…And the cow would never give milk again.

Yes, English is officially my second language, but that doesn’t mean I can’t teach it to 45 Chinese middle school students. This past week has been full of excitement and one of the highlights has been visiting the local middle school to teach English. I originally was going to help with the sports activities (because I am so athletic apparently, right????), but then after some discussion about who would be the English teachers of the day I was kind of voted to teach instead. (According to the group, singing children’s songs to try and cheer people up is a sign of a good teacher – I was just trying to not be bored)

Boy, I’m I glad I did teach! The lesson plan given to be by the director of the middle school’s English department was titled “A Night the Earth Didn’t Sleep” and it was all about EARTHQUAKES! At the beginning of class I was supposed to introduce myself and answer questions about myself. This got boring after a while (especially cause I hate talking about myself) so I decided that maybe it would be better if all 45 students learned the song ‘Oklahoma’ from the musical. It was such a magical moment hearing 45 Chinese English students sing Oklahoma at the top of their lungs – this might go down as one of the greatest moments in my life! There favorite part was at the end when you spell out Oklahoma and yell Yeeeow!

After some great entertainment it was time to actually learn the lesson. Again 45 students, in unison, read the lesson aloud (again, goosebumbs!). After that we recreated the story of an earthquake – they really loved this too cause some people got to be ‘a scared pig,’ and “a running mouse!’ I asked them questions and then explained some new concepts such as: “The water rose and fell, rose and fell” and cows that “would never give milk again” and “as if the world was at an end.”

The Chinese students were so willing to participate and really enjoyed having me as a teacher. Every time they answered a question they would stand up. They asked me questions about Obama, the war, Michael Jackson, China, and many other subjects. It was a great experience and I hope to be back soon!