I don’t want to brag or anything, but we just found out that the students voted Ryan and I as the top 2 foreign teachers. Okay, I lied. I do want to brag.
Yes, those of you who know me too well might be wondering why I mentioned Ryan at all. You know that I’m egotistical enough to not mention him, especially if I was voted #1. So it is with my head hung in shame that I admit that Ryan was actually voted number one, and I was number two. We were very, very close though. (He got a 90.5%, I got an 89%.) I have my own theories about this (I taught classes where kids had to actually do work while he taught almost all oral english) but you can be sure that Ryan won’t be letting me forget this anytime soon. He’s already taken to calling me “Number 2.”
In all seriousness I’m super excited about this and it makes me happy that the students like me as much as I like them. My rough teaching philosophy is if you have fun learning you will only learn more. (This philosophy is similar to my writing philosophy which is: If you have fun writing it, people will have fun reading it. ) I think my little philosophy might be working.
I’m definitely not going to rest on my laurels for next semester and being voted so highly only makes me want to work harder and make sure that in all my classes I engage and challenge my students and give them a chance to gain confidence and learn more. Plus, let’s face it I really want to be number one and wipe that smug smile of my loving husbands face!
The Best Teachers
Congratulations! Must be very gratifying.
Great job. But, from one who is a teacher, just remember popular doesn’t always = good. I’m not saying that’s what you are, but it can be easy to just coast on a wave of goodwill.
Keep up the hard work!
And tell Ryan I am happy for him too. And what happened to his postings?
In thinking further on this post. What was the purpose of the voting? Was this something that the students just do, or was it organized by the College. If so, I wonder the motivation behind it. If you’re voted the least popular teacher, how does that affect your teaching. Do you think, “Well, Chirst, I’m not even going to bother to try anymore.” Or does it motivate you to teach better. I’m just thinking about this idea, as there’s a (pretty strong) movement here in the US to institute merit pay for teachers.
First off, it’s not most “popular,” just the highest rated. Each student “grades” their teacher and Ryan and I got the top two grades of the foreign teachers. I’m not exactly sure how the grade is complied but I know there is a questionnaire type form each students fills out.
Grading each teacher is something that is policy in the Chinese educational system. The teachers pay (and even hiring and firing) is based almost entirely on this. To make it worse, the Chinese teachers “grade” each other, which I hear causes major problems. (Because when you get jealous of another teachers success, you can grade them low. Or if you don’t like someone you can organize the other teachers to give them low marks regardless of their ability, etc.)
Also, the students know what kind of power they have and use it. I’ve heard that they will tell a teacher they are too tough and will get a low grade if they don’t make the class easier. Also, some teachers will intentionally make a class easy, watching a lot of movies, giving no classwork, hoping to get a high grade. Luckily, as foreign teachers we are outside of that system (we have a contract and even if we get a low score they can’t break the contract until it expires.)
And we are graded every semester (twice a semester actually) so it wouldn’t be a good idea to not try anymore. Especially as we will have almost all new students. Also, nobody knows our grades except for the administration. The students don’t know and it isn’t something that is announced.
I think a merit bonus is a good idea maybe, but merit pay is a bad idea. I mean, teachers really do change their teaching style if the fate of their pay is in the students hands.
Man, that sounds like an awful system. I hope I didn’t come across as a jackass, just letting you know my thought. Again, I am glad that you and Ryan are doing so well.
Oh, and Alicia and I are planning to do something with our kids to celebrate Chinese New Years (what with all the talk about China we’ve been doing). And ideas?