Getting to Know Our Students

Frank plays Red River Valley

 Although the physical size of the classroom was typical in comparison to those in Canada, the number of students in the Chinese middle school and high school classrooms was staggering. The head count on this day was 59.

In parallel classrooms using identical lessons plans, Frank and I introduced ourselves by drawing three large circles on the blackboard. One circle contained the word Family, the other Hobbies and the last circle Future. We each shared personal information with the students and afterward handed out what we referred to as our ‘Bubble Sheets’. Each student filled in his or her own information and the rest of the 45-minute class was used to share information with each other.

Our Bubble Sheet

That year, we learnt that the teacher is the figurehead and is respected by the students. Within a few weeks of spending time with our gracious students, we discovered the communist system alive and well structured in the classrooms. We were very grateful to learn about it from the students themselves and chose to feature it in predominantly in The Little Red Book Teaching ESL in China.

Classroom Hierarchy

Susan's class ~ learning about Manitoba