laoshijeff

@laoshijeff (20)

China • Age 42

Joined myLot 16 years ago

You're licensed to teach- now what?

licensedtotefl.blogspot.com

All Activity

laoshijeff's Activity

As a teacher, what was the most difficult thing to learn?

laoshijeff @laoshijeff (20) • China 1 Feb 08

For me the biggest challenge has been to stop criticizing myself too much. I want each lesson to be more exciting and educational than the last but sometimes that's not possible. There are times where you have to do a lesson that...

1 response

Is it important for ESL teachers to have experience learning another language?

laoshijeff @laoshijeff (20) • China 1 Feb 08

When I was applying for ESL jobs a few months ago, I made it a point to include on my cover letter that I have been learning French for over 11 years. Granted I was applying for jobs in China where my French would be useless but I...

1 response

can teacher /student be friends?

marketing07 @marketing07 (6266) • South Korea 1 Feb 08

im working in a language school,some of my student,,keep on calling or sending email to me,,,im just wondering why if teacher and students can be friends..

students

teacher

11 responses •

3 people

laoshijeff Absolutely! However, you do need to set boundaries. I'm very wary of giving out my cell phone number to students and when I give them my email, I always make sure to give them an account that I don't use that often. Once I see that a friendship is developing...

1 Feb 08

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1 comment

Where should you teach if you want to live in China?

laoshijeff @laoshijeff (20) • China 1 Feb 08

Myself, I live in the city of Xiamen which is an excellent place to be. While it doesn't have as much historical significance as places like Shanghai or Beijing, the city is clean, easy to navigate, and friendly to foreigners....

1 response

How to be a successful language learner?

niushuang @niushuang (265) • China 8 Dec 07

Language teachers often offer advice to language learners "Read as much as you can in the new language;practice speaking the language every day;live with people who speak the language;don't translate-try to think in the new...

my toruble

7 responses

laoshijeff It depends on what you are learning the language for. So much of my Chinese comes from needing to know it on a daily basis to get around. Therefore, I focus on phrases like I want, I don't want, I like, I don't like, I can, I can't, and other useful verbs....

1 Feb 08

How many hours does a teacher work in your country?

Bluestream @Bluestream (235) • China 2 Jan 08

Teachers are always diligent.They always have so much work to do.Even if in mid-night they are still working . How many hours does a teacher work in your country? I wonder if a teacher always works overtime in every country.

teacher

9 responses

laoshijeff Here in China, the expectation for foreign teachers is about 25 teaching hours per week. Considering office hours and preparation time, this number can go up to 40 hours a week but schools are often flexible about when you come in and when you leave. However,...

1 Feb 08

Making Lesson Plans Preference - Detailed or Semi Detailed?

honeylore23 @honeylore23 (1081) • United States 13 Jan 08

Are you a teacher, an intern of a teaching profession? What kind of lesson plan do you usually make everyday? What do you think is best - a detailed or a semi-detailed one. When I was in college, during my internship, we were...

lesson plan

lesson plans

preference of teacher in making lessonplan

task of a teacher

teacher

5 responses

laoshijeff Most of the lesson plans I use are already laid out for me and they are semi-detailed. When I'm writing my own, I keep things more open ended depending on what level of students I'm teaching. I teach ESL Conversation classes and the higher the level, the less...

1 Feb 08

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1 person

how to become an insporing teacher???

gopala_rs @gopala_rs (2) • India 6 Jan 08

Does a teacher necessarily influence the students??? Can there be a bad teacher who demotivates the students???

teacher

6 responses •

1 person

laoshijeff I absolutely think that a teacher can influence students. However, there has to be some sort of connection that happens in order for this to happen. Naturally some teachers are better at being engaging and reaching their students more than others. For me, I...

1 Feb 08

how to become an insporing teacher???

gopala_rs @gopala_rs (2) • India 6 Jan 08

Does a teacher necessarily influence the students??? Can there be a bad teacher who demotivates the students???

6 responses •

1 person

1 Feb 08

Teaching abroad...

nelzbit @nelzbit (2) 16 Jan 08

I teach English Literature in secondary school Scotland and am looking to broaden my horizons by teaching abroad. As English is my only language it would need to be in an English speaking country. I am quite interested in going to...

english literature

teaching abroad

3 responses •

1 person

laoshijeff You should look into getting your TEFL certificate as the other poster suggested. I got really lucky and found a school that's awesome to teach at. Plus the experience of being away from home is such a refreshing change of pace. I will say that if you do have...

1 Feb 08

paying job or fun job?

maria560 @maria560 (39) • United States 10 Jan 08

I was thinking bout what i want to do career wise. My whole life i've looked torward careers that pay good. but i've come to the realization that i would rather have a fun job that pays decent then a boring job that pays big. so i...

jobs

7 responses •

3 people

laoshijeff From what I've been through, a decent paying fun job is completely worth it. Right now I'm teaching English in China. The money I make isn't huge by US standards by any means but the work I do is exactly what I've always wanted to do with my life. Plus, by...

1 Feb 08

How are you using the methods from The Secret in your life?

laoshijeff @laoshijeff (20) • China 1 Feb 08

Though I know I'm feeding into the machine of people making money from ideas on the Net, I do know that there is a lot of merit in The Law of Attraction and the ramifications for our lives. I know that I try to incorporate asking...

law of attraction

the secret

4 responses •

1 person

the Chinese new year is coming!

Ann2407 @Ann2407 (305) • China 23 Jan 08

the Chinese new year is coming,are you preparing for it?will you spent your chinese new year at home or just outside?welcome to share.

life

6 responses •

2 people

laoshijeff I'm in China this year and have already celebrated by attending a Chinese New Year dinner with my colleagues. I have a few coworkers who are from the North of China and they were having drinking races by putting beer into bowls and such. It was crazy! I'll...

1 Feb 08

What's the one thing stopping you from increasing your income?

laoshijeff @laoshijeff (20) • China 1 Feb 08

For most people, being stuck in old thinking habits is the biggest blockade. Divergent thinking is something that needs to be practiced on a daily basis in order to come up with ideas that set you apart from others who have the...

2 responses •

1 person

If you came to China, what do you think it would be like?

laoshijeff @laoshijeff (20) • China 1 Feb 08

I've been in China for about 6 months now and I have to say it's completely different than I imagined it would be. I never realized that I would experience so many beautiful and ugly things all in the same place. When I'm teaching...

china

opinion

travel

2 responses

How Can a Teacher Earn More Money?

Bluestream @Bluestream (235) • China 14 Jan 08

I am a teacher in a college. I am always intelligent and diligent in my academic learning and study. Because of this, I learn more and more knowledge in all kinds of schools and colleges. Now I become a teacher. I always work hard...

teacher

teacher salary

to become a teacher

14 responses

laoshijeff Every experience we have in life can be used for a different means. It's just about thinking different and seeing yourself as a marketable product. I imagine you probably enjoy writing since you've joined this website. Why not look into publishing an ebook or...

1 Feb 08

How do you evaluate yourself as a teacher?

laoshijeff @laoshijeff (20) • China 1 Feb 08

Being an ESL conversation teacher, I don't have the benefit of students taking tests and seeing from those how my students are doing. Instead, I can tell that I'm doing my job well when my students are having fun talking in...

1 response

so many people cannot go hom this year.....

nanguofong @nanguofong (726) • China 31 Jan 08

In China, more thousands of people resort in bus or train or plane station, even thousands of people besiege on bus or train...no food...no hot water...life is in danger. I'm so sorry to hear so many people cannot go home, and...

go home

life

5 responses •

1 person

laoshijeff I'm in the South of China in a city called Xiamen. Luckily here we don't have to worry about snow but so many of my students are concerned about this situation. There are some provinces where communication has shut down and it seems that there might be more...

1 Feb 08

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1 comment

What would you say to a teacher gone bad?

laoshijeff @laoshijeff (20) • China 1 Feb 08

I teach English in China and one of my teachers is starting to take a downward spiral. He shows up 5 minutes before his first class. He's dating and living with one of the students. He also is pissing off all the other teachers...

1 response

teaching

titser07 @titser07 (3) • Philippines 21 Jan 08

It is good to be a teacher, because it get to touch the future.

teach to touch

5 responses

laoshijeff Now that I'm teaching in China, I know this to be absolutely true. When I see how hard these students are working to understand English, I realize that they are the ones who will lead the world when their time comes. Even though my English teachers didn't...

1 Feb 08