Week 5 is when I truly settled into my routine in Taiwan. Since I was no longer struggling with accommodation or adjusting to the language, I found my stride with teaching this week, where I was responsible for four classes. We primarily focused on food this week, teaching the kids English words for common food, and teaching them how to ask someone what their favourite food is.
Personally, the biggest challenge this week was learning to balance between being strict with the kids while still being approachable and friendly. Since many of the children we teach have developmental disabilities, they often struggle with regulation, sensory overload, and other distractions. Given that there are 25 kids in the class, this can often make it very difficult to keep the kids focused for long periods of time. My current strategy is to constantly switch between lecture-style teaching and activities, since that seems to keep the kids more focused rather than committing too much time to a single activity.
Since my breakthrough last week in discovering that the children really enjoy Pokemon, I've been integrating it into more of my classes! They seem to be raised in a fairly screen-free environment, so I think the presence of games or other hobbies within the class, even if it is just pictures, is something that excites them a lot. Catering to students' interests is something that I intend to continue with in future lessons, as well as when I tutor other students in the future!
Next week will be my last week teaching. Though my experiences in Taiwan have been turbulent and it has been quite a struggle to manage the classroom sometimes, it's something that I have deeply enjoyed. I will miss it for sure!