearing about their lives and families.
 
(posted by Joy Hersey)

Using the textbook effectively

Like American teachers, Chinese teachers have proscribed textbooks - and very important tests for which they must prepare their students. Val talks about how to plan activities that help students manage their class time for effectiveness.

(posted by Jeff Sherlock)
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Family Coat of Arms

My family has...
My family is...
My family enjoys...
My family goes to...

Susie leads the teachers in an activity called "Family Coat of Arms." The activity helps students enhance learning through visual, aural and spatial involvement. That's what Susie said, at least.

(posted by Jeff Sherlock)
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Day 3 is about to begin

Day 2 of training (middle of the night for North American readers) went well.  The Chinese teachers overall are enthusiastically engaged in the training (though some say their ears hurt from listening to English all day).  The focus for Day One was “what makes a great teacher” and the focus for yesterday was “what makes a great lesson.”  The focus for today will be on “meeting students’ needs” – something that can be challenging with 30, 40 or even 50+ students in one classroom without benefit of teacher aides!

 

Yesterday, during our morning/early afternoon free talk time we talked about the story of a little girl who let others take a bigger loaf of bread – and later found that the man who supplied the bread rewarded her selflessness by putting six silver coins in the smallest loaf.  We had some interesting conversations about the first person sometimes becoming the last and vice versa.

 

In a later, optional free talk at the end of the day, we talked about an essay in which an American community college teacher stated that she was “tough, steely, and sometimes mean.”  That conversation went many directions, but we were able to discuss the concept that no matter how hard we drive ourselves, we sometimes fail and we need someone to forgive us and help us.  It was good.  One teacher told me afterwards that she enjoyed the afternoon free talk very much because she liked discussing the ideas.  We trust that the upcoming free talks will continue to lead toward even more important discussions.

 

In this picture, Nancy and a teacher from northern China relax and chat during a break.

 

Thanks for your continuing interest in our activities here.

 

(Posted by Jeff Sherlock)

 

Technology shrinks the world

Anne introduces her Chinese host family to her family in Pennsylvania using FaceTime on her iPhone.

The first week of training continues

Valerie makes a point during her lesson, "What makes a Great Lesson?"
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