Not a teacher. An Engineer.

We are here to teach as much as ESL teachers are, Then when the Government think they have sucked as dry they will probably want to chuck us out.

I know at least a dozen Chinese Engineers who have benefited from the guidance myself and others have given. Problem solving, confidence, and the most important... understanding cause and effect.

Give me a run of the mill Chinese Engineer after you have given him/her a good grounding in English, and I will change him/her into a real Engineer. Employable anywhere, and in demand everywhere.

Education does not end at gaining a certificate, that's where it begins.

But without that spark that good teachers impart into their students, I would have no raw material to work with.

Indeed, if it were not for a spark that a teacher had ignited in me at age 15, I would probably be in my home country emptying  bins.

Teaching is one of the most important professions on Earth, without a doubt.  But we all teach in our own way.

Thanks Mr Touch (pronounced Tougch in Scotland), for igniting that spark in me. He is probably long gone now. But I will never forget him

As a teacher, I know I am impacting my kid's lives. English is only a part of the lesson plan. I become their mentor, their friend, their uncle, and much more. As an ESL teacher, we move from school to school. My QQ is loaded with over 300 former students that stay in touch with me. We talk about issues that they don't want to talk about with friends and family. We support each other in good and bad times. This year, many are finishing high school and entering university. Many times, I am the first they contact when they have some good news.

Kids are the same all over the world. They need love and support. They hunger for hugs and attention. Their parents do not give them those things. So, they seek it out among their friends. And, as a friend, they know they can get a hug from me or a kind word when they need it. I joke that I have over 3000 kids in my life. But, when they are with me, they are my kids. I love them as a parent would. And, I am very protective of them.

When I was working at a summer camp last year, our camp shared a dorm with another camp. Our kids were being a bit rowdy one night. Kids and camp...love the environment. One of the teachers from the other camp came to our side of the dorm and began yelling at our kids. I raced up the stairs and I began yelling at this Chinese guy. He may not understand English. But, he definitely understood that he had a very pissed off American in his face making him lose face in front of everyone. I never heard or saw him again all summer.

With the change in teenagers in China and dating becoming more common, I am often looked to for advice on matters of the heart. I am the shoulder to cry on. My Chinese co-teachers know that they had best not try any physical abuse of my kids. They have discovered that respect is a two way street. They have learned very early that falling asleep in class or using a cell phone has consequences that are not easy for them.

I love being a teacher and a mentor to my kids. I will finish with one additional piece of information. Many people have a hard time remembering their school classmates from years ago. Friends come and go. But, most of us will remember our teachers we had. That is something very special for a teacher to know that your legacy lives in the kids that you teach.

I taught them how to make some mean-ass paper aeroplanes. They flew for miles.If I hadn't been there they might still be making crappy ones.

My first and only year teaching, I was kind of a crap teacher but I tried my best. I enjoyed the higher level classes because the students could understand me and have some thoughts of their own. Anyway, I taught them many forbidden western thoughts and explained why they are true. I'll never forget their faces as I saw the lightbulbs light up in their heads. Fixing China's broken education system one student at a time. 

i was stuck teaching youngsters simple things, because i was pinned down to a small city by family. i learned to use simple English to communicate complex things, and the kids understood me. i tried to improve their reasoning with WHY questions, and they knew when they heard that word, it was time for an interesting (albeit simple) anecdote after a round of guessing. those who guessed even close to the right answer would get abundant praise, and the massive facegain would send their egos through the roof - they were the unofficial winner for the day. some never got past mantras. typical wrong answers were like: "the chameleon is brown yingwei he likes brown." or "yingwei he wants chocolate. it makes him HAPPY." or "the chameleon is brown yingwei his skin turns brown."

the kid who observes that the tree he climbs on is brown, gets enormous encouragement from me. that's real thinking, and thinking is good. next i can get them to guess the concept of camouflage and its purpose. cause and effect.

d'you think i just confused them with mixed messages? public school has been drilling anti-intellectual conformity into them for years.

For years, in terms of career satisfaction (in the West anyway) the teaching profession has always been among the top on the list. Doctors too (I have to say I am a bit disappointed to see that somehow has changed according to this survey.)

As a guest lecturer in universities I fully agree that teaching in itself is a pleasure (obviously that also depends on the quality of your students).  This is something I don't think those who teach JUST for the money can ever understand or experience. 

To answer the question though, I gave my little contribution to the existence of PRC's present telecommunication network; coaching, albeit only a minor part, was equally enjoyable .  

1. Singers 

2. Municipal Fire Fighters  3. Aircraft Assemblers - Structure, Surfaces, Rigging & Systems 4. Pediatricians - General  5. College Professors - Communications 6. Educational, Vocational & School Counselors 7. Managers/Supervisors of Animal Husbandry & Animal Care Workers 8. Criminal Investigators & Special Agents 9. College Professors - Psychology 10. College Instructors - Vocational Studies www.myplan.com/careers/top-ten/highest-job-satisfaction.php

My proudest personal moment ever in my many years of teaching came a few months ago, when the film "Interstellar" came out. As a middle school maths and sciences teacher, I personally added to the curriculum topics like binary to decimal or decimal to binary conversion, 0D-1D-2D-3D-4D, time-space, basic astronomy, etc.

Two male students came to me and told me they really liked the film and understood alot of what was going on in it. BOOM ! Mission accomplished !

I could give an answer along the lines of "I've taught eager and motivated university students to write basic research papers and I've helped some great kids study abroad while quadrupling my income since I arrived" but honestly I've accomplished very little in China. I graduated from a top 10 university in the US with a degree in substance abuse, gambling addiction, severe depression and a very unhealthy self-deprecating mindset. In China I've gained a much healthier perspective on life, given up my bad habits, gotten married and become a responsible adult mentor and role model to a few young people in need of one. Professionally I haven't accomplished anything. Most of my former classmates are now lawyers, in business schools, medical schools or working on Wall Street. I basically ran away, and I'm not ashamed to admit it because I completely screwed my life up and come from a sick twisted family. I'm not ashamed that I ran away because I've started something new and I haven't accomplished a lot but when I look in the mirror every morning I see a real man. When I looked in the mirror 5 years ago, I saw a piece of shit coward. 

Honestly, I got a CELTA last year, pass A, and helped my wife get he MA in linguistics at a Chinese University, and all in all, I have achieved nothing. I've had a good time, and I get paid almost three times what I made my first year in the PRC, but in terms of friends, savings, or really learning Chinese I've done pretty much nothing. If anything I've learned I need to get the hell out of here, and never to take western democratic values for granted. The next time a liberal tells me people are the same all over the world, and all cultures are equal, I'll ask him how many businesses has he ever been excluded from for being white (Korea) how many times he saw people beat their wife in public (China) or how many drunk 14 year olds he was propositioned by. (Russia)

So I came to China to teach ESL. I would say my two greatest achievements in ESL was preparing Chinese students for job interviews. I did a lot with them, got them really prepared and fixed up their resumes... which would have been tossed in the garbage previously.

Fortunately, they were all hired. One become a pilot for Air China, another became a music teacher for a British international school... so that was really cool. Because it felt like I was handing them the tools to build a life and a future.

For my own personal achievements, I learned to speak Mandarin on my own (no easy task), got married, bought an apartment (with no help of any kind), moved from ESL and started my own successful businesses.