Locations of Teaching
See also: Dealing with young students; Locations of teaching; Teaching resources and training; Teaching responsibilities and Being a Teacher.
Gucheng Branch (Headquarters)
Aihua Gucheng operates in a 3 story purpose built school house that is rented from the Shijingshan Department of Education. This schoolhouse is adjacent to Gu 6 Primary School, and two minutes walk from the Gucheng subway station, which is the second to last station toward the western terminus of line one of the Beijing underground system. On the first floor it has a courtyard, a reception, 4 classrooms, and an administrative office. On the second floor, there are 4 classrooms, a library, a teachers’ room, and two teaching department offices. Each classroom has a multimedia system, including a computer, speakers, an overhead projector and a screen. On the third floor, there is the marketing office and the headmaster’s office.
At Gucheng Aihua, we primarily teach the Pearson and Longman’s Super Kids series for young learners. This series is composed of 6 levels, and students complete a level of Superkids in a term. Each of these books contains 9 standard units, 3 review units, and three topic based units. At Gucheng our Spring and Autumn terms are of 20 weeks. On the 9th week we have midterm exams and on the 19th week we have final exams. On the 10th week and the final week we have open class for parents during which the teacher should demonstrate to the parents what the students have learned so far in the term. The exams and open classes leave 16 weeks for teaching the curriculum. One week should be dedicated to each unit, and to each review unit.
We teach standard and mini Superkid classes at Gucheng Aihua. Standard classes have a maximum of 15 students, and mini classes have a maximum of 8. When teaching a standard Superkids class at Gucheng, the foreign teacher will teach together with a Chinese teacher for 2 periods, and then the Chinese teacher will teach the students alone for an additional two periods. When teaching a mini class, the foreign teacher will teach together with a Chinese teacher for two periods, but the Chinese teacher will not teach additional periods alone. She will, however, use the last ten minutes of class to summarize what the foreign teacher has taught. The foreign teacher should remain in the class during this summary.
We teach the Pearson and Longman’s Supertots series to pre school students at Gucheng Aihua during the weekends. These classes have a maximum of 8 students. A Chinese teacher and a foreign teacher work together for two periods. The program runs for 20 weeks, and has two open classes, but no exams.
We teach the Cambridge New Interchange or Junior New Concept English series to middle and high school students during the weekends. These classes have a maximum of 15 students. A foreign teacher and a Chinese teacher work together for 2 periods, and the Chinese teacher works alone for two periods. The program is of 20 weeks, and 2 weeks are dedicated to open classes, and 2 to exams. New Interchange contains 8 units, so that the teachers should complete a little over one unit per week in order to complete the material in the allotted time.
Adult classes are rare at Aihua, but we do have them on occasion. When we do have them, adult classes roll, and their timing does not correspond with other programs. There is typically a delay between the completion of a level and resumption of study. It is traditional, but not obligatory, for teachers to take students out for dinner with some of the other foreign teachers on the last night of the program.
We occasionally teach one on one classes at Gucheng Aihua, and in these cases we will consult with the students about teaching material, and duration of the program.
Changyin Branch
Aihua’s branch school at Changyin building is in the south west corner of the 6th floor and the south west corner of the 8th floor. At present it has 7 classrooms, a reception, a teacher’s office and an administrative office. This school provides a more up market product than our Gucheng branch. The classes are smaller, and each classroom has an electronic touch screen whiteboard, through which a computer screen might be managed.
At Changyin we mostly teach in the weekday afternoons and to a lesser extent weekends. Our main program here is Pearson and Longman’s Backpack series, which is designed to utilize the electronic white board. There are 6 levels of the Backpack series, and each level takes students 10 months to complete. Teachers should teach one page of the book per period. Backpack classes have a maximum of 8 students. Unlike at our Gucheng branch, the classes do not run by terms, but are continuous and rolling.
We also provide Culture Clubs for the students at Changyin. Culture clubs may have up to 20 students. For these, the teacher must devise a lesson on his own, based upon some aspect of western culture. We encourage teachers to utilize our multimedia facilities, and to be creative in devising these lessons. We intend to change our Culture Club program to the Pearse and Longman Reading House Series in the very near future.
Chanyin also, to a lesser extent, runs preschool, adult, and one on one classes. For our preschool program we use the Pearson and Longman’s Supertots program, and for our adult classes we use New Interchange. We consult with students regarding material used for one on one classes. Unlike at Gucheng, we do not use Chinese co teachers, but study advisors. The study advisor will not be in the class with the teacher, but she will deal with students’ homework, and communicate with the parents.
Zhongguancun
Aihua’s Zhonguancun branch school occupies the first floor of an independent building close to one of the key primary schools in Beijing. It has a reception, a teachers’ room, and 5 classrooms. In terms of teaching resources, class size and curriculum, it runs in the same way as our Changyin branch.
Off Site
During weekdays, we teach at a number of sites other than our own two. All of these are Shijingshan or Da Xing public or community schools. Off site programs are of a 16 – 20 week duration, in correspondence with the terms of the public school system.
In the mornings, we have foreign teachers in the Lugu Community Youth Center, at which we teach pre-school classes. Classes are of about 30 students, and each class is met for one 30 minute period. Our foreign teachers work together with a Chinese co teacher, and the Chinese co teacher will meet these students again for another period alone on another day of the week. We do not provide regular transport to and from this site. It is a 10 minute drive from the school, and five minutes’ walk from the next subway station to the east of the Aihua building, Bajiao Youleyuan.
In mid to late afternoons, we send teachers to the following primary schools: Jing Yuan, Gu 6, Gu 2, Daxing Jin 2,and Shi Fan. We also send teachers to Ping Zhong middle school. Local regulations state that paid classes may not be run at public schools during the regular school day, and so we are busiest during weekday afternoons, typically from 2:00 to 5:30. Teaching material varies from school to school, as the schools dictate what material we should use. Chinese teachers work together with foreign teachers in all of these classes. These programs may or may not include open classes. We usually do have mid and end term exams at off sites.
Apart from the Youth Center, Gu 6 and Gu 2 schools, we organize transportation for teachers to and from all of these teaching sites. Teachers meet at the Aihua building and are taken to the off-site school by our school bus. After teaching, they are collected at the off-site school and returned to the Gucheng Aihua building. The travel time to these off site schools is between 10 ands 20 minutes.
Teachers will typically meet students at off-site primary schools twice per week. They will typically meet middle and high school students once per week.