Site Interview, last day of Model School

Same day:

We had site placement interviews and it was the last day for Model School, which meant we were testing our students on what we taught.

I wore my Crocs around until it was time for my interview. I put on my socks and dress shoes, tucked in my shirt, and I was ready to go.

Alissa and several Site Managers were there to interview everyone. Gansu, Sichuan, and Guizhou were there. They asked these questions:

What is your greatest strength in teaching?

What did you enjoy most about model school?

What was the most challenging aspect of model school?

What expectations do you have about teaching in China?

Besides teaching, what other activities do you think you might like to implement?

What are 2 ways in which you hope to characterize your Peace Corps experience?

Anything else you want us to know?

I knew that the answers to these questions would determine, in a large part, where I would be placed for the next two years, thought it wasn't transparent. I had a good idea of what I could say to steer me toward one area or another. I could have really influenced them to put me at an urban site (which was my preference), but I decided not to. I was honest with my answers and left them open. I told them I was flexible.

When it comes down to it, I could do either rural or urban. I would adapt to either environment and there are pros and cons to both. Every area is different. I would rather be in a bigger city, but I know i would be giving up a more intimate community.

Nick and I collaborated again for the final day of Model School. Our class gave two group presentations. Dave watched and advised us that we should have had a rubric and written down our assessments while watching the groups present.

To be honest, I had kind of given up on that with this class. Throughout the two weeks, the students came and went as they felt like it. We had to constantly reshuffle the groups, the syllabus, and the lesson plans every day. We didn't know what to expect that last day. We seriously thought no one would show up at all. 5 students came, out of the 14 we started with.

At the very least, they presented with an introduction, body, and conclusion, like i taught them, and they split up the speaking parts fairly evenly. I suppose that's all I could ask for.

We handed out certificates of completion to the students, had some snacks and drinks, and we played hang man. Our site manager came in to watch and she even joined in on the hang man. All the students had to get pictures of us and tried to get us to go out with them to see pandas. We respectfully declined. And that was that.

It was Antoinette's birthday, so Sandor (her model school partner) bought her a little cake. She had had a rough week teaching for the first time. The candle was a complicated contraption in the shape of a lotus that spewed fire viciously at your face when you lit it. Then it played Happy Birthday apologetically and indefinitely until you smashed it to pieces to get it to shut up. Max had gotten Claire the same thing the week before for her birthday. a big group of us went to get drinks down the street to celebrate the end of Model School and Antoinette's birthday.

The rain continued to pour and the streets became rivers. It rained the entire day.