Post #92 27 March 2016

Gentlefolk,

Last night I did my first post for this semester.  I'm on a roll, so here's another one.

This post is about my teaching schedule; and also includes some photos from the end of last semester.

Alex's teaching schedule

The teaching load for foreign teachers is usually less in the second semester of the academic year. Not sure why, but that has been the case the last few years, and again this semester.

My teaching schedule is shown in the table below. I have seven classes a week (14 teaching hours) but four of those classes (Selected Readings) will end in Week 8. For the last two months of the semester I'll only have three classes a week (6 hours).

At present I have four different classes:

Double Major 1201 + 1202 (total 44 students). Their course is called "Selected Readings in English newspapers and journals".  I have them 4 times a week (Monday and Friday nights, and all Saturday afternoon).
Non Major 60. Their course is "English News".  60 students; 4.10 - 6pm Tuesdays.
Non Major 63. Oral English. 31 students (+ visitors); Tuesday nights.
Non Major 295. Oral English. 30 students (+ visitors); Wednesday nights.

Although I have four classes I have to compile six lesson plans a week (Oral x 1; News x 1; Selected Readings x 4).  Each the four weekly Selected Readings classes requires a new Lesson Plan.  I have managed to be "creative", but even so this semester has been pretty busy, and will continue to be until the Selected Readings course ends in Week 8 ... after that it should be cruisy.

A nice thing about my teaching schedule is that I don't have any 8am starts. I usually get up at 7.30am - way better than 6am for early classes - also means I can get to the gym comfortably by 9am three times a week.  Nice indeed.

The trade-off is that I have 4 night classes, 7 - 8.50pm.  Night classes can be tough: the students are usually tired after a long day and the classes must be lively and interesting to keep them engaged - a challenge.

Alex’s teaching schedule, March - June 2016

Time	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat
2 – 3.50pm						DM1201/2 Selected Readings
4.10 – 6pm		NM60 English News				DM1201/2 Selected Readings
7 – 8.50pm	DM1201/2 Selected Readings	NM63 Oral	NM295 Oral		DM1201/2 Selected Readings

Notes:

DM1201 + 1202 =  Week 1 to Week 8 (last day 23 April 2016)

News & Oral English classes = Week 1 to Week 17 (last day 25 June 2016)

Double Major students

When I first saw my teaching schedule I thought DM1201/2 might be a problem, and that's how it turned out.  

These are Senior Students, in the last semester of their 4th (final) year.  Normally the last semester is 'light' - students are given plenty of time to focus on writing a thesis for their major which they have to pass before they can graduate.  They are also busy preparing for the future, either finding a job, or organising to do further study in China or overseas.

In the case of these students, they are Double Majors and so have to write two thesis papers to graduate, one for their main major and one for their English major.  

They were supposed to do the "Selected Readings" course last semester, but the teacher got sick and the course was postponed until this semester.  

So they have a lot on their minds, and you can imagine that they are less-than-enthused about spending 8 hours a week reading English articles with me! 

I decided to cut them some slack and said that to sit the final exam I expected them to turn up to at least 50% of my classes (the normal university requirement is 85% attendance).

We have just finished Week 4 - half-way through their course - so far so good.   Three or four of the students are not meeting the 50% rule, but I am confident they are all gainfully employed and will let them sit the final exam; it would not be fair to delay their graduation for the sake of a few English articles!

Final year students are assigned topics for their thesis papers by their teachers. They have to write 7 - 8,000 word essays; and then must defend their conclusions in a formal meeting with faculty staff before they can graduate.

Here are some examples of topics of students in DM1201/2:

"Translation of The Economist Style Guide"
"Translation of culture-loaded words in English subtitles of the popular TV series Mi Yue"
"Analyse the misuse of the definite and indefinite articles by Non Major students"
"Analyse The Color Purple (by Alice Walker) from the perspective of post-structuralism"
"American personal heroism exhibited in Marvel movies" (Iron Man; Captain America, etc)
"Translation of Science Dissemination using Open Access"
"Study the Mis-translation of Chinese film titles into English titles"
"Translation of History of Creation (by Bill Mesler)"
"A study of the American jury system based on the 1995 OJ Simpson trial"

Some of these are pretty esoteric subjects, don't you think?  Glad I don't have to write these essays. Of course, the thesis topics for their main major (eg Chemical Engineering; Geology; Financial management; etc) are more technical.


Here are some photos taken in January, at the end of the last semester.

8 January 2016 Graduation ceremony for the group from Sinopec (Zhong Shi Hua) Construction Company #10. They will build a petrochemical plant in Kuwait.  I'm sitting in the front row with all the company 'heavies'.  My speech encouraged them to find ways to keep up their new-found fluency in English.

Some of the students in the Sinopec Training Group. The class leader, David Li Cheng Kun (in the center of the photo), was a great help.    They were a nice group. I became quite close to several, including Frank Guo Qing Hai (third from right).

12 January 2016. The foreign teachers (from left: Michael, Gautier, Seven, Vera & I ) hosted a lunch for our "leader" in the International Office, Liu Li Na. She is going on maternity leave so we won't see her for a few months. 

Liu Li Na proposing a toast.  Foreign teachers come under the International Office and she was directly responsible for us.  She has been a wonderful 'boss', gentle and kind. We all wished her well for the new baby (a girl, born in February 2016).

Liu Lin Na with her husband Dr Sun Gang Yun and daughter Sun Xiao Qi (Si Si). 

Vera with her Saturday night private students: Shu Ming; Gavin; and Helen (Shu Ming's daughter).

Vera with Susie Zhu Shan.  Susie was my Liaison Teacher four years ago.  We became good friends, and still meet for lunch every week.  In 2013 Susie translated my book "It's all about the students"; it would not have been published without her help and encouragement.

Me with Albert Wang He, still the only student to get all the short questions right in my Western Culture exam.

...

We have just finished Week 4 - hard to believe that 25% of this semester is done - time flies when you're having fun.

I have a new Liaison Teacher this semester, Kathy Wu Qian.  She is lovely and very helpful, so I'm sure that everything will go smoothly.

...

Well folks, that's enough for this post.

The weather has finally warmed up - max of 20C today - it looks as if Spring is here at last.

Keep well and keep smiling.

Alex & Vera Olah
English teachers at the China University of Petroleum, Qingdao
www.upc.edu.cn
Sunday 27 March 2016