Life as an English Teacher in Taiwan

Using Positive Reinforcement I have always had trouble with positive reinforcement. I rarely received it as a child, so it was always awkward when I found myself at the receiving end of it. That said, I recognize its importance. One of the huge drivers for my behavior as a child was the desire for praise. I knew I wasn't going to get this at home, so I strove to get it at school. So while I have trouble with it, I also know how important it is to a child who may never get it. The majority of my students come from affluent, wealthy families. However, this does not necessarily translate to having emotional stability. Many of them were raised by absent parents who were busy going on business trips. Their children are left at home with nannies or other relatives to care for them. For the ones raised by nannies, these children are rarely given negative feedback. After all, it would not be in the interest of a nanny to discipline the "little lord of the household," not if t...

Teach Now: Module 4 Unit 3 Activity 2 This is a series of analysis for three videos for high performance expectations in a variety of teaching strategies. Video 1: Roller Coaster Physics Roller Coaster Physics Lesson In this video, the students are engaged in a STEM lesson where the goal is to design and build a functioning roller coaster. The students use their understanding of math and physics and apply it to the project. They also engage in real life problem solving as they balance a budget and consider the costs of the materials they are using. If there's an example of a lesson that is class management, then this lesson would be a prime example. All the students were focused on their assigned tasks, and because the task is by nature interesting and applicable to real life (engineering), the students clearly found the task meaningful. They were given roles that imitated real life as well, such as budgeting, and it appeared that the students appeared proud of what they w...

Never Fitting In I was an Asian American girl being raised in a school district that was 99% white. Isolated and outcast, I developed a keen understanding of what being an outsider is like. Both I and the rest of my family (including my parents) experienced that sense of being rejected, othered, and isolated. To this day, I question my mother's decision to choose  that  particular town in  that  particular area, and I wonder what kind of person I could have become if I hadn't experienced the constant bullying I endured throughout my elementary and middle school life. At the same time, I appreciate the person I've become now, and the experiences I am able to bring to into the classroom as a teacher because of it. The connections I forge with my students in part comes from sharing the hardships I had endured as a child, and that is something I am thankful for. Caught Between Cultures When I was very young, about eight years old, I remember that I made a decisio...