Carrie and I both came home from work tonight at 9pm. We had open house, and are extremely glad it’s over. I feel very good about how it went, though. Parents were smiling and attentive while I talked, and afterwards each one wanted to ask me specific questions, questions I found myself answering easily for the most part. And each parent had positive things to say like, “We are all really glad our kids are in your class.” and “My child is very happy in this class, thank you so much for all you do.”
So as stressed out as I’ve been about the unknown of this night, in retrospect, I was surprised to find that I was almost enjoying myself. My smile didn’t feel as fake as it did when I had to do this type of thing back home, and my armpits weren’t all sweaty. It helps that I have 10 students instead of 140 because I’m not furiously trying to keep everyone straight and learn names.
This is one of the main differences between teaching younger levels versus older: With younger students, you feel like a chicken with its head cut off during the lesson, not afterwards. Overall, I did not have chaos during my lessons as a 7th grade teacher. The chaos was in my head after school when I was trying to figure out how to write the curriculum, gather data, assess data, help every student, grade papers etc. But with this class, the path is more clear because there are less students and the curriculum is an excellent road map. But, because I cannot plan every lesson as carefully as I did when teaching just ONE lesson a day to older students, I am sometimes running from student to student trying to help them complete something.
Carrie is showing some of her artwork at the bar/ music venue I told you about in the other post. We brought the art up there last night, and on Friday (her birthday) there is an art party for viewing the art and hanging out. The coordinator of this event, our friend Narsesus, will also be promoting the artists in various ways (photographer is coming, he’s having it put in the newspaper, etc). We got there a little before some of the other artists, so Carrie was able to choose where she wanted to hang hers. She did an awesome job with the presentation of her pieces (it helps that they are dynamic, 3D creations), and when we go on Friday, I’ll take some photos for you. I also have photos of our classrooms, and I’ll post these this weekend.
People Do Things in Taiwan 
Not likin’ not being able to celebrate my kiddo’s bd with her this year 😦
So glad your first Open House went well! I know what you mean about teaching the young ones; you are always “on” when they are there. It can be quite exhausting.
That’s very exciting about Carrie’s art exhibit and birthday. I’ll be interested in knowing how it all goes and seeing the photos too. Is she trying to sell the pieces?
Love,
Mom
Actually, some of the other peoples’ artwork was for sale, but Carrie kind of laughed at the coordinator when he said she should post a price next to her pieces. She was not thinking along those lines. Maybe one day she will be though. I really need to post more pics of her stuff on here; it’s really creative.
Can I ask a teacher question about something I heard discussed on the radio yesterday?
Is it true that there is no scientific evidence that smaller sized classrooms are a better learning environment for students? An example was provided that classes in China and Japan are very large and those students achieve at a higher level.
Just wondering. Thanks