My Schedule

I figured that I should take the time to explain what I do every day, as my schedule is not exactly simple.

Monday-Wednesday I go to school Number 7. I have to be there from 8am-5pm. I get picked up at 7:30 in the morning by my regular driver. And when I say driver, I mean, tricycle. It costs me 8 yuan (about $1.25) to go from my house to Number 7. I could take the bus, which costs 1.5 yuan ($0.25), but it is always really crowded, incredibly hot, and I am terrified that I will miss my stop and end up lost in the city. So, I stick with my trike. It is convenient, and gets me to school in a timely manner. I don't know my driver's name, and he regularly tries to talk to me in Chinese and somehow hasn't figured out that I have no idea what he is saying. However, he is one of the safest drivers that I've seen. 

Each morning I teach my 6^th graders at the elementary school. I have six different classes, each with about 32 students, that I teach once a week.

I then teach 10^th grade US History, and 11^th grade ESL. The ESL class is divided into two groups: A group for the advanced students, and B group for the not-so-advanced. The A class and B class meet together on Tuesdays so that they can work on projects together.

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday
1 8:10-8:50	ESL Grade 6 – Class 7	ESL Grade 6 – Class 6	ESL Grade 6–Class 12
2 9:00-9:40	ESL Grade 6 – Class 8	ESL Grade 6 – Class 5	ESL Grade 6–Class 11
3 10:00-10:40
4 10:50-11:30	History Grade 10		ESL 11B
5 11:40-12:20	History Grade 10	History Grade 10	ESL 11A
Lunch 12:20-1:20
Tutoring 1:20-2:30	English Lab	English Lab	English Lab
6 2:30-3:10	ESL 11A		History Grade 10
7 3:25-4:05	ESL 11B	ESL 11A/11B
8 4:15-4:55

When I am not teaching, I am working at my desk. Right now, I spend time creating the curriculum and writing lesson plans. However, in a few weeks when I get the hang of how everything works, I know that I am going to have a ton of time on my hands. This is where Netflix becomes my best friend.

On Thursdays I go to school Number 4 a.k.a. Shishi High school. The company car picks me up from the apartment at 8, and I get to the school at 9. I teach two classes of 11^th grade ESL in the morning, and two classes of 10^th grade ESL in the afternoon. One of the other foreign teachers teaches these classes on all of the other days of the week. I only teach on Thursdays to cover the culture lessons in the textbook.

On Friday I go back to Number 7. I have no classes on Fridays, but I still have to show up for school. I only have to be in my office from 8:30-12:00 as all of the students leave at noon to go home and we all get half days.