【海外研修日记】走进美国小学课堂,走进美国家庭

2016年8月,我有幸得到学校公派留学深造的机会,来到北科罗拉多大学多语言教育专业攻读硕士学位,开启了美国留学之旅。

 

2017秋季学期,为了完成640小时的实习,我来到丹佛语言学校小学部,从此走进真实的美国小学课堂,体验真正的美式教育和文化。

 

▲丹佛语言学校东校区

 

走进美国小学课堂

 

丹佛语言学校是一所政府特许的学校,主要靠政府支持和家长捐助办学,采用沉浸式的语言学习方式,有中文班和西班牙语班。每天早晨对国旗宣誓后,学生便开始了一天的学习。为了错开户外活动和午餐时间,每个年级的作息时间不同,学生也没有统一的课间休息时间。下面是我所在的三年级的时间安排表。

 

每个班级由一名班主任和一名助教配合,班主任负责教授中文、数学、科学和社会科目,助教负责户外活动、加餐、午餐和批改作业,辅助教学工作。课上多以小组学习活动为主,鼓励学生创造力和动手能力,强调合作学习。每个教室地面都铺设地毯,学生和老师们经常围坐一起,开会、活动。学校设有学生支持中心,设置专人来负责问题学生的心理辅导工作,并为学习困难的学生提供帮助。家长协会参与学校重大决策的商讨及活动,与学校联系紧密。

 

就这样,我走进课堂,当起了“外教”,感受了美国老师一天高强度的工作。

▲双语科学课

▲双语社会课

▲学习钱币的使用

 

按照美国教育部规定,学校每个月要做防暴、防火、防飓风等安全演习。每次警报响起,大家都会按照标准方法做,迅速有序并且没有人知道这是真的还是演习。

▲防火演习

▲每年中文部会举办新年秀

 

走进美国家庭

 

由于实习学校在丹佛市里,我们从格里利的校园搬到了丹佛的寄宿家庭,走进了美国家庭,真正感受美国家庭文化,学习地道的生活用语,很多语言是书本上学习不到的哦!

 

在日常生活中,他们很善于利用各种工具和机器来做家务,取代费时费力的手工。对孩子的培养教育也很注重实践和动手能力。我所住的家庭里,8岁的妹妹和10岁姐姐都能够自己做饭,他们很喜欢按照食谱来尝试新菜,动手能力很强。

▲美国人最爱饺子

 

在这里,我和他们一起过了情人节、复活节、感恩教师日,感受了美国节日习俗。不一样的是,这里学生也过情人节,在这天他们向朋友和老师表达爱。

 

▲复活节寻找彩蛋

 

家庭成员之间也很讲礼貌,“对不起”、“谢谢”这些词常常挂在嘴边。妈妈做了一顿丰盛的晚饭,每个家庭成员都会跟妈妈表达谢意。他们注重社交,经常邀请朋友来家里做客。

 

 

这段日子让我真实地感受了美国家庭生活和学校教育,让我对教育有了新的感悟。可爱、真诚的孩子们也给我留下了宝贵的回忆。能遇到菲尼一家,和她们一起度过了愉快而难忘的四个月我深感幸运。他们对生活积极乐观的态度,对人的真诚和宽容影响着我,感动着我——这段友情将终身难忘!

 

Walking into the American Class and the American Family

—The Practicum in Denver Language School

 

My name is Wei Wei and I have been a teacher at Beijing Royal Foreign Language School since 2011. During this time, both I and my school were learning and developing. In August 2016, I was fortunate to be accepted by the Multilingual Education Master’s Program at Northern Colorado University and began my exciting educational journey in the United States.

 

In the fall 2017 semester, I enrolled in the Denver Language School (DLS) 640-hour student teaching program. Through this program, I was able to work in an actual American language classroom and experience American education and culture firsthand. How much was my American school experience like the Chinese stereotype of American education?

 

DLS is a public charter school, supported by both government funding and parent donations. The school uses language immersion to teach Mandarin and Spanish. The morning begins with students and teachers pledging allegiance to the flag. To avoid crowding, unlike in China, students have recess and lunch at different times and don’t get breaks between periods.

 

Every class has a homeroom teacher and a teaching assistant (TA). The homeroom teacher teaches Mandarin, math, science and social studies. The TA takes charge of recess, snack time, lunch and correcting homework. Students do a lot of group work and teachers encourage students to be creative and engaged in hands-on activities. Because the floor is carpeted, students and teachers can sit in a circle for conversation practice. There is also a student support center to help special-needs students. The parent teacher association cooperates with the school closely to resolve problems and plan activities.

 

Walking into class, I experienced the whole day of hard work typical among American homeroom teachers.

 

DLS is required by law to conduct at least one emergency drill (i.e. fire, tornado, anti-terrorism) every month. On these days, as soon as the alarm sounds, everyone must follow a prescribed evacuation plan. Nobody knows if it’s a real emergency or just a drill.

 

Every year DLS presents a Chinese New Year Show. The American students who wear traditional Chinese costumes look lovely.

 

Becoming Part of an American Family

 

I moved into the home of my host family, the Feeny’s, located near DLS. This gave me the chance to experience American family life and exposed me to authentic English.

 

Americans are good at using machines to do housework in order to save labor and time. American families encourage their children to help with housework and do hands-on activities in the home. My host family’s 8 and 10-year-old daughters loved to cook and could even follow a recipe by themselves. We celebrated Easter, Teachers’ Day and even Valentine’s Day, when I was surprised to see students expressing their love to their classmates and teachers through cards and chocolates.

 

My host family members are very polite and respectful to each other. When the mom cooked a good meal, Dad and the girls would say‘Thank you! What a wonderful dinner!’ . They are also very social and often invite friends to have parties at their home.

 

My four months living with an American family and working in an American school has truly inspired me. My lovely and sincere students have given me wonderful memories. I feel so lucky to have had four happy months with the Feeny’s. Their optimistic approach to life, sincerity, and tolerance have deeply influenced me. Though I’ve left their home and country, our friendship and my memories will endure.

 

(文、图|王府外国语小学部 魏薇)