Report on Particular Social Context

Chaoran Yao TE 818, Summer 2010

This essay includes two parts: Report on My School District, and Teaching Philosophy based on the language program.

Part A: Report on My School District

Introduction This report is formulated through three main ways. First, I searched on the internet and especially looked into the district website1. This official website provides a great amount of resources. Most of my concerns such as the goals of the Chinese program, parent/ teacher conference, office hours and available materials could be solved in this website. Second, Dr. Skilling, the Superintendent in Oxford and Dr. Schwarz, the Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum in Oxford were very generous in helping answering my detailed position information. Although I havent known the exact school/s that I will teach inDr. Schwarz was still working on this, they provided much information on the students language level. I will know my schedule on Tuesday, August 24th in the annual meeting. Thirdly, I had several face-to-face interviews with Min Liu. I am so lucky to have her as a good classmate and colleague who also works in Oxford. She is caring and professional and shared a lot about travel teacher. However, although Ive done quite a lot of research, I still have some question that can only be figured out after I arrive in the schools and classrooms.

My school district--Oxford I will be teaching in Oxford Community Schools and is positioned as a language and culture teacher. According to Dr. Skilling, I will teach 3rd grade everyday for 40 minutes and 4th grade two days per week for 30 minutes each class. I. The Chinese program in Oxford

http://oxfordschools.org/index.cfm

Dr. Skilling set up the missioncreating a world class education today to shape tomorrows selfless, global leaders. To promote global citizens, my school district is determined in enhancing the Chinese Program. As a result, Chinese is listed, together with ELA, Science, Social Studies and Mathematics, as the Fifth Core. The Chinese program is with the incoming kindergarten class in 2009. According to the district plan, the goal is to enable all students to be fluent in one world language by 8th grade at the Intermediate-Mid level.

II.Schools in Oxford There are five elementary schools, one middle school and one high school, all of which, known as Oxford Community Schools, are IB candidates. I dont know which school/s I will teach in, so I searched all the five elementary schools and found four of them have the 3rd and 4th grade. So I look specifically into these four elementary schoolClear Lake Elementary, Lakeville Elementary School, Leonard Elementary School and Oxford Elementary School.

Number of the students Clear Lake 497 88 76 Lakeville 390 69 63 Leonard 264 57 43 Oxford 356 103 117 317 299

Number of Students Total Grade 3 Grade 4

Form: Number of the students in different elementary schools in the 3rd and 4th grade in Oxford.

School Time

The working hour of the four elementary schools is quite similar, from around 8:40 to 3:40. The office hour is 8:15-4:15.

School supply

There is a list of school supplies available on the website under each school category. They provide such basic materials as pencils, papers and tissues. Beside this, they also have crayon, colored pencils, markers and scissors. Materials available to me depend on the schools and the classrooms. So I need to figure it out after I communicate with the classroom teachers.

My classrooms

I am a travel teacher and will share classrooms with the classroom teachers.

III.Parents This school district emphasizes a lot on parents support and parent-teacher communication. As for Chinese, the district website developed a particular channel to engage the parents in helping the children. For example, it set up plenty of on-line videos presented by the Chinese teachers in the school to introduce what the students learnt in school. Besides, it hands out links for parents to search more information on learning Chinese.

Parent-Teacher Conference

Formal parent/teacher conference is held at the end of the first quarter. Conferences are scheduled as needed in spring. Additional parent/teacher conferences can be arranged if the parents need.

Report Cards

Report cards are issued four times a year.

Newsletters

Newsletter issue is determined by each teacher. Some teachers prepare weekly class newsletters. The school district also regularly publishes and mails the district newsletter.

IV.Students The 3rd grade students are language beginners while the 4th grade have been expose to the Chinese Language and Culture course for a year.

Examinations There is no particular Chinese test in the elementary level, although there is MEAP

the Michigan Educational Assessment Program, and MLPPthe Michigan Literacy Progress Profile.

Homework The school district requires at least four nights homework per week. The 3rd and 4th

grades homework should not excel 45 minutes.

V. Mentorship According to document of the FLAP Grant (Foreign Language Assistance Program), I will get on-site teacher support, mentor and training one day a week.

VI.Others

Regional center There is a Teachers Store and T.J. Maxx in Oxford school district.

Curriculum

There is Chinese curriculum for reference, but the Chinese teachers are very flexible in design his/her own curriculum.

Part B: Teaching Philosophy

I believe that every student is unique. Every student can learn, and they learn in different ways with different paces. Students have their learning styles. Teachers should be sensitive in detect in which ways students learn best. I will help students to explore their potentials and teach to the needs of each student. Students learn in their own paces. Some students grab knowledge very fast, while some need more time to understand and apply. I should monitor each students learning steps and help them to grow based on their current level. I believe that the best way the best way to learn in a non-target language environment is to immerse the students in the target language environment. Students learn a language in a social context. With proper modeling, the more they are exposed to the language, the better they understand it and the more likely they can use it. I believe that peer interaction is essential for students language, cognitive, and social development. Students learn better, especially for language learning, when they interact and share with peers. Learning should be relevant to life. Pair work, group work, and cooperation should be frequently applied and effectively monitored during students learning. I believe that students interest is the best teacher for students learning. Teaching is not only passing down the knowledge, but also cultivating students internal and

external motivation for future learning. Students with high motivation are active learners and are more likely to become life-long learners. Teachers should try every means to help students learn fun and taste the proud of success. I believe that communication is the core of language learning, including intrapersonal, interpersonal, and presentational. Teaching languages in a non-target language environment should be focused on what the students can do with the language. Performance-based instructions and assessments, such as singing, dancing, role-play, storytelling, and project, should be conducted in the classroom. I believe that language learning should go beyond classroom and should keep communication easily between family and school. School is not an isolated educating place. Students learning outcomes are the efforts made by both school and family. Family has influential impact on students learning habit, motivation and application of school knowledge. I should ensure that families are actively involved in students learning process.