A Little Long

Well, that escalated quickly.

A Following

I felt like this message was following me (much like the mysterious "she" is always doing with the "tide of fashion") because I found it in a couple of my different classrooms throughout the week.

How Fortuitous

The way the education system works here is really quite different from that of the United States.  For example, students are assigned a class group that will share all of their classes together for all four years of university.  Therefore, the school creates each schedule and informs the respective class group (and teachers) what it will be.  When I received my schedule at the beginning of this semester, I noticed an unprecedented anomaly - a late Wednesday night class.  

This time slot provided a few obstacles, namely that my students find it terribly difficult to listen to and concentrate on an all-English lecture after a full day of classes.  I tried to work within the system to have the schedule revised, but (due to the different methods) it was all to no avail.  So, after the discouraging meetings and then informing my disappointed students, I set out to make the best of our Wednesday night situation.  

When I first arrived at the (5th floor) classroom, I realized my USB (with the lecture's accompanying PowerPoint) had fallen out of my bag.  After offering a quick word of thanks that I'm in the habit of allotting a good bit of extra time before each class, I hurriedly ran back down all the stairs and rushed back to my apartment to either find the missing flash drive or grab a replacement.  I quickly (you weren't there...you can't prove otherwise) returned up the five flights of stairs and greeted my class.

Somewhere around the second or third slide of the lecture, several of my students pointed to the screen behind me while offering up a lamented "No, no."  Considering the topic at hand included discrimination, I wisely surmised that they were (finally! after all this time) so moved by both my lecture and my inspired teaching that they simply could not keep silent in their seats any longer.  Indeed, I was fully in my element, passionately motivating the next generation to advocate for the oppressed and less fortunate around the world.  Their pointing only grew more emphatic.

I turned around.  

Oh.  The screen had gone blank.

I tried to restart the equipment a few more times and was as successful in that as I was in changing the schedule.  After the final round of discouragement, we finally opted to change to another classroom, which involved (of course) checking with the key steward to find which room might be available and checking out the new key.  Upon entering the new classroom, this is what awaited us on the board:

"Make the best/most of"

I'm still left with just this one question: How did they know?!

And the Answer is...

Uh, E. All of the above.  Obviously, right?

A Colorful Box, eh?

Such flowery words with such little meaning.

Unicorn invasion?

Um...yes, please!

The Return of Chalkboard Tuesday

Chalkboard Tuesday is that special time of week when I share something that's been left (typically, presumably, by another teacher) on the chalkboard in the classroom before I have class in that room.  Sometimes it's interesting.  Sometimes it's boring.  Sometimes it's funny.  And sometimes it's just plain perplexing.  Either way, it's a small glimpse into classroom life here.

For when your words need a lil sauce...

Chalkboard Tuesday

"Mourn...lament...we are in the classroom" = connection??

Chalkboard Tuesday

Ah, if only all my college students would come to know the importance of learning.

Chalkboard Tuesday

Really complicated version of tic tac toe?

Chalkboard Tuesday

Your guess is as good as mine.

Chalkboard Tuesday

Huh.  Turns out math is just as "easy" for me to understand in Chinese as it is in English.

Chalkboard Tuesday

Chalkboard Tuesday

I'm not sure why he has antlers.  Or an earring.

Or how it fits into the bigger picture.

Chalkboard Tuesday

The wheels on the bus...are a math problem?

The First Ever Chalkboard Tuesday!

As a teacher in the university setting here, I have the privilege of regularly rotating classrooms.  Occasionally, the previous teacher has neglected to erase the blackboard.  Even more occasionally, whatever they have neglected to erase is somewhat amusing or even insightful.

Tuesday seems like the closest-thing-to-perfect day to share these little moments.  I mean, there's just not a day of the week whose name really makes the word "chalkboard" sing when you combine the two.  So, Tuesday it is.

Alright, here we go, starting off with the proverbial bang. *Ahem.*

Um, what class is this again?