A Few "Codes" About Teaching

A few special ditties from my "code" book for China-Life:

1. Teaching is awesome. Don't stop loving it.
2. Patience gets me further than frustration when communicating what I need (this is a Lifestyle Gold-Mine ** see footnotes).
3. No matter how tired I am after working for 10 hours every day, these Chinese students go to school for 13 hours, work out each morning, wake up early, go to bed late, and see their parents seldom through the year. They are also learning English as a second language on top of everything. Stop complaining. You suck by comparison.
4. Set a boundary for how long I plan to prep, grade, and help students before/after school. If I don't do that now, this career will eat me alive within 5 years and I'll still be single. Worst Possible Scenerio.
5. Don't EVER wear anything even remotely see-through. This is a smart-board projector generation, and your students will see your bum skin. Effective, but awkward. And illegal.
6. Smile as much as you can at everyone. This way, when you are unhappy with their performance, and you frown, it really gets your point across quickly. Effortless behaviour management, really.
7. Write notes to your students on post-it stickies. They love that the most. It's like receiving mail!
8. Don't get too discouraged, explaining anything about English in English to non-English speakers is a ridiculous idea (go with the flow).


Footnotes: **Lifestyle Gold-Mine; A life lesson that applies to each and every area of your lifestyle. These are important, and not nearly as frequently found as when Mario finds a gold coin. Sometimes, Lifestyle Gold-Mines become tattoos. These are really very special, you see.

xox