A possible addition of a Teaching section to this forum

[wushijiao]

Would anybody be interested in having a Teacher’s section to this Forum (like the Society, Film, Sport, Chinese History...etc. sections)?

I think there could be a few advantages:

1) People who teach in China could discuss issues related to teaching, brainstorm, and share ideas and solutions, hopefully with people who are a bit more knowledgeable about China and more culturally sensitive than a few other sites.

2) Chinese students, many eager to learn English, could offer teachers suggestions and advice from their experiences. Of course, getting feedback from students is oftentimes difficult because it turns into a praise-fest. Perhaps with a bit of anonymity, students might be more willing to critique and constructively evaluate the usefulness of proposed ideas. As a side result, a Teaching section might embolden Chinese students to share their opinions more in other parts of the Forum.

Would anybody be interested in this? If so, do you think you might post semi-regularly?

[Dan Bang]

Definitely a good idea!

[TCcookie]

I'm not a teacher in China, but as a fairly consistent reader of these forums, I can say that I would definitely enjoy reading such posts, as someday I may end up teaching in China, and teaching in general interests me, anyway.

[Bob Dylan Thomas]

i'm not a teacher either, but if we're having a vote, then i agree it's a definitely a good idea.

[wushijiao]

Bob Dylan Thomas, TCcookie, Dan Bang- thanks for replying! Would any other people be interested?

[Quest]

Another one of Roddy's gzillion sites related to China:

http://www.china-teachers.com/

[Junior]

I did a bit of teaching while I was in China, just one day a week at a high school... We were given virtually no direction on what or how to teach and no resources at all. (I have no teaching qualifications - I think the whole point of us being at the school was more for the appearence of having foreign teachers than any actual eduacational purposes...) But anyway, at the time I was desperate for some inspiration and advice on teaching!! I ended up getting some great tips via email off a friend teaching in another part of China. It can be quite hard to find ways to keep your kids interested and if you don't manage to do that there's not much point in being there. There are many experienced teachers out there with bucketfuls of great ideas - I'm sure many will benefit from the section...

[roddy]

Hardly a gzillion. I only have . . . er . . . a few sites.

There's no scope for discussion on china-teachers.com, as I closed the forums due to lack of interest. If there's enough here, and from reading the above it seems there might be, I'll set it up. Keep the comments coming.

Roddy

[Tsunku]

I teach in China, and I would read and contribute to a Teaching section if it were here.

[roddy]

Quick bump for this one - any further interest? I'm keen to start a teaching forum, but at the moment I'm not sure there's the interest.

Roddy

[novemberfog]

I'd love to see a consolidated place for it. I don't teach, but I'd really like to hear about others experiences.

[roddy]

Hmmm, one of the reasons I haven't started a teaching forum so far is that a lot of people are saying 'Well, I don't teach, but I'd read it' - there's not so many people saying, 'Yes, I'll use it'. I don't teach any more, so I wouldn't be contributing a great deal myself.

Roddy

[wushijiao]

Well, I'd still contribute, of course.

[Tsunku]

Do it Roddy. If it doesn't get used, you can always axe it, but there are enough people here both teaching English and studying Chinese (and plenty of issues related to both) that it's worth it to give it a shot at least.

[roddy]

Yeah, you're right. Done.

Roddy