Sunday, September 20, 2015

We are now 3 weeks into the school year! I have been so very welcomed by everyone at Chong Qing, and now that all of the students know me a little bit more, they call out "Teacher Sara!!" when they see me in the halls :) Chong Qing is a wonderful school with a strong emphasis on and regard for English language learning. I teach all students in Grades 1-5 (the school has students up to Grade 6), two weekly storytelling periods for Grades 1-2, and a weekly "English Conversation" period for teachers and staff.

Half of the school building is currently under construction, so this semester we (the 5 of us English teachers) do not yet have our own classrooms and we go around to teach in the students' homeroom classes.  This has its ups and downs; I love having a desk in the middle of a busy office where I can be a part of things, but I also look forward to settling into a classroom and being able to display student work. Overall it has been a wonderful first three weeks and I am very happy to have been placed at this school!

This is the school's website: http://www.cges.tc.edu.tw/
Here is the website in English: http://www.cges.tc.edu.tw/english/index.html

 Chong Qing Elementary School: Elementary schools here are physically very open; you can see from the pictures of Chong Qing that hallways are covered but totally open to the outside.  There is air conditioning only in one multi-purpose room, but there are fans in every classroom and office. 



English Camp: We had our first "English Camp" this past week! As I explained in an earlier post, there are two groups of us who travel, at least twice a month, to facilitate one-day English workshops for students at different schools all around Taichung. These are all schools that do not have "foreign teachers," as we are referred to here, and so they applied to the Ministry of Education to be granted one day of programming led by native English speakers. We will be visiting a wide range of schools throughout the year, including tiny schools and schools in the mountains.  This past week our group worked with 38 Grade 6 students, and it was a success.  We taught about the 4 seasons, and though we definitely came away with aspects of our curriculum and teaching methods we would like to tweak and improve upon, both the students and all of us had a BLAST and gained a lot from the experience. At the end, students wanted our autographs and then all hugged us and made it hard to leave :)  Below are pictures of our group and the view from the drive up north to this small school.



Hiking at Da Keng: Da Keng is a scenic area close to my apartment, and two weekends ago I went hiking there with one of my co-teachers.  We took an easier trail but it was still beautiful!
  


Fulbright Orientation, Taipei: Last weekend, all of us gathered for an orientation conference in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan.  Fulbright grantees in Taiwan this year include 76 ETAs (English Teaching Assistants) and about 30 scholars (including Master's and Doctoral students and grantees doing research).








Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall, Taipei: This museum details the life and rule of Chaing Kai Shek, who served as the political and military leader here from 1928 to 1975. It is a beautiful building and museum! 


National Palace Museum, Taipei: This art museum is a gorgeous building, featuring many different types of  Chinese art from calligraphy to paintings to artwork that incorporates jade and other stones. 


Walking around the streets of Taipei: Below is an old gate in downtown Taipei.


Taiwan is such a fascinating place!! On our way home from English Camp this week, I noticed this sign at the train station and wanted to share it.