School Visits
Beijing Foreign Languages School
While in Beijing we had the opportunity to observe a variety of classes at the Beijing Foreign Languages School. Each of us were dispersed throughout the school from grade levels seven to eleven. Our associate teachers were the foreign language teachers that were able to speak and teach English as a second language. On a daily basis, these teachers had around three to four 40 minute classes that we observed. In addition, we would observe a variety of different classes, and many of us made an effort to observe classes in our specific subject areas. These additional classes were not typically taught in English, which was interesting because we were able to observe how the content was delivered in different subject areas, as well as different classroom management techniques.
One of the main observations that we all noticed was that the classes were much smaller than we anticipated. Our assumption of the classroom size was thought to be around 90 students, however we surprised to see that most classes ranged from about 15-40 students.
Another major theme across all of our class observations is that the teachers all use teacher-centred classes, which means that the classes are majority lecture based with some individual or sometimes partner work. The teachers often rush to finish the content dedicated to the lesson, and therefore are unable to do effective student-centred learning because they need to get through the content to stay on track with the curriculum and other teachers. This rush is the same pressure that teacher felt across all grade levels. Although the classes were very lecture based, students stayed engage through question and answers. Additionally, at the end of each class, teachers assigned homework due to the time restriction of the classes, as well as giving the students more opportunities for learning.
Public School in Beijing
One school visit we all really enjoyed visiting was the public school in Beijing. The principal of the school was very innovative. I really loved how each student had the opportunity to learn things that they wanted to learn. In one period we saw students taking classes in vocal music, band, robotics, soccer and dance. This wide variety of class choices demonstrated to me that this school aimed at creating an educational experience for the students that was very tailored to what they wanted to get out of their schooling. My favourite part of the school was the art exhibit that they put on for one of their students. In this exhibit there was art work from when the student was just little, to current day masterpieces and even just doodles. I thought this was a brilliant idea to showcase the talent that they have at their school, as well as make the students feel special which will hopefully encourage her to move forward with art. Maybe I will be able to implement this type of showcasing in my classroom someday.
One of my favourite aspect of this school was an art gallery the school had set up show casing one of their students' art. This was wonderful to see because they had art work from when this student was a young child to the art work she was currently creating. It was wonderful to see the progress of one of their students, and it must have made her feel pretty special to have a whole exhibit dedicated to herself.
Morning Star Kindergartens
Our group did a tour of two different Morning Star kindergartens. Morning Star kindergartens has 16 private kindergartens in Chongqing. When we arrived at the kindergartens we were greeted warmly by many staff and students. The schools were very beautiful with many different play opportunities for the children. In kindergarten they aim to have the children learn through play-based learning. this is the same philosophy that the Canadian kindergartens follow as well. One difference that we noticed was that because the schools were private, they had access to many resources. There were a variety of toys and supplies that the children were able to use to encourage play-based learning. The students had a lot of one-on-one attention because there were about 15 students per one teacher as well as one “nanny” per classroom. The nannies helped with cleaning the classroom and making sure that the children were comfortable and well taken care of. Having the nannies in the classroom hoped the teachers to focus on teaching and making sure that the students were learning within the classroom. Often in Canada these tasks are put on to the teacher but this system helps the teacher to stay focused on educating the students.
After our day visit to the Morning Star kindergartens our group really wanted to go back and experience of full day of observations. we visited two more of the Morningstar kindergartens and we were able to sit and observe some classes as well as play with the students. The students were all very excited to have us there and they created little gifts for us that was very thoughtful. We were able to play some games with the students and teach them songs. The students at the schools were kept very busy and we're involved with a lot of physical activity. We all were able to get involved and join in! All the different school prepared little performances for us. It was so wonderful to see the talent at the school, and the kids loved getting the chance to perform!
One really cute thing that happened when we were visiting the kindergartens happened while we were playing with bubbles. One little girl dropped her cup of bubble mixture on the ground and was very upset about it. I was just about to give her my cup when one little boy took his cup of bubble mixture and poured half of his mixture into her cup. It was one of the purest forms of kindness I have ever seen.
Second TJB Campus
This was my favourite lesson I have ever taught! Before my lesson I talked with the students for about 10 minutes and they asked me questions and I asked them questions. I think that this was the best way I could start out a lesson because I was able to get to know the students and gage their English level, while they were able to get comfortable with me before I wanted them to participate in my lesson. Knowing this, during my introduction game of “Broken Telephone” I was able to give the students some messages that were the perfect complexity level. The students had so much fun and really grasped the intention behind playing this game. The students all did a really great job participating throughout the lesson. When it was time for the poster activity I really saw that the students understood my lesson because they were able to create posters that were not only the things I taught, but they also drew pictures and created slogans that demonstrated that they were critically thinking about the material. Because I was not restricted to 40 minutes, the students had time to make some beautiful posters and share their ideas to the class. This was my favourite class I think I have ever taught and I was so happy to hear that we were going back he following week!
The next week David and I had the opportunity to co-teach the same class I had taght previously. We created a lesson about movie genres and different popular movies that fall into the different categories. We had a lot of little movie clips and the kids all really loved watching them, because they do not often watch clips in their classes. The activity we led was a lot of fun. We had the kids create their own story line to a movie and then pass the story along to the next person. A lot of different silly stories were created and we all had a lot of fun. The students all loved reading out their stories. It was really funny because most of them started as a love story, and then ended with everyone dying. So essentially they were all love stories, turned into a tragedy. I think this was a great way for the students to remember the different names of the genres. As far as co-teaching, at the beginning of the lesson I think I was struggling with letting David teach. It was my class the week before so I was in the groove and teaching and I forgot to let him jump in and speak. After I realized what I was doing, I tried not to power-trip as much, and he explained the activity. I think by the end of the lesson we found our groove together, but at first it was a learning experience for me.
Second SWU Kindergarten
This kindergarten was absolutely beautiful. Immediately I was drawn to the beautiful location and the facility was gorgeous. As we were walking through we saw a lot of play-based learning and the children playing and participating in very interactive lessons. One lesson that we observed was about silk worms and the children had to use the clay to create their own worms. I thought that they were just making whatever they wanted and so I made a little bee and promptly was corrected by a little girl that I should make a worm. She then showed me how she made her worm and then I followed her lead. I am not sure how the lesson finished, but if it was my lesson I would like to provide the students with some time to play with the clay and let them create more than just the worm. Maybe some leaves and some other bugs for the worm to interact with. I felt like the kids were all creating the same thing which I try to make sure my lessons leave the students with the ability to be unique in their work.
Another aspect of this kindergarten that I fell in love with was their huge garden that they had on their property. They use the food grown in this garden to feed the children. This is so cool to me because the children are able to see the benefits of sustainable, homegrown fruits and vegetables. I love that the students are able to be a part of that growing process. I felt the respect that this school had for nature with the crafts that they had as well. I find often the kindergartens all try to incorporate crafts that have an aspect of nature, and this is what I felt at this school as well. Between their own organic garden, their nature crafts and the fact that their property was in the middle of a hilly oasis, this school really had a deep appreciation of nature.
