Influence

I am amazed by the amount of influence I have on the people here. Of course, I knew that I would have a large amount of influence over the children I teach, but not only do I influence them and their English, but I also influence their teachers and other Chinese people I am friends with.

For example, Thursday was open classes for many of the Chinese English teachers. During the open classes, the teachers taught the students and many other teachers and faculty members watched them and assessed their performances.

Thankfully, I didn't have to give an open class, but I did get the chance to watch the open classes that were given. I learned a lot about how to teach and how to get the children to listen to me better. I also learned that the teachers learn from me. This surprised me, considering I have been only teaching for about three months and I majored in Spanish and Psychology, whereas most of the teachers have either been teaching for many, many years or have majored in teaching English, or both.

Out of six open classes that I watched, at least four of the teachers used the method of picture cards to indroduce the new vocabulary words that I started using with the children. In one of the classes, the teacher even used two games that I taught her and the children(What's missing and Hide and Seek)! I was very happy to see that I am helping her as well as the children to learn.

Not only am I teaching the teachers inside the classrooms, but I am also influencing them and helping them outside the classrooms. I am frequently surprised by how much my English vocabulary ends up being taken up by the Chinese people I am with. My link teacher invited me to her house for dinner the other night and anytime I said a phrase that was new to her, she used it every chance she got. It was funny to me to hear all of my words popping out of her mouth so often.

This makes me realize that whenever I say anything or do anything, I have to make sure to set a good example. Whether I am in a classroom teaching or just having fun with my friends, I have to make sure to speak well so that the people around me learn the correct English.