Write Your "Jerry Maguire" for a buxiban

Work Teaching English in Taiwan
1

We all know what happened to Jerry Maguire when he wrote down his thoughts about what a sports agent should be. At least he made it in the end.

Well, here’s the safe place to write your own “Jerry Maguire” thoughts about being an English teacher / or about buxibans and what they should do.

I did another thread about “What do they do wrong”, but now, it feels like we need to move a discussion in a pro-active direction. (did I just say ProACTIVE? Yikes!)

Looking for statements like… “A school should be focused on the needs of the students and less controlled by the demands of the parents” (Sounds like a suicide statement I know)

“Education, especially after hours education like buxibans, can be fun and interesting. No, it must be fun and interesting, but the kids should learn something too.”

“Schools - if that is the right word (is it?) should be community based.”

“Places of fun learning should make a profit. But then why wouldn’t they, if people think it’s fun and learn; students will come - more students = more money.”

“Money is not the end of it all. But if you’re not making any, you won’t be open very long.”

BTW, I’ve met some of you “Jerry Macguire” types out there, don’t be shy now.

2

My biggest frustration in teaching in Taiwan is the lack of resources I deal with. I use the internet but a lot of the better sites, require $$ for membership and access to their information. It would be helpful if many,if not all of the busibans would invest some of their income in providing a monthly stipend for teachers to decide (at monthly meetings) what can be bought. Also, it would be good if they just had a regular fund for day to day needed resources,i.e. staplers,etc.
Also invest in books that would help teachers,reference books on grammer, teaching,etc…

3

[quote=“Namahottie”]My biggest frustration in teaching in Taiwan is the lack of resources I deal with. I use the internet but a lot of the better sites, require $$ for membership and access to their information. It would be helpful if many,if not all of the buxibans would invest some of their income in providing a monthly stipend for teachers to decide (at monthly meetings) what can be bought. Also, it would be good if they just had a regular fund for day to day needed resources,i.e. staplers,etc.
Also invest in books that would help teachers,reference books on grammar, teaching,etc…[/quote]

Don’t be scared. This is how it goes.

“Good buxibans should invest some of their income in providing a monthly stipend for teachers to decide (at monthly meetings) what can be bought”

“Buxibans should also invest in books that would help teachers,reference books on grammar, teaching,etc…”

4

I do not fear getting fired, as Jerry did, as I sleep with the boss.

This buxiban business is education entertainment. My rules are simple: have fun and teach well. Do not have too much fun though; even if the students love you, their parents will not if the kids still can’t read or write or speak after 2 years.

Now that that’s been said…have fun. This is a great job. Teaching little kids how to read, how to appreciate books and reading and learning…seriously, what job is more important than this one? Value your self and your job.

Show up on time. Sober. Shaved if you need it. Not smelling like smoke.

Teach the children like they are your own. Be strict when you need to. Engage them intellectually. Push them. Make them think. Praise them. Make them feel that you are the best part of their day. Read to them. Do your best to help them mature into wonderful young people. Make them laugh.

Talk to them. More than “Hiya, how are ya?” Share with them your history, your childhood, your experiences and feelings. It’s ok. They’re kids. Kids like honesty. I hate spiders. My kids think that’s funny. “Who kills spiders in your house?” “My wife does.”

Ah yes…money. Make money. Be special. Attract people, students and parents alike to your school. Be nice because you like being nice. Don’t worry, someone will always give you the chance to be bitchy, you can be bitchy then. Charge a reasonable rate. Why bleed them to death? Let them heal from tuition time to tuition time. Give them proof that their money is being well spent. Educate their kids. Invite them back for open houses and parties, and celebrations. Talk to them. Tell them about their kid’s progress, or their shortcomings. Do not lie, ever, about a child’s ability. Say, “We’re working on that,” and mean it.

Develop a good program, not a superficial buxiban trap. We do reading here. And we do it very very well. Specialize. Make CDs, send out vcds at Christmas time. Do more than the other guy. They will appreciate it.

Hire the best Chinese teachers you can get. They will be there through thick and thin. Praise them and treat them like family. Recognize their value and do not hide your appreciation.

Evolve your program. Learn from experience. Be open to new ideas. Invent new ways to do things. Write your own books. Try to get them published. If you can, great! If not, so what? It’s your school. Who’s gonna know? Build a great library in your school.

Never think your system or school is the best. NETWORK with other teachers and buxiban owners. Learn from them. Share with them.

“Rage against the dying of the light!”

Peace.

5

I think a good school understands a balance between making money and teaching children and are willing to make sacrifices for the former goal to further benefit the latter.

I think a good school doesn’t need to rely on photographs to choose their teachers and takes on anyone who has the essential qualifications they need, those which reflect the job they are expected to do.

I think a good school provides lots of materials for its teachers, makes accomodations for those teachers to select more materials to benefit the school and reimburses the teachers for getting those materials as it should be covered by the school.

(will write more later…running late for a dinner date as it is!)

6

I think a good school would provide the students with an opportunity to learn, not memorize, the language.

They should praise kids who are different but still have the ability to produce an adequate answer.

They should believe there is more then one right answer.

They should provide assesment and placement based on ability of the students. This assesment should cover all the basic skills of the language, reading, writing, speaking and listening.

They should have monthly meetings and they should listen to their teachers. They should make have a curicculum or at least a set of goals.

7

jdsmith, loved your post. :notworthy:

8

I’m off to Taipei this month for a tour of a very large full emersion kindergarten. I suspect that I will not find too much along the lines of what has been discussed in this thread.

Nevertheless…

The teachers who work in the school, both local and foreign, should have mutal respect for each other and each others abilities. There should be a mutually supportive environment that benefits all the teaching staff.

Teachers should be treated as people, not property.

Student centered (it’s a buzz word).

Managers and owners should tell the truth. :astonished: :astonished: :astonished:

9

Tell the truth!? Now there’s a buxhiban concept that could be applied to nearly every school I’ve ever worked at here.

10

Okay here goes again…

If you have experienced teachers, hand them the curriculum and let them decide how to use it. Do not try to dictate and control every aspect of their classes. Trust that they know what they are doing as long as their students are learning the materials.

Have realistic goals for children. Most children cannot start reading words (aside from their names) when they are only three years old so having the expectation for them to learn to read 100 words in English not only is asking the impossible, but is a frustrating, worthless task for a teacher to undertake. They also cannot sit at tables or even sit on carpets while being lectured for an entire class.

If you are opening up a kindergarten, brush up on the latest in child development research. It’ll help you with setting up a program which caters to whole child development and growth and will help you learn the best approaches for learning English.

11

I’ve studied different styles of English studies, ESL, and EFL. I learned something new when I got to Taiwan. I call it “display English.” We have kids writing sentences, paragraphs, and speaking words that they don’t understand.

I want to see a school where kids are encouraged to make mistakes. People make mistakes when they’re trying something new or hard. I think allowing them to spell things phonetically (but reading properly) is fine.

Not all “errors” should be punished. Give students room to own the language. I want to see kids who can communicate in English even if they can’t write or say a single proper word in English.

I think that “student centered” means allowing students to learn the vocabulary and grammar rules pertinent to their goals in the language. Let’s talk about English cartoons, comic books, video games.

I think that people who raise children who don’t want to talk, sit quietly the classroom with no interest in participating, ought to be happy if the kid is drawing pictures and labelling in English. Take the lessons where you can. Some kids have more interest than others. We don’t need every kid to be at the same level. We do need to find our own way to communicate.

I am an American with many immigrants/non-native speakers in my family. None of them ever succeeded because someone taught to a test. Parents get mad if their kid writes a wrong sentences (:O)). Who cares? If schools defend solid teachers to parents, they’ll have some faith. Right now, schools immediately offer to discipline the teacher. It gives the impression that if the parent is not constantly looking for mistakes, their kid will fall through the cracks of some idiot teacher. Give people reason for a little faith.

Form communities of foreign and Chinese teachers. We’re all working to the same goals. We should be friends. Asking for advice should not be considered a sign of weakness. Giving advice should not be seen as criticism. We should be a community of colloborating peers.

Finally, quit driving these kids like rented mules. No wonder someone commits suicide on this little island every three hours.

12

[quote=“gnat”]Form communities of foreign and Chinese teachers. We’re all working to the same goals. We should be friends. Asking for advice should not be considered a sign of weakness. Giving advice should not be seen as criticism. We should be a community of colloborating peers.
[/quote]

Welcome to our club :smiley:

Seriously though.

Network with those that are not in direct competition with you. Iron sharpens iron. Don’t let isolation stagnate you (been there). Keep learning and growing. Don’t let inertia get you.

Listen to the song “sunscreen” at least once a week.

[quote]Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of

13

Don’t teach English. Actually teach them. Use English to teach. You are a teacher. Stop calling yourself an “English Teacher” like it’s something that labels you as sub-standard. Just be a “teacher”.

I am going to try to stop tagging the word “English” to the front of my job description. Man, in my school, or so I recently discovered, I actually teach far more than a language, heck, I teach science, math, social studies - really, it’s all in there, but the parents call it “English”. Today I taught about insects. In another class I taught about transportation. I was buzzing when it finally cliked that they learnt more than just an English lesson.

I had been in the game too long and become jaded. Now, I feel like a fresh man and excited about teaching.

14

I taught a class about tectonic plates today… for two hours.

Then, this evening, I started teaching a brand new, starting from zero class while a FT and a CT were in the classroom watching. I taught TPR from my new book and they loved it, kids and teachers. I taught the kids their first ABC rhyming TPR hand gestures chant from my unpublished book. They left knowing 15 new vocabulary words, some basic grammar structure, and had memorized 4 rhymie chants and the TPR hand gestures that go with them.

Teach. Make things clear. Lift your head. Don’t mumble. Smile like it’s ok to not know everything. Explain. Simplify. Engage them. Encourage them that they CAN do this English stuff.

And then, ask them to do the same thing to their students. :slight_smile:

For the first time, I feel I can teach teachers. :slight_smile: yeeha

15

Do the simple things well. Don’t do other things until you, and they, can do those same simple things. Then remember, it’s all simple.

Share your passion around. They may think you are crazy at first, but if you are consistant it should start rubbing off.

Understand that you will be misunderstood and misunderstand. Don’t take things too seriously or not seriously enough. Balance.

Move on, up, and out. Let others catch the fire.