China is a big fan of nowism. Nothing illustrates this fact more clearly than the news I received this afternoon that my teaching schedule will completely change, starting tomorrow morning.
Yes, as of tomorrow, I will no longer be teaching 15 third and fourth grade classes. Instead, I will teach 16 first grade classes.
Me, age 6. But don't be fooled: behind that gap-toothed smile is a devil in disguise.
I have a confession to make: I was a brat in grade school.
In Kindergarten at St. Michael Catholic School, it was almost guaranteed that you could find me sitting in the corner on a daily basis. My teacher, Mrs. Pavelek, frequently sent me there because I never shut up.
That same year, I stole toys from class, Latchkey and even store displays. My mom, a city prosecutor, gave me a tour of a jail cell and told me I’d end up there if I continued my thievery.
In first grade, I got a C in conduct.
At the end of recess on a cold day in second grade, our principal, Sister Dolores Ann, pulled me out of line and took me back to her office. She wrote me up because I was being too loud.
And in fourth grade, I got a B- in conduct because I did self-assigned art projects in the middle of other classes. My teacher that year once endearingly referred to me as a motor-mouth.
This confession comes about after recent encounters with difficult students. As you know, I am an English teacher at Luoling Primary in Shenzhen, China. Each week, I teach 15 classes — 10 fourth grade and 5 third grade. Each class contains around 50-60 students, of which there are bound to be troublemakers.
Bridget O'Donnell is a designer for Ataway in Shanghai, China. She previously worked for the China Daily and graduated from the University of Michigan in 2009. More »