Teachers' Preparation Work

In the afternoon, while I was watching the last part of Charlie Chaplin's movie Modern Times, Melody (陳美麗老師) called to borrow the CD of The Phantom of the Opera, which she needs for Lesson Nine in Book I. She asked me which version of the song "The Phantom of the Opera" is on my CD. According to her search on YouTube, there are two versions. She had to make sure so that she could get the right lyrics for the students. As a teacher, one often has work on his/her mind even when he/she is not working.

Take me for example. I was watching the film so as to decide on which part(s) to show students before we start Lesson Nine "A Memorable Event" by Chaplin, which is about Chaplin's first appearance onstage. Watching Chaplin's acting skills, the students will be more motivated to read this story. For this lesson, Anna (張倚鳳老師), who is always so organized, found in her files an introductory article about Chaplin, which she got from an encyclopedia five years ago, the Q & A I made for the article then, and the song "Smile" and a word game Tracy (陳品璇老師), a student teacher last year, used during her teaching demonstration. Mei-yun (張美雲老師) bought and watched a video of Chaplin's "The Kid." She even prepared a cloze activity for the movie. Ushuan (陳育萱老師) shared with us what she used 2 years ago--three clips from the movie "City Lights."

A teacher's job is challenging and fun, including not only teaching in the classroom but also preparing lessons outside of class! And when working as a team, we all enjoy greater resources.