There was another young Chinese girl crying today, and this one was my fault.
I gave back the presentation grades. She's an excellent student, but she didn't do that well on the presentation. She screwed up the group work portion and lost lots of points, bringing her entire grade down. And she had a problem with it.
During the break, she tried to talk to me about it. Telling me she actually was working, following the directions, speaking English. When I had observed actions quite to the contrary. She kept saying the same thing over and over again. Eventually, I told her there was nothing she could say. I gave them specific instructions, many of them didn't follow them, and they lost points accordingly.
She stomped back to her seat, kicked her chair, and started crying. In the front row.
Aghast, I sort of stared at her for a minute, not understanding. She's a smart girl. She knew she didn't follow my directives. I didn't understand why she was throwing a two year old girl fit.
I met with another teacher because, now that the semester is nearly complete, they who be in charge have decided that our classes should be the same since the students are getting the same credit for it. We worked out how to make it look like we've been following the same curriculum. Whatever.
Then, I found out that I have to teach the Saturday when my mom and sister are in Beijing because they moved the Monday classes to Saturday. I'll have to figure something out.
Now, I'm in my apartment. Hungry, but I don't feel like cooking or going out. Cold, but I can't make the heat warmer. Tired, but I don't want to wake up at four in the morning. Bored, but I don't feel like watching yet another movie.
Today was mediocre at best.
