Teaching demos, feedback, stupid laws, and left legs

Steph was texting the score updates to Joey, since the poor guy (who got an internship at Ipsos-Reid) was stuck at Joe's wedding rehearsal - she'll do the same on Saturday night, since he's stuck at the wedding banquet! "People shouldn't schedule weddings when the playoffs are here, man!" Hahaha, so true!

I asked Corey how his teaching demo went:

[02:05:58] Flami: so how was the demo?
[02:12:22] Corey: ,kk,kmnkbkdifdoknkkkvnllkninnknnkkniihibibbnbib
[02:12:33] Corey: well, okay...
[02:13:23] Corey: I think I got a decent reaction from it, but I'm clearly not an amazing / comfortable / experienced teacher. I also only got through 25% of my material before running out of time (and the big thing was making them talk a lot, most of which was supposed to happen in the other parts)
[02:14:35] Corey: but the teacher (the real teacher :P) that watched me (not a manager or something, oddly) said I did a good job of keeping them interested, and kept their attention well, and used sentences like "when you have your own class, you'll get plenty of practice to figure out pacing, and new ways to teach" etc.. which sounds good
[02:16:15] Corey: but, I don't think she's in charge of hiring me, so I don't know :P depends on what she told the real boss, I guess. from what she told me, I'd guess she told them I'm inexperienced (they know that), but promising with some practice
[02:17:09] Corey: they also don't require teaching experience, so if my methods are good, then I'd think that's pretty good. I've gotten along just fine with everyone I've met there so far, and the boss (I only talked to her briefly on the phone) seemed friendly enough and spoke English really well
[02:23:03] Flami: that sounds better than the other place
[02:26:25] Corey: the other place didn't give me any real feedback... they just said "okay, we welcome you to work here"
[02:26:39] Corey: but this place is a bit worrying because they really don't tell me a damn thing
[02:26:53] Flami: oh
[02:27:01] Corey: the TEACHERS have been nice, but the people that actually work there (bosses or non-teachers) barely speak to me
[02:27:19] Corey: so it's been great with the students and other teachers, but I don't think any of them are in charge of hiring me
[02:27:27] Corey: it was also odd that nobody watched my demo
[02:27:53] Corey: I'm sure they'll ask the teacher her opinion of me at least, but I figured someone in charge of something would be in on that
[02:28:59] Corey: but, the online reaction to this place is that they're totally legit (most places are not.. for example, the job that screwed me over was actually illegal in the first place since the government has declared it illegal for foreign people to teach kindergarten for whatever reason)
[02:29:34] Corey: aside from that, the online reaction to that place was almost completely negative
[02:29:53] Corey: the only complaints about this place is that some teachers felt unprepared to teach there, just kind of thrown into a room with no plan
[02:30:02] Corey: and sometimes you don't get enough hours
[02:32:46] Corey: those aren't great, but I'll take issues like that instead of stuff that will get me deported
[02:32:46] Corey: those are actual normal work complaints, not illegal or shady stuff
[02:37:52] Flami: that does sound a bit odd, but the actual complaints about this place seem to be normal
[02:38:34] Corey: they rarely enforce the "no kindergarten" rule, but you get deported if you're caught
[02:39:14] Corey: they openly advertise that they have foreign teachers to attract students, and they openly hire foreign people (and don't tell them it's even illegal most of the time).
[02:40:10] Corey: some places actually have airlock type doors, so they can block inspections for a couple minutes before letting the police in, so they can ring a bell that signals the foreign teachers to get the hell out, or get to an older kids' classroom immediately
[02:41:16] Corey: supposedly, the police don't care about it at all, and generally put their kids in kindergartens with foreign teachers. the people want their kids learning English from an early age, so they grow up actually knowing it well. someone in the government basically doesn't like foreign people, and says that puts too much stress on the kids
[02:42:37] Corey: the law is pretty retarded as it is right now, though. basically, there's no fewer foreign teachers, and 99% of the time, the foreign teachers don't even know they're doing anything wrong. with this law, though, someone that doesn't like the school can report their foreign teachers just to screw over that school... or some government official can ruin the day of some foreign people whenever they feel like it
[02:43:12] Corey: they should enforce the rules, or just not have them
[02:43:52] Corey: and now, dinner part one :P then probably an interview for this school, but maybe just observing a class again, and dinner part two later with Jane :P


Trivia fact for Friday, Apr. 16: What notorious Revolutionary War figure is memorialized in a national park with a marble bas-relief of his left leg? Benedict Arnold. The sculpture, in New York's Saratoga National Park, is on the site of a fierce battle that was won by the heroic future traitor, who was shot in his gout-ridden left leg during the fighting. There is no direct mention of Arnold in the bizarre tribute, which is inscribed "in memory of the most brilliant soldier of the Continental Army..."