Cloudy in Beijing Blogging about my time in China

Teaching can be fun

I myself can be a shy and quiet at times; admittedly, I'm an introverted person. So it's ironic that I've ended up being a journalist and now a teacher, two professions where talking to people is the backbone of the work.

Perhaps a bit strangely, being a teacher is somewhat like being an actor. When you step into a classroom, the person you are in real life takes a back seat, while your teaching persona then takes over. You force yourself to smile in an attempt to be jolly and comforting. You praise and encourage in the face of whatever mistakes your students make. Optimism saturates the air around you. I've even drawn a smiley face on the back of my hand to remind me to be "extra nice."

But most of all, as a teacher you're patient, when really, all you want to do is scream a stream of profanities.

In the past I would think about this, specifically the wanting to scream profanities part. Teaching is tough, and in my opinion, the hardest profession, hands down. But lately, I've been overlooking these qualms, and been thinking about how enjoyable teaching is too.

I like how in some ways, it's a bit like show and tell. To understand language, one also has to understand culture. This past week, I've been showing my students different videos; an episode from "The Office" to explain fire safety; President Obama getting his new dog; and what the Latin phrase "Carpe Diem" means by watching some clips from "The Dead Poet's Society."

I'm not sure if any of this will exactly be on any listening test in the future. But it's authentic, loads more interesting, and actually even more challenging to learn. I figure if they can understand this, they can hopefully better understand the slow-speaking, sometimes droning, voices on the listening test.

Today I taught one of my favorite classes. When I started class I said "Good Afternoon!" and many of the students excitedly replied back to me with various greetings. "Good Afternoon! How are you?" one student nearly screamed, followed by laughter. When my students are brimming with enthusiasm, teaching just become so much more easier.

The school asked me today if I want to stay for another year. "They'll be a pay raise," they pointedly told me. I hesitated and said I am still thinking about it, even though I've pretty much decided I want to devote more time to studying Chinese next year.

Maybe only a few weeks back, I was reading a quote Obama made. He was asked about the merits of public service and replied something to effect of, helping people enriches your own life.

So many others have said the same; "What's the point of being here, if you don't help people"
a philanthropist I once interviewed told me. No doubt its all true, but it's not as black and white as I hoped when I was younger. Whether I feel enriched by all this, I can't really say; helping people is hard, and It seems questionable at times if my students are actually learning.

A thankless job I suppose: you do it because it's right, not for anything else. There's a tragic, but noble, ring to it, yet things are hardly ever this simple. This is my first year teaching, and also one of the most recent experiences where I've felt like I wasn't good at something. I don't know what kind of effect I've had on my students, but I hope its been positive.