About one day before it was too late I found out that I was required to give final exams to my students. Not just final any exam mind you, oral final exams, which means I had to speak to all 720 of my students one-on-one. I decided the most efficient and painless way to do this was to bring the students out into the hall nine at a time and have them fill in the following prompt: “Hello, Teacher Ashley. My English name is _____. My birthday is _____. I like to eat _____.”
You may be wondering why I would bring them out nine at a time. This was done for several reasons. 1. There is less dead time taken up by switching when the class is broken up into only six groups. 2. There are 9 students seated in each row. 3. Chinese students are “all up in each other’s business,” as some might say, so they have no problem testing in front of their peers. It’s normal for others to know how you did. Their grades for each class are posted up on the wall, listed by name, so it’s no secret which students are doing poorly. Well, it’s a secret to me, as I can’t read their names, but that’s a different story.
My final exam testing plan worked beautifully. I was able to test up to 64 students in less than 40 minutes and the students did very well. While I was testing students in the hall, I had to figure out a way to entertain the other 50 of them. Before Christmas I decided to show them a few Christmas specials, like How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Frosty the Snowman, and The Snowman. After Christmas, however, I needed to find something else, so I turned to 功夫熊猫, which most of you know as Kung Fu Panda.
I’d never seen the film before showing it to the class, but I knew that they would love it. I finished the exams quicker than I had originally anticipated, so I ended up watching a majority of the movie close to 10 times. The movie’s really pretty good. It should tell you something that I haven’t gouged my eyes out yet; I watched it every day for the past 6 days, plus several additional days last week.
In many ways the movie, which is set in China, gives a pretty good representation of what it’s like to live in China. The country is populated by talking animals, everyone worships the Furious 5, and ducks have pandas as children. Just kidding. In all honesty though, apart from the obvious things, the movie is rather realistic. Noodle shops are popular, children love kung fu, children of shop owners are often expected to carry on the family business, and the mountains really are that beautiful. Disney obviously did a great deal of in country research before making this film. I was actually surprised how “China” it is. I think I might be in the perfect position to enjoy this film. No only do I speak fluent English and understand American humor, but I have a greater understanding of the Chinese culture and lifestyle than the average person. So if you’re in the mood for a good animated movie about China, Kung Fu Panda is my recommendation of the moment. I’ll have to watch Mulan again to see how she stacks up to my Life in China Test...
You may be wondering why I would bring them out nine at a time. This was done for several reasons. 1. There is less dead time taken up by switching when the class is broken up into only six groups. 2. There are 9 students seated in each row. 3. Chinese students are “all up in each other’s business,” as some might say, so they have no problem testing in front of their peers. It’s normal for others to know how you did. Their grades for each class are posted up on the wall, listed by name, so it’s no secret which students are doing poorly. Well, it’s a secret to me, as I can’t read their names, but that’s a different story.
My final exam testing plan worked beautifully. I was able to test up to 64 students in less than 40 minutes and the students did very well. While I was testing students in the hall, I had to figure out a way to entertain the other 50 of them. Before Christmas I decided to show them a few Christmas specials, like How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Frosty the Snowman, and The Snowman. After Christmas, however, I needed to find something else, so I turned to 功夫熊猫, which most of you know as Kung Fu Panda.
I’d never seen the film before showing it to the class, but I knew that they would love it. I finished the exams quicker than I had originally anticipated, so I ended up watching a majority of the movie close to 10 times. The movie’s really pretty good. It should tell you something that I haven’t gouged my eyes out yet; I watched it every day for the past 6 days, plus several additional days last week.
In many ways the movie, which is set in China, gives a pretty good representation of what it’s like to live in China. The country is populated by talking animals, everyone worships the Furious 5, and ducks have pandas as children. Just kidding. In all honesty though, apart from the obvious things, the movie is rather realistic. Noodle shops are popular, children love kung fu, children of shop owners are often expected to carry on the family business, and the mountains really are that beautiful. Disney obviously did a great deal of in country research before making this film. I was actually surprised how “China” it is. I think I might be in the perfect position to enjoy this film. No only do I speak fluent English and understand American humor, but I have a greater understanding of the Chinese culture and lifestyle than the average person. So if you’re in the mood for a good animated movie about China, Kung Fu Panda is my recommendation of the moment. I’ll have to watch Mulan again to see how she stacks up to my Life in China Test...
Ashley,
ReplyDeleteDid you noticed any of the characters in the movie wearing seven shirts and five pants?
Mom