I just got back two weeks ago from a stint teaching English in Chilean Patagonia, and I’ll be honest…my students absolutely ripped me apart. They made fun of my appearance, threw spitballs at me, swore at me, fought each other, tried to touch me inappropriately, and generally refused to do any work. Like you, I had no training or orientation in Chile, and even though I went through a government program my school did not have the resources to support me. The teacher I was supposedly working with stopping talking to me.

It was enough to push me to tears, and I wish that I had known how hard it would be when I was signing up for the program. Now that I’m a little more experienced, I’m thinking of teaching somewhere else. One thing I will definitely strive for…a little detachment from how mean my students can be.

Makes me worry though as I am 6 foot 2, 220 pounds and hairy lol… yikes

But I did my TESOL course but have yet to go, perhaps you have some other tips. I fear teaching and not knowing what to expect.

Thanks for the read!!

Not to sound vain, but I do know my craft as I am passionate about teaching and strive to do the best at anything I endeavor.

Chris, humor allows us all to survive. And, yes indeedy, I use humor a lot in my teaching. In fact, i am a bit of a stand-up comic.

As for Owsley, Dude, I suggest you drop some acid and relax. You sound very fucking uptight. I admire the guy for his honesty. And maybe now he is a great teacher. But the original post seemed a bit odd, like maybe at the time, he just was going to have some fun, not a serious piece at all. But I get it. You, apparently, don’t.

Thank you!

Teresa

First let me say that this is a wonderful piece about teaching children in Asia, so similar are my experiences over the past six years in China to yours that I could have very well written this article word for word except changing the names to things like dahuzi (big beard) dapangzi (big fatty) often in English they would tell me that I am so fat and that I like to kiss pigs. My favorite memories with my children was when we would argue over the spelling of poo poo and pee pee or who was kissing who’s girlfriend and who would get married to whom. Or sometimes a simple game of fangpi monster (fart monster). As for the baby balloon thing what I liked best was to take a balloon and stuff it under my shirt and let the kids attack it until it popped then I would weep and cry, calling out for my lost baby. The kids would role on the floor in tears, they loved it, they loved me and for good reason, I was great with kids and I loved them and they loved me, and despite the fact that I was a crappy teacher for the first 6 months I turned into the best teacher they had and am still great with the kids. Now I look back over my years of teaching and the students who have grown up under my direction and sure I taught them some English some learned better than others (but you can’t expect much with 3 hours of study a week) most importantly though I taught them about my country and they about their’s, I taught them respect and proper manners and how to interact with people in a group or on an individual basis. I let them be kids, I gave them a friend and a teacher one that they respected, loved and enjoyed and they gave me all the charm, wonder and love that only children can give. And I am so sad now to be leaving China and leaving them after all these years.

What this Mike guy doesn’t understand is what teaching is like over here or how obviously to teach. Here we are aloud to hug the kids and show affection making connections and bonds with these kids. The kids parents encouraging us to be members of the family. Teaching here has been a great experience and I hope was a meaningful for my students as it was for me.

I have been a teacher a manager and a business owner here in China and as such I hired teachers. And time after time I found out that you should not hire “professional teachers” from back home too often they lacked a sense of humour and could not handle the difference of this education system and structure as opposed to ours. Often they were the least capable of teaching the students what needed to be taught and for some reason had the greatest amount of disrespect and dislike for the students they were teaching. Going so far as to call them retards or stupid. Unwilling or unable to put forth the effort to help a student struggling with learning problems or disabilities, instead complaining more than any other employee and not getting the job done. I’m sorry but besides the material we stuff into little kids heads and the things they have to know for this or that test our main jobs as educators is to provide a fun, interactive learning environment for our kids, to challenge them and prepare them for life and other people from other cultures. I may not be a professional teacher but I am an educator and as such my first priority is my students.

Mike, do us all a favour and go overseas to asia to teach and put aside what you think teaching is, forget about the differences between the two systems and be a real teacher to children and maybe it will make you a better teacher to your students at home. And your scorn for Chris as a less than prepared teacher… you know nothing about working or teaching here. He taught for 6 years (as have I) you don’t survive as a teacher here for that long if you aren’t good at what you do, the jokes and the play is just a way to get the kids passionate about learning. If that’s all he did maybe the students would like him but the parents would complain that he wasn’t teaching and out he would go. I joke with my kids and I get on their level, I relate to them and it seems Chris has done the same but I bet a buffalo nickel that he was a great educator to those kids as well. And believe me when I say that most professional teachers leave before the year is out because the can’t handle the fact that there is little or no organization from many of these schools and the materials (if there are any aren’t that great) but it takes a true professional to get over themselves and make a difference not only in the quality of what is being taught but in the standards for these children. A real teacher can teach students with or without aids and materials if he is passionate and cares.

go teach in a poor rural area of Asia where they have crates for desks and no heat or AC. where they have to spread water on the floor in the summer time to keep the heat down, teach children who’s families are poor and can’t afford to feed them but once a day. Go teach in a village where you have 40 kids in your class and no blackboard or assistance. Go teach in a crazy after school program where the boss only cares about the profit and make a difference.

And Mike last but not least stop being a stuck up prick and worry about what kind of teacher you are instead of what kind of teacher others are.

That was six years ago. I have since gained my “classroom legs,” as it were. But I am SO HAPPY that a “really educated, professional teacher” like yourself has taken the time to show me the obvious error of my ways. I will carry your wisdom with from here on out, rest assured.

That said, whilst you may be at the top of your game when it comes to imparting wisdom to young minds in the USA, I doubt you’d last a year in the Korean ESL racket, where the “teaching” is more about entertainment, and requires, above all, a sense of humor, which seems to be sorely lacking in your case, sir.