Our day was spent at the Dandelion School, a school for the children of migrant workers of very little means. Nonetheless, the day was rewarding and fun. After being exposed to the spacious and clean Shanghai No. 3 Girl's School, I think it is safe to say we were all a little shocked when we entered the Dandelion School. The artwork around the school, made by artist Lily Yeh (a well known Chinese painter) is absolutely stunning and gives the school a creative and positive vibe, but the sanitary conditions are not all they could be. The small classrooms all have dirt floors and the dormitories are extremely cramped. Students sleep on cold metal bunk beds, in identical looking white rooms with very little decoration or individualism. I think that sharing such a little blank space would personally drive me crazy, but the students seemed to be happy and well adjusted. After school they have many options as to which sport. instrument, or hobby they wish to do with their friends. They have hot meals every day and their teachers are all enthusiastic and want to provide them with the best education they can possibly give.
Despite living in some rough conditions, the kids of the Dandelion School are absolutely amazing. They greeted us with shy waves and smiles as we entered but eagerly played basketball and ping-pong with us. The English lesson that we taught to two different classes involved a remake of Hansel and Gretel which the kids loved, even if they couldn't follow the story perfectly. After our performance we split into smaller groups and encouraged the kids to give reading the lines a go. The first group I worked with did a wonderful job and were all very giggly and very adorable. Somehow the lesson turned into a loud sing-a-long including Adele and Taylor Swift that the students insisted on, and in this moment I felt so connected with these kids. Although we live thousands of miles apart and come from extremely different backgrounds, a simple song, such as Baby by Justin Bieber, can bring us all together in a moment of pure happiness. I felt that even though our language barrier was quite difficult to get over, we shared this moment of joy together and this reminded me that kids across the globe, people across the globe, yearn to be happy and to connect with others.
As the day went on, we all struggled a bit more. The school lunch we were served was borderline inedible, maybe except for the white rice,though we all tried to make it look like we were enjoying it. After pretending to devour our trays of unidentified meats and vegetables, we got ready to teach our second and last class of the day. We were warned that these children's knowledge of English was on a lower level and they would have a much harder time understanding the play. This definitely was apparent and sharing each other's names was difficult, let alone teaching a whole lesson. Although the second lesson of the day was extremely hard to teach, we still all felt joy in listening to our assigned students try to pronounce every word and read their lines slowly and carefully. I was amazed at how good their English was for middle schol students with much less experience. My high school Spanish could never compare to their relative mastery. Overall, this day was wonderfully spent and it felt great to get out of bustling Beijing and do something really productive and generous with our time.
-Nora Markham
Despite living in some rough conditions, the kids of the Dandelion School are absolutely amazing. They greeted us with shy waves and smiles as we entered but eagerly played basketball and ping-pong with us. The English lesson that we taught to two different classes involved a remake of Hansel and Gretel which the kids loved, even if they couldn't follow the story perfectly. After our performance we split into smaller groups and encouraged the kids to give reading the lines a go. The first group I worked with did a wonderful job and were all very giggly and very adorable. Somehow the lesson turned into a loud sing-a-long including Adele and Taylor Swift that the students insisted on, and in this moment I felt so connected with these kids. Although we live thousands of miles apart and come from extremely different backgrounds, a simple song, such as Baby by Justin Bieber, can bring us all together in a moment of pure happiness. I felt that even though our language barrier was quite difficult to get over, we shared this moment of joy together and this reminded me that kids across the globe, people across the globe, yearn to be happy and to connect with others.
As the day went on, we all struggled a bit more. The school lunch we were served was borderline inedible, maybe except for the white rice,though we all tried to make it look like we were enjoying it. After pretending to devour our trays of unidentified meats and vegetables, we got ready to teach our second and last class of the day. We were warned that these children's knowledge of English was on a lower level and they would have a much harder time understanding the play. This definitely was apparent and sharing each other's names was difficult, let alone teaching a whole lesson. Although the second lesson of the day was extremely hard to teach, we still all felt joy in listening to our assigned students try to pronounce every word and read their lines slowly and carefully. I was amazed at how good their English was for middle schol students with much less experience. My high school Spanish could never compare to their relative mastery. Overall, this day was wonderfully spent and it felt great to get out of bustling Beijing and do something really productive and generous with our time.
-Nora Markham