The monthly staff meeting for Nanjing teachers was short three teachers due to special leave, prompting a gentle reminder that teachers should be careful to stay healthy in this chilly and damp autumn season, and that they must remember to inform JESIE if they are unable to attend scheduled meetings due to appropriate circumstances.  However, Nanjing teachers had two new teachers, Brian McPherson and Joshua Hall, ready to introduce themselves to their new associates.  Welcome, Brian and Josh!

As usual, we started the meeting with teachers sharing their experiences at work and in their daily lives – the key points being reflections or concerns regarding schools, teaching, and life in Nanjing.  While teachers had expressed many concerns regarding classroom management and discipline during October’s meeting, teachers currently felt that they would like to communicate better with the Chinese staff at their schools.  Many teachers felt that they would like to have a better working relationship with their Chinese colleagues, and also be more involved in school activities and assisting the Chinese teachers with English-related issues.

Ping and Val reiterated the need for JESIE teachers to have good work ethics and professional conduct.   Then teachers shared their reflections on their peer-to-peer observation experiences.   In general, teachers enjoyed seeing the teaching styles of other teachers, finding new games and classroom activity ideas to ‘steal’ for their own classes, and seeing different school environments.  While peer observations may be a bit nerve-wracking for those being observed, teachers seemed to value the chance see and learn from others.

The final part of the staff meeting dealt with social media and ongoing JESIE programs.  Val reminded everyone that their photo essays are due by December 15th, and that the testimonials from various teachers are due on December 30th.   He also again requested that teachers submit resource materials that they felt might be helpful for all teachers, whether games, PowerPoints, worksheets, flash cards, or even useful websites.   The meeting quickly then touched on JESIE Open Days, EDIP, the new TEFL training centre, and the lovely new identity tags that teachers recently received.

The meeting ended on a positive note, and everyone departed with the feeling of a job well done.