an interview with gold star tefl recruitment

When applying for jobs in China, I went through Gold Star TEFL Recruitment. It is a completely free service and I was able to land a job with good pay and benefits that I probably wouldn't have found. About a month back, one of the recruiters contacted me about doing an interview for Talking to Teachers part of their website. I was thrilled because I read a bunch of them to get an idea of what teaching in China would be like. It's nice to get an idea of what a potential place and work environment will be like, so I was stoked to put in my 2 (attempting to stay politically correct) cents. Enjoy!

Click here or follow this link http://goldstarteachers.com/talking-to-teachers-mary-robison/  to read the interview.

**Note: The adventure story is a bit lame, I know. I feel like the adventures that  I have had weren't very interview-worthy, so that's the best I've got. Hopefully there will be better adventures that will make for more exciting reads in the future.  

when first graders make their own rules

The first graders learned about laws and leaders in social studies this week. We went through a simple PowerPoint (which everyone here calls by its file extension--ppt--instead). They did a simple fill-in-the-blank worksheet and then got a blank piece of paper. The assignment: if you had your own community, what would your laws be?

Here are some of my favorites from class:

This is Anna. Not only did she rock the neon colors for her community law signs, her laws include: Don't trash banana! and No kite in this city. Don't know the specific reason as to why she has something against kites.

Little Jerry Ma. He is a miniature and extremely polite human being. He loves to be as fashionable as Mr. Anthony, his expat homeroom teacher. His laws are all about cars, like where they can park and what kind of cars go where. He has a solid future in city planning if he so desires it. 

Ah, Ben. He has grown so much during the semester. He was so excited to come to my desk and show me his laws, which I don't completely understand, but they're great anyway. The sign he drew says "next the --> because its raining" and has a picture of an umbrella with a book. 

This is Xavier. He is a hoot and a half. He did three levels of laws, starting from the bottom of the page up. My favorite is the top law: "stop go truck". 

Alex is one of those boys that loves to be helpful and tries to be on his best behavior, but he gets distracted. He is a sweet one. He drew a ton of signs, which merited a picture because he goes and beyond anything I assign on a regular basis. The law says that you can build a tree house. I support that and would vote for it in an instant. 

Sean, oh Sean. On the far right, he drew a flower sign that says "don't Mary". When he told me, he had such a mischievous grin on his face. It's nice that he made my name a verb, but I have no idea what it means. 

Joanna! She is great. She also wrote "don't Mary" and then crossed it out on the sign, so the double negative means to Mary? Maybe? Another law says "no boats in the house".

Angela, bless her. I told her to smile big and look at me...at least I got one of the two. Her law? "Don't eat ice cream hear".

Regis. He's one of my favorites, even though he blinked in every picture I took. He loves GI Joe and dinosaurs. His law says "no jumping today". 

And Ray! I love a kid who says that the speed limit can be 120 kph and something about no hamburgers? Don't really get it, but I love it.

It is definitely a hoot and I am very much enjoying how excited they get when I start taking pictures. They'll run up to me, calling out "Ms. Mary! Ms. Mary! Look, look!" It's great. I'm getting some solid hugs, too, which always serves to brighten up a day. 

field trippin'

This past week was a bit manic because we went on a last minute field trip on Tuesday. Seriously, the expat teachers did not know until the Thursday before...awkward! And guess what? It wasn't just first grade. Every grade in primary and middle school went on a field trip on Tuesday, so you can just imagine the logistics of getting hundreds of kids, their teachers, and extra Chinese chaperones onto buses and to the correct destination.

First and second grade went to a place called Baby Boss, an indoor children's theme park. There are two floors. The first floor is things like a firehouse, courtroom, dance studio, and the like where the kids can get "paid to work" for 10-15 minutes. Upstairs had other "jobs', but then a ton of activities you had to actually pay extra for, which I didn't get.

The idea of the field trip was good, but the execution was weak. There were several other schools there, even though SSBS was assured (supposedly) that there wasn't. What could have been a great day was rather pedestrian. We spent a lot of the time waiting in lines, trying to keep the kids from running off, and remembering that the day was almost over. I know, sound pessimistic. I guess what I am trying to say is that is really could have been a fantastic day, but the kids were bored when we had to wait in lines, it was far too crowded, and it just wasn't as fun as it could have been. Oh well, learning for the future.

But here are some pictures from our field trip:

I asked Ben to smile, but I think that he just doesn't do smiles in pictures. All of the kids were given this hat to wear to show they were from SSBS. I couldn't decide if it was a shrimp or a fish. 

The school provided snacks for the kids to take. In those plastic bags on the desk are two packs of oreos, two snickers, and two oreo cookie bars.

This was my field trip group. They were pretty good all day, with the exception of some pushing, fighting, and running off, but it is first grade...so to be expected. Good kids, though. They tried to get into it, even when we were waiting in lines.

This is Terry and he is adorable. He held my hand when we were waiting for the bus because he didn't want to be alone. 

There wasn't enough room on the bus for some of the kids and teachers, so a few of us went on an extra bus. From the left, that is Ms. Carli, Owen, me (obviously), and Ms. Gioia. 

My group did "archaeology" first. It wasn't that legit, but they got to play in the sand.

They also did the coloring room.

We met up with some other students and they played in the magic sand. 

They were able to be lawyers, judges, and witnesses. 

We waited in line for the fire station, but it was too long. This is another group of SSBS kids as firefighters.

By far the funniest thing all day. I really needed the loo, but when I opened the door to the stall, I was a bit shocked. The toilet was miniature. To give you perspective, I wear US women's size 10W. Even the two girls in my group thought that the toilets were too small! 

So, it ended up being the first of two field trips in the whole school year. It was somewhat a success, though I seriously need to talk to someone about the planning and logistics of these things. First graders aren't meant to wait in lines, trust me. 

personally...

I have decided to go to graduate school next autumn. I know, no cutesy or clever start to this blog post this time. I have been thinking about it for weeks and week, and it became an official "go-for-it" decision last weekend. The process has begun and I am working with Across the Pond to apply to four of my five university choices. As such, I need to gather some things: references, the good ol' BYU transcript, and a personal statement.

Hold it, a personal statement? What does that even mean? Can't I just state personally that I want to attend such-and-such university and move on? Nope. It's got to be good, thorough, inventive, exciting, not too flowery, and around 500 words. The word count really isn't a big deal, I can care less about that. It's just everything else. I've been thinking about it for the last week, looking up examples, reading articles about how to write a good personal statement. Almost every website says that your personal statement, combined with your references, is a make-it-or-break-it situation. The admissions committee needs to see why you're worth giving a spot to, why you will bring something to the school that no one else can.  No pressure, right? I've been trying to be clever, but the writer's block is strong. It's so strong that when I sat down in front of my computer to write one paragraph of my personal statement, I got three pathetic sentences.

Then it hit me. I love writing on my blog. I know not a lot of people read it, but I enjoy writing and hoping that something that I write will brighten someone's day. I cannot recall a single time when I have sat down in front of my computer to write a blog post and have had nothing to say. So, I decided that I am going to write my rough draft of my personal statement right here, right on my blog for everyone to see. After I let it stew for a day, then I will take it and start to refine, revise, and revamp the thing.

So, these are the basic questions I am going to answer:

1) Why do you want to study this subject?

2)  Why do you want to study in the UK?

3) What are your strengths and skills? What can you bring to the program?

4) Evidence of knowledge and experience of the subject.

5) How will the degree help you in your future career?

By the way, I am applying master's programs in Applied Linguistics and English Language Teaching. And thus it begins. Please feel free to put your opinions about my rough (very rough) draft in the comments below. Anything helps!

Here it goes.....(Remember that ROUGH is the key word here.)

With the increasing populations of people that are being displaced from their home countries through war, difficult political climates, flat lining economies, there is a greater need to cross cultural communication. These refugees and immigrants are moving throughout Europe and traveling to the UK, Canada, and the US, where they are lost, exhausted, and in need of jobs to support a new life in a new place. In order for these people to be successful in these English-speaking countries, they need to learn English quickly and efficiently. Being trained in applied linguistics is a great asset to this mass migration. Even more so, a background in applied linguistics will further equip me to provide solutions to language-related problems as the Western world is becoming increasingly multilingual. 

During my undergraduate career at BYU, I studied the Middle East and Arabic. I extensively researched and studied not only the language, but the culture, history, politics, and economy. I had the opportunity to intensively study Arabic abroad in Cairo, Egypt, where I interacted on a daily basis with the people and learned how to function and thrive within the Arab and Egyptian cultures. My decision to study Middle Eastern Studies/Arabic (MESA) has greatly prepared me to study applied linguistics at an advanced level because it not only taught me how to be with people who do not share my language or culture, but how to overcome cultural differences and learn how to communicate. Not only was I able to further improve my Arabic skills, but I assisted many Egyptians in their English skills. 

Because of this experience, I have sought out opportunities and education to improve my teaching skills. I have volunteered in several capacities as both an English and Arabic language instructor or tutor, as well as completing the CELTA (Cambridge's Certificate of English Language Teaching) in Belfast. I also have professional teaching experience:  I am currently teaching in a Shanghai bilingual school and working as a private tutor. With these varied experiences, I have significantly developed my teaching skills in both an adult and young learner classrooms. I have significant experience in designing a curriculum, adapting teaching materials, implementing and using various teaching styles and lesson structures, and classroom management.

I am interested in learning more about second language acquisition, intercultural communication in the classroom, and motivation in language education. Once I finish my master's degree, my long-term goals include working with refugee placements services in the UK and the US teaching English, with a primary focus on Arabic speakers. I also want to develop a program with various UK and US schools or education companies for refugees to acquire and develop teaching skills by teaching their native languages to English speakers. As this program grows and flourishes, I plan to seek further education to become a teacher trainer, such as completing the DELTA (Cambridge's Diploma of English Language Teaching). 

(Name of specific university here) offers a unique opportunity for my postgraduate study. I would have the opportunity to be an international student and gain a unique perspective studying at the master's level; I can build relationships with other students and faculty that will advance my career. The flexibility in the (insert name of specific program here) program allows me to hone my focus and frame my specific career path with optional modules such as (insert optional modules here.) 

I am highly aware of the superb reputation of your school, and my research into your program has served to deepen my interest in attending. I know that, in addition to your excellent faculty, your (insert name of program here) ranks as one of the top in the UK. I hope you will give me the privilege of continuing my studies at your fine institution. 

So......thoughts??