For the next three weeks, I'm working with Daijah Reese at Chambers Elementary School in East Cleveland. I'll admit, entering the East Cleveland school district did make me feel a little nervous. It's hard not to after hearing so much negativity about this side of Cleveland. And on top of that, I was nervous about working with kids, in general. Fifth graders are notorious for being sassy little know-it-alls. But, after my first day I was relieved to have been accepted by the students almost immediately. Daijah and I showed them a Prezi explaining who we are, why we came to Chambers, and our past trips to China. The best part was when we passed out name tags. Last week, our sponsor, Mrs. Wilkerson emailed us a list of class names and little blurbs about each student's personalities. Then, Daijah and I created Chinese names for for each student based on the sounds of each student's names and the blurbs Mrs. Wilkerson wrote for us. The kids were so HYPED. It made me excited to see how happy they were to be receiving their own Chinese names. Daijah and I read the names aloud and had the class guess which name belonged to who. After that, we went around the class and taught each student how to pronounce his or her name. In the meantime, we explained the "Mask Project," which will require the 5th graders to design their own Beijing Opera masks that will be displayed at the final performance. This is called an "anchor activity" because the students can work on them when they have down time. We learned that it's important to give students anchor activities so that they can stay busy and refrain from distracting themselves or each other. Anyway, back to the names. It was so cute how they practiced writing their names over and over, without us even asking them to. Finally, we taught the class their first sentence "我叫 ____" which means "My name is.
The kids are actually really well behaved when Daijah and I are teaching. The only issue is that they get so excited and enthusiastic that everyone wants to talk at one time. So we're gonna have to figure out how to control them without Mrs. Wilkerson having to step in and yell at the class.
Your project sounds perfect for Daijah and you given both your enthusiasm for Chinese and your enthusiastic personalities (which I'm sure comes in handy when dealing with the kids). I'm sure the students make your project both amazing and exhausting. I love reading about how excited they are and how their excitement manifested itself both on your both and Daijah's. I love the details of their excitement: receiving their Chinese names, making their masks, and, from Daijah's post, exclaiming that they never what to speak English again.
ReplyDeleteThe mask project sounds really cool. I hope to see some pictures of them! The idea of giving them their own Chinese name is great; my favorite part of Spanish class in grade school was always being able to pick my own new name. I am curious about what other projects you have planned for them and how both your and their enthusiasm continues through the next two weeks. I'm also excited to see what other challenges you will find in your project and how you will overcome them- finding a balance between fun and chaos seems to be one so far. Your project sounds really satisfying and enjoyable. Good luck Lauren Lao Shi and Daijah Lao Shi!