Friday in China

Friday???? Already???? But there is still so much to learn!!!  

This morning we broke into our 4 groups and taught various lessons. I taught about non-verbal communication. The teachers were amazed at how easy it is to make picture cards to use to communicate. Earlier in the week I went around and took photos of various objects in the rooms and had them printed. One of the teachers helped make labels for them and then we laminated them with some self stick sheets I had with me. I showed them how to use velcro to make it easy to attach and remove the photos. Something so easy that they can all do in their schools. 

After lunch I taught the entire group about articulation skills, sound development and how to help the students make some sounds they are having trouble with. There was lots of laughter as they were saying /bbbbb/ and /kkkkk/.  Afterwards, most of the teachers went outside with Lisa and AJ to play with the kids and use the parachute and sidewalk chalk while Michele and I stayed in with the Jinjiang teachers to talk about individual students and answer questions they had. 

Play time was a blast! The kids loved the gliders Lisa had and the parachute. There were drawings all over the sidewalks. We even got in a circle and sang 'Ring Around the Rosie' and other songs. Despite the language barrier, most of the kids did the Hokey Pokey and discovered that that is what it's all about!

After dinner we had a party. The kids were treated to KFC and Coke. Oh the smiles!  Every group of teachers did a skit or song - even us! We sang 'The Itsy Bitsy Spider' and 'I'm a Little Teapot' for them. The director gave a speech and then I gave a short speech. We presented a plaque to the school. All of the teachers received certificates and bracelets from LWB. There were smiles, tears and tons of photos!!!

Finally we presented the school managers with two large bags of donations each. One was filled with teaching supplies and the other was stuffed full of donations for the various orphanages. 

I think we learned as much from the teachers this week as they did from us. From a Speech Therapist perspective, this is a drop in the bucket, but the ripple effects with touch many, many kids. I truly hope they use their new skills and are not overwhelmed with all the information they received.  I am so grateful to have the chance to help them learn how to be more effective teachers to their students.