I'm calling this Favorite Quotes "1" because I'm hoping that there will be other posts like this in the future. These quotes all came from my students. Some are funny; others very kind, and maybe a little sappy. I've only made some very minor changes to them so they can be read a little better. But some of the Chinglish I left behind for realism. I hope you enjoy. I know I have.
"Mr. Ross, you are a good teacher. You are doing a great job, and I'm very glad to be your student."
"Thank you for the way you treat us. You give me confidence many times, and I have learned a lot from you. You are a good teacher and friend, and you mean a lot to us. Keep on, Mr. Ross, we love you!"
"The radio station manager came by tonight and said you have a very sexy voice."
"Through this week's study and communication, we've seen that you are a good teacher and friend of us. You are enthusiastic, patient and friendly, sometimes like a cordial, big boy!"
"If you found yourself in a dark room, the walls around you are red and blood comes from everywhere, don't be scared - you are in my heart."
"Sometimes I feel you are not a foreigner but a Chinese friend. I am very happy to be your student."
"Mr. Ross, I think it is amazing. I can understand you so well. When you speak English, it's like you do not have an accent. When you speak Chinese, I almost think you are Chinese."
"Thank your teaching! It is very wonderful. In your class, I'm not afraid to make mistakes. So I dare to answer questions and speak English loudly."
"You have dreams and enthusiasm, unlike most professors in our college. You are a good teacher. I just want you to know that you are doing well and encourage you. I appreciate this kind of person such as you and wish you to be happy. It's true, not flattery."
"Mr. Ross, your Chinese is so standard - it is amazing! I think you have a great endowment for learning languages!"
Hahaha. I loved that last one. Really funny. And it's not too hard to see why this could build up a person's ego pretty quickly. Fortunately, I am aware that there are a lot of "kindnesses" shared in Chinese culture. So, not every compliment I receive is genuine, but even if only half of them are true, it's still pretty great.
But, it's great that, in being here, even though I have a chance to think, "Oh man, I must be the greatest thing since sliced bread," I know why I'm here. I know who brought me here and what purpose I'm here to achieve. And I know the glory is all His. So, thanks, Lord, for being who you are. I'm glad to be one of your students, too :)
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Sunday, October 21, 2007
A Newsletter's A Coming!
Well, hello, folks!
This will be brief, as I am still pressed for time, but I wanted to finally write something here again. It has been a busy stretch of time, as most of my stretches of time here have been. That's not a bad thing because it keeps me from being bored, but it also doesn't seem like a real reflection of life and goodness. So, I am hoping that after our retreat to Xi'an in a little over a week, I can try to be a little ahead of schedule and not have to go so day-to-day to make things work for me.
Coming to you soon will be my first newsletter. It is brief, as it's hard to say a lot in only one sheet of paper, but it gives a nice update of some things. I hope you'll enjoy it. In the meantime, I thought I'd write to say how my new teaching method is going.
This last week, I decided to change my teaching method a bit. Previously, I lectured directly on the textbook material, but I incorporated many games and challenging activities to get the students to think of the material in new ways. I wanted to see how well they could work with foreign ideas (many Chinese students do not spend much time working on problem solving skills). So, with this new approach, I have placed a lot of the learning responsibility back on the students.
Now, for each new concept we come across in our text, I decide if the concept adds value to their knowledge of understanding business, and potentially life as well. If I deem it worthy of discussion, then I have the students discuss the topic in one of several ways. Sometimes it involves acting out different situations. Sometimes they have to be the "teacher" for a little while and prepare a small discussion for the other students. Sometimes I have them take opposing sides of an argument and make them defend their side. Sometimes I have one team present an idea, and other teams can agree or disagree with their ideas. All-in-all, it really provides for some very intriguing discussions. You can truly see how their thought processes are different from our own, as they do not often go about problem solving in the way we do. It's very intriguing. And I'll be interested to see how this continues to go after more weeks of this approach.
But for now I must go play tennis with some students. But keep me accountable. I have 24 tests to finish grading before tomorrow, on top of my usual Sunday activities. Ah! Always so busy. But having a great time, too. How are you?
This will be brief, as I am still pressed for time, but I wanted to finally write something here again. It has been a busy stretch of time, as most of my stretches of time here have been. That's not a bad thing because it keeps me from being bored, but it also doesn't seem like a real reflection of life and goodness. So, I am hoping that after our retreat to Xi'an in a little over a week, I can try to be a little ahead of schedule and not have to go so day-to-day to make things work for me.
Coming to you soon will be my first newsletter. It is brief, as it's hard to say a lot in only one sheet of paper, but it gives a nice update of some things. I hope you'll enjoy it. In the meantime, I thought I'd write to say how my new teaching method is going.
This last week, I decided to change my teaching method a bit. Previously, I lectured directly on the textbook material, but I incorporated many games and challenging activities to get the students to think of the material in new ways. I wanted to see how well they could work with foreign ideas (many Chinese students do not spend much time working on problem solving skills). So, with this new approach, I have placed a lot of the learning responsibility back on the students.
Now, for each new concept we come across in our text, I decide if the concept adds value to their knowledge of understanding business, and potentially life as well. If I deem it worthy of discussion, then I have the students discuss the topic in one of several ways. Sometimes it involves acting out different situations. Sometimes they have to be the "teacher" for a little while and prepare a small discussion for the other students. Sometimes I have them take opposing sides of an argument and make them defend their side. Sometimes I have one team present an idea, and other teams can agree or disagree with their ideas. All-in-all, it really provides for some very intriguing discussions. You can truly see how their thought processes are different from our own, as they do not often go about problem solving in the way we do. It's very intriguing. And I'll be interested to see how this continues to go after more weeks of this approach.
But for now I must go play tennis with some students. But keep me accountable. I have 24 tests to finish grading before tomorrow, on top of my usual Sunday activities. Ah! Always so busy. But having a great time, too. How are you?
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