I can only do one thing at a time and eventually I chose the one that reflected my heart.
"Inreviewing where I have invested my energy and time over the past few years, or what I have done that makes me feel proud, fun and like to do rather than force myself to do is becoming a teacher." This is why Ms.Yong Xiaohui chose joining the fellowship program and becoming a teacher in 2016 after getting an offer from a public institution that was relevant to her major.
During the program, Ms.Yong found that many children are from single-parent families, some of whom were shy and hard to focus, never answered questions voluntarily and disliked playing with their classmates,which creating a great deal of challenges to class management.
It is hard for teachers to fully understand every student in class at time, and they need to talk with them one on one whenever problems occur. Ms.Yong is very considerate and sensitive to what her students feel. When one of her students is in trouble or feels discouraged or upset, she often crouches down to communicate with them as their equals and helps and guides them to solve the problem. In this way, she has built trust with her students.
Ms.Yong prefers managing her class in a democratic way, allowing her students to vote by a show of hands on incentives,punishments or other rules and regulations. Whenever a student is punished for his/her violations of class regulations, he/she will know this is their choice,instead of blaming or resisting their teachers.
Trust between studentsand teachers is built during every tiny part of life.
There is a special kid in Ms.Yong's class who began to talk at the age of four and a half, the kid is always shy and afraid to approach others. In one semester, the kid's parents invited Ms. Yong to their home. At the time when Ms.Yong arrived, the girl ran to the field like a fan of stars, picked a big bunch of red flowers and gave them to Ms. Yong. This was the first time Ms. Yong had been given flowers and she felt moved and warmed. The kids of Ms.Yong‘s class always keep an eye on her. If there is a sign of tiredness or discomfort on her face, they will come over to show their care and pat her on the back and shoulders, some kids even write her letters every day to show their fondness.
Who benefits the mosthere is not the adorable children, but myself.
Research findings show that 80% of kids suffer from sensoryprocessing disorders, which will prevent them from making use of their normal intelligence. Given this, Ms.Yong leads her students to play games in class,notably those that lead to different status of mind from what the mind is in when people are walking and running, such as "calf ploughs field",somersaults, and turning around in circles. These games train the students and make shy kids become outgoing.
Ms.Yong teaches fine arts and singing and often develops new teaching methods.In the fine arts class, she often takes her students out to pick stones, leaves, sticks, petals and fruits, asks them to make pictures with them in teams and tell stories about the pictures to fully unleash their creativity.
There are many boarding students at the school, and Ms.Yong has set up a chorus that practices after the evening self-study class. At the beginning, many students didn't know Do-Re-Mi, so Ms.Yong started from introducing basic music theories such as vocal and breathing techniques and also practiced some simple songs. The students are delighted because they learn something no one has ever taught them.
According to Ms.Yong, she hopes to reduce blind spotsin students' knowledge and give those who are interested access to high arts.Students found it amazing to sing in chorus, and were surprised when singing inharmony in two voice parts for the first time. They have never felt such anecho before.
In half a year, Ms.Yong will end her two-year teaching at Jiafang County Dalu Primary School in Mashan County, Nanning,Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. During the program, Ms.Yong has aroused curiosity in her students and opened a window for their life. She keeps company and grows with them. One day before a semester, the kids came to her and asked:"Ms.Yong, will you go home for the vacation?" "Sure,"answered Ms.Yong. Frustrated, the kids then asked: "Will you be back?"Hearing this, Ms.Yong was deeply touched.
To arouse a desire, an idea and a curiosity about the world outside the area where they were born is what I believe the significance of the fellowship program.
Ms.Yong has made a difference to the kids in the countryside, which will accompany them throughout their life. In the near future, some of them may go to university and find jobs. But the only thing we can assure is that they will definitely remember Ms.Yong who granted the access to the fantastic world in their childhood.