Teaching thoughts and May Holiday in/outdoor festivities

I finished-up my final week of biotech lectures last week.  The coming final couple of weeks of the semester should be pretty straight-forward.

 

Overall, I very much enjoyed the teaching experience with my specific section of medical and science lectures.  Not every student found value in it, but I think that the majority did.  The students all did a wonderful job discussing the dense topics in their groups, expanding their proficiency in the English language.  The presentations were a delightful reflection about the content of each different groups' discussion the insight that the students brought forth  from it.

 

There are always some students that find the material more pertinent to their studies/life and find ways to dig deeper and make the subject more personal.  I have found that the most rewarding part of teaching for me, thus far, has been seeing these types of students in action.  As I present the material, I see their cogs working and it helps to neutralize the glare from many glazed-over looks.  It's nice to see that someone is home from time-to-time.

 

In general, as I have recently finished up my undergrad, I am glad that I can relate to students and the underlying meaning of 8am classes and anticipation of the last class before the start of the weekend and the day before vacation.

 

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I have decided against doing a trip over my May Holiday week, however short, and stay around town to save money for the 30-day trip that I am in the midst of planning.  I have invited a student to come along to be my translator; paying his way.  It will be a great opportunity for the student to travel in his own country, which many people from China are never able to do, and we can both improve our foreign language skills.  I know that we will learn a lot from each other and am looking forward to seeing more of the sights and sounds of the land - city and country.

 

I am balancing this week between spending more time in the parks around the city and an ALIAS TV series home marathon (Seasons 1-3, a 22-disc set... please, somebody stop me)!