Kindergarten Bob
To start things off, let me first say that I have experienced a lot for my age particularly concerning occupations. I have worked in fast food, a warehouse, a prison, and even a mental hospital, but none of those jobs have been as crazy or challenging as the job I now currently have. That’s right, in my opinion there is no job more demanding, or that requires more attention than working in a preschool. Now don’t get me wrong I love the kids and I love my job so I don’t want anyone to be confused after reading this blog, but boy oh boy let me say that this is definitely the most challenging job that I have ever had.
Day 1 - Enter the Gauntlet
After congratulating myself for not getting lost trying to find the place, I am taken back by the beauty of this school. Now all of the English schools that I have seen in Taiwan have been buildings connected to other buildings much like most businesses in the city, but this school was set apart from the rest. It had a huge gate that separated the kids from the outside world, and the gate was decorated with drawings of kids, dinosaurs, and balloons, all of the kiddie essentials. When I walked in I saw a small manmade water stream to me left, and a descent size yard (very hard to find in the Taiwanese cities). There was a large cement stage in the yard that had three magnificent beams positioned behind that held national flags. To my right lied a small office building that housed the secretaries and the directors of the school, but the "piece de resistance" was the huge building straight ahead. My first thought was that this was not exactly what I had in mind of a preschool. I felt as though I was at a middle school, but I knew that the kids that attended this school had access to the best of the best when it came to educational materials.
Once I entered my classroom I was given a briefing about the children, so I felt a little more at ease. The children greeted me like they knew me. I guess you can say that it was my boyish face that made me more approachable :-). I was taken back by the reception, and it made me feel good being with them. Now here comes my dose of reality, that reminded me that these kids were very young ages 4,5,and 6. For the entire duration I was there the children would not stop talking. Even though I was only observing the first day, it was pretty clear to me that these kids did not yet understand proper mannerisms of the classroom. They were moving around on the floor, talking LOUDLY to each other, picking their noses, asking to go to the bathroom every five seconds, and last but not least calling me everything under the sun other than Teacher Bob. Now lets be honest Bob is a pretty easy name to say right? I mean you can’t really screw it up, just two consonants and one vowel, and the consonants are the same letter. But leave it to the imagination of kids to call me Teacher Box, Teacher Boba (pronounced Bob - ah, not like Boba Fett from Star Wars), Teacher Bob b b b (now this was an interesting one, pronounced Bob ba ba ba, they just didn’t know when to end with the b sound), and last but not least Teacher Boss (I have to say that I liked the last one :-).
So, aside from walking away with a splitting headache and my stress level through the roof, I’d have to say that it was good day ;-). I had no idea kids had so much energy and could be so active for such a long period of time without stopping (school is from 9:30am - 4:00pm). One thing that comes to mind that truly impressed me was their knowledge of English. There is a Chinese speaking teacher that helps out in the classroom to bridge the gap and to help me handle child problems (this extends from barf, to peeing in their pants, to attending injuries caused by kids not paying attention while walking and banging heads with their fellow classmates (believe it or not this happens the most out of them all). However, surprisingly the Chinese speaking teacher does not have to translate to the kids very often. Their ability to speak English is better than the older kids that I teach, with the exception of my A - level class which is composed of 14 and 15 year olds that have studied English for quite a while. Most of the time I find myself speaking at a normal pace, and if there is ever a word that they do not know they are quick to let me know.
All in all my experience was highly insightful. It was the first time in my life that I have worked with such a large number of young children for such a long period of time, and it brought out a different side of me that I was unaware that I had. I was required to think on their level in order to understand them better. I knew from this first day that it would be one of my toughest jobs yet, however my thrill seeking and ambitious nature gave me the desire to accept the challenge.
NEXT TIME: Traveling in Taiwan with Lex
Day 1 - Enter the Gauntlet
After congratulating myself for not getting lost trying to find the place, I am taken back by the beauty of this school. Now all of the English schools that I have seen in Taiwan have been buildings connected to other buildings much like most businesses in the city, but this school was set apart from the rest. It had a huge gate that separated the kids from the outside world, and the gate was decorated with drawings of kids, dinosaurs, and balloons, all of the kiddie essentials. When I walked in I saw a small manmade water stream to me left, and a descent size yard (very hard to find in the Taiwanese cities). There was a large cement stage in the yard that had three magnificent beams positioned behind that held national flags. To my right lied a small office building that housed the secretaries and the directors of the school, but the "piece de resistance" was the huge building straight ahead. My first thought was that this was not exactly what I had in mind of a preschool. I felt as though I was at a middle school, but I knew that the kids that attended this school had access to the best of the best when it came to educational materials.
Once I entered my classroom I was given a briefing about the children, so I felt a little more at ease. The children greeted me like they knew me. I guess you can say that it was my boyish face that made me more approachable :-). I was taken back by the reception, and it made me feel good being with them. Now here comes my dose of reality, that reminded me that these kids were very young ages 4,5,and 6. For the entire duration I was there the children would not stop talking. Even though I was only observing the first day, it was pretty clear to me that these kids did not yet understand proper mannerisms of the classroom. They were moving around on the floor, talking LOUDLY to each other, picking their noses, asking to go to the bathroom every five seconds, and last but not least calling me everything under the sun other than Teacher Bob. Now lets be honest Bob is a pretty easy name to say right? I mean you can’t really screw it up, just two consonants and one vowel, and the consonants are the same letter. But leave it to the imagination of kids to call me Teacher Box, Teacher Boba (pronounced Bob - ah, not like Boba Fett from Star Wars), Teacher Bob b b b (now this was an interesting one, pronounced Bob ba ba ba, they just didn’t know when to end with the b sound), and last but not least Teacher Boss (I have to say that I liked the last one :-).
So, aside from walking away with a splitting headache and my stress level through the roof, I’d have to say that it was good day ;-). I had no idea kids had so much energy and could be so active for such a long period of time without stopping (school is from 9:30am - 4:00pm). One thing that comes to mind that truly impressed me was their knowledge of English. There is a Chinese speaking teacher that helps out in the classroom to bridge the gap and to help me handle child problems (this extends from barf, to peeing in their pants, to attending injuries caused by kids not paying attention while walking and banging heads with their fellow classmates (believe it or not this happens the most out of them all). However, surprisingly the Chinese speaking teacher does not have to translate to the kids very often. Their ability to speak English is better than the older kids that I teach, with the exception of my A - level class which is composed of 14 and 15 year olds that have studied English for quite a while. Most of the time I find myself speaking at a normal pace, and if there is ever a word that they do not know they are quick to let me know.
All in all my experience was highly insightful. It was the first time in my life that I have worked with such a large number of young children for such a long period of time, and it brought out a different side of me that I was unaware that I had. I was required to think on their level in order to understand them better. I knew from this first day that it would be one of my toughest jobs yet, however my thrill seeking and ambitious nature gave me the desire to accept the challenge.
NEXT TIME: Traveling in Taiwan with Lex
posted by Bob | 12:14 PM
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