Teaching in Taiwan

In the states I worked at an amazing school for 13 years.  Parents are involved there and, although it could be intense at times, it truly was a remarkable place to teach.  I thought I knew what it was to work with parents who have high expectations.  Nothing prepared me for Friday afternoon.

First, I have to say, I enjoy working with the parents of my students.  Teachers and parents have to work together so that kids become not just strong academically but strong as people. Anyway, on Friday afternoon I got to meet many of my parents at our school Open House.  We have 7 blocks in middle school along with Advisory.  I teach 5 blocks, all math and science, 4 of them 6th graders and one block of 7th grade pre-algebra. Open House was set up so that parents followed their child's schedule.  I had five 10 minute sessions with parents and it was pretty intense. Several of my sessions ran over the 10 minutes.

I shared the class syllabus and homework/grading expectations.  I shared my philosophy about teaching and I also told them that, because I was away for a week, I didn't had much time to put homework grades into our system (where parents and students have access and can see how they are doing).  I promised that those would be in by the end of the weekend.

First, you have to understand that many parents speak little or no English so I had to be very aware of how I presented things.  Many of my students came with parents so they could translate (and many of those students have limited English).  I then answered question after question about how I grade homework, how I support students, what I do to challenge students, how quickly I will put grades into the gradebook and basically got the impression that I wasn't giving enough homework.  Just so you know, last week was the 3rd week of school and in one class, I've already given out 12 homework assignments.

In Taiwan, many students go to a tutor after school.  These are called bushibans or "cram schools". Many of my students go to these and I can tell when they do their homework if they went the night before.  That's okay, they are learning to speak English so I'll take any help they can give for now.  I just didn't realize how intense parents are about the grades and how I have to give them some understanding of how an American school differs from a traditional Taiwanese school.  It Taiwan it is competitive right from the start and the focus is on skills and grades.  Students will check their grades on Powerschool several times a day and will contact a teacher about scores on a regular basis. Parents will check every day as well and will be all over their child for missing work or a poor grade.  I was asked if I give students opportunities to make up work and do extra work.  I don't think I've been asked this question in the states.

When you meet parents as a teacher in Taiwan you are expected to give them your business card. Yes, I have a business card.

There is a social etiquette to this.  You don't just have a stack of cards on a table that they will grab on the way out.  You have to present it face up, with both hands and bow.  I have never bowed or have been bowed to so much in my life.  I bow all the time here.  It is so much a part of the culture and honestly, I love it.  Here is a site that give more info on Business Card Etiquette.

I guess I had a good turnout of parents compared to other teachers and I'm guessing it's because I'm new and an unknown entity.  I have a more casual and goofy way about me that I had to temper for this event and realize I have to temper a bit as a teacher as well, at least until students get to know me.  They are so use to the local schools where they aren't allowed to speak and it's all about memorization and skills.  When I ask them to respond (god forbid) or I do something funny, they look at me like I'm an alien.  They can do the math operations like nobodies business but ask them to solve a problem in a different way or think outside the box in any way, there is a complete look of "there's another way to solve this problem?"  I have many challenges ahead and I'm excited about working with these kids and parents.

Back to the grades...I spent 7 hours yesterday grading and inputting those grades into the on-line gradebook.  I have a ton of missing work (since I was gone for a week and I hadn't had a chance to grade or check that work, so much isn't there) so many students have lower grades until I get that work this week.  I told parents and students that, because I was away, they are lucky that they'll have a break on this missing work but that from now on, starting this week, every day late is 10% off the grade.  I've already received 12 emails from students asking about why they have an A- or B instead of a perfect score.  12!!  I still have some science grades to put in today so I'm sure I'll have a few more emails.  I plan on sending an email to all of my students letting them know the grades are in but that missing homework has affected the scores so they better have that work ready for me tomorrow. They will not be penalized for any missing work so far as long as I have everything by Wednesday.

It should be a very interesting year!