The Tale of “Peanut” She is a small, sprightly girl. She is in the sixth grade. Her name is Peanut. I must refrain from smiling too much as I call her name. Her classmates don’t seem to think anything is askance. In China, some students choose English names close in pronunciation to a given Chinese…
Tag: teaching
It’s the little things
Like the extra 35 minutes I have now. My Chinese homeroom counterpart is taking care of the Chinese moral/character class. Full Chinese, mandated by government. Friday afternoons, I teach the 50 minute Character Development in English. Now that colleague confirmed with me that I need not attend, I’m off writing to you all, thankful for…
Collecting Kids, and Cake
Day III back in school since March 11th: Someone somewhere was collecting our kids today. Some just could not be found. I don’t think they were in danger, but even our department head was wondering who was collecting them and bringing them to where. I had to collect my own before last period. Round them…
The Kids Are Back, Day II
The Kids Are Back For First Time Since March 11th, Day II: Highlights —Somehow yesterday I became “Mr. Kyle” after two colleagues called me this in front of students. Now new sixth graders are calling me “Mr. Kyle.”🤣 —A sixth grader in my homeroom who I just met was involved in FIVE different “violent” incidents…
Students are Back! First Day in Class Since March 11th
Some witnessings of the day: A sixth grade boy removing ear wax from the ear of a fellow sixth grade boy. A girl brand new to our school offering to give a brand new mask she had to another student—five of whom did not have a mask within an hour of arriving at school. “I…
Chill the **** Out
You know that feeling, the gnawing keeping you up night before a big event—such as students returning to campus for the first time since Friday, March 11th? Chill. Just chill the **** out. What else is there to do? Burn ourselves with stress for what? Life is oh so short. The kids are all probably…
Surprise
Return to the office (school), Day VI Some surprises are not welcome. Finally settling in, actually kind of looking forward to meeting the homeroom no one in job interview ever told me I’d have, my Chinese co-teacher & I had plans. We’d established good rapport. We put up background paper and border over the cork…
Where Will You Go?
As you work your job, making the money to support your lifestyle, where will you go? What is your true passion? What is your creative or life goal(s)? Perhaps it’s one and the same with your job. For that, you are blessed. Perhaps it’s a hybrid, as mine partially is—earning income from teaching reading-writing, but…
“Just Smile”
Day II: Back in School (teachers and staff only) That’s what Sherry told me. 5 preps. 4 different grades. 2-3 different subjects, depending on how you look at things. Principal acknowledging my new schedule is among top 3-4 most packed/complex. I could cry. I could scream and yell. But Sherry told me to smile. And…
A Lot More to Add, But First This…
19:00/7pm. I have a ton more pics and stories to share. Many are already in FB feed (Kyle Macy Hall, Shanghai). I’ll get more in here in near future… Meanwhile, how’s a man supposed to feel about going into the office tomorrow at 08:00 for the first time in about 5 months? Due to online…
Check Out This Podcast:
Please check out this new podcast episode, hosted by my friend Tiffanie from Louisville’s Seneca High… podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s03e13-kyle-macy-hall-educator-writer-marathoner-chinaedition/id1141563918
The End? No, It’s Only Just Begun…
Summer’s over? Way I see things, the adventure is beginning…Last night’s job offer in Shanghai shows me there is a wide world out there awaiting discovery. I love America. I have become a quasi-New Yorker. I am a wannabe Kentuckian. Yet, I am compelled to seek. Finding myself alone in many ways, I am impassioned…
Don't Let My Parents Read This 