Puttin' on a show...

Last weekend, we (a group of foreign teachers) were able to go to a Chinese Music school. It was a very interesting experience as we were able to see a taste of what Chinese education was like....how different! While this was a music school, it was still characterized by the more formal design for student-teacher relationships (standing up to answer, rows and rows of desks, no pictures or color on the walls). Not wrong, just......different. Several things that I saw, really got me thinking. When I glanced into the 1st grade classroom lined with rows of desks and white walls, I just thought "What would their thought be coming into MY classroom?" Probably, "How is a child going to learn with that much distraction on the walls!" Not sure....but it definitely had my mind spinning for a while. Then as we saw the room showing the camera footage for every (and I mean every) classroom in the school, I thought "Would I want my classroom to be on display for anyone to watch and inspect?" Privacy....one of those things as an American we all feel entitled to...haha.

Impromptu singing for the high school English class (see below for story)

As we made our way into the high school English class, we were instantly taken in and prodded to "let the students hear real English". The only problem was that everyone did not necessarily feel the same way as their teacher and just sat there...not even looking at us. AWKWARD! As she looked around sensing the apparent lull in communication, the teacher decided to have all of the Americans get up and "sing a song...any song!" We willingly agreed upon "Amazing Grace" and began...only to finally watch the students light up with their cell phones to document the whole thing. Oh, those paparazzi moments. Without doing much of anything, you can be a real star here in China.