Well, after a nearly two-month break, it's just about time to get back to work. Classes begin again on Monday, February 25. And of course, I get to start immediately--Monday morning at 8:00. My favorite. (Can you hear the sarcasm?) I'm just not a morning person...
But, I really have a fantastic work schedule; very few jobs have the kind of flexibility this one does. I may have to work at 8:00 am, but I just have to do it two days a week. You'd think I'd appreciate that more after getting up at 5:30 to be at work at 7:15 five days a week for nearly a year (2011).
Anyhow, I am continuing to teach writing, as it's a full-year course. However, for some reason they swapped on of my classes with Micah's from last semester, so I will have some different students there, although I met some of them at activities he hosted. We both taught the same lessons last year, so they are at the same point, so it shouldn't be a problem. I'm looking forward to seeing all my students from last semester again.
I taught Greek and Roman Mythology last semester, but that course is only offered in the fall. So, I have to find something else to fill my time, and that turns out to be two oral English classes for graduate students. Most likely these students will be non-English majors getting masters in other subjects; their English probably won't be quite as good, or at least not any better, than my sophomores, since they will likely not have focused on English before. It should be interesting; I don't get the chance to teach Oral English often. Anna (our Chinese co-teacher, who helps us out with these things) said that there is no book and no final exam for that course; I just have to give the students one over-all grade, and I can do whatever I like with them, preferably teaching them about American culture as they practice English.
So, we should be able to do some fun activities. We can talk about St. Patrick's Day, and April Fool's Day, and Easter--I especially enjoy Easter, as there are so many fun projects to do (I have Easter Egg dye!), as well as teaching about the more important meaning many celebrate on Easter Sunday. I have pdf files of menus from several American restaurants, so we can do a role-play of ordering at a restaurant and discuss restaurant etiquette, which is quite different from here. I'm trying not to get too carried away planning until I see what their ability level is.
Anyhow, my schedule: Monday, two writing classes, back to back in the same classroom, with one at 8:00 an d one at 10:00. Thursday, the third writing class at 8:00, then the two oral English classes, one at 10:00 and the other after lunch at 2:00. A couple of times, the Thursday morning writing class will be rescheduled on Tuesday afternoon.
The only really annoying thing about the schedule is that on Thursday, my 8:00 class in in building 3 (last in a row of five large classroom buildings), on the fifth floor, and then I have fifteen minutes before my 10:00 class to go down those five flights, five buildings over to Building 1, and up the the fourth floor. There's my cardio workout for that day...
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