The Seattle faculties have a new’guest’ teacher. Zhu Dan arrived in the Seattle faculties in Jan and will stay for an 18-month guest teacher program. Dan, who teaches college-level English in her local Kunming, China, has the choice to extend her stay for another year.
Dan is one of 34 guest teachers in 19 states that are participating in a new partnership between China’s institute Hanban and the varsity Board, a nonprofit organization that administers the advanced Placement examinations and SAT testing ). Plans are for an additional one hundred guest teachers across the U. S. by this summer and 250 by 2009. The partnership is part of China’s sizeable effort to push the Mandarin language and getting folk in other countries to learn it.
This is the perfect program for many Pacific Coast states that do a lot of business with China. Chief Sealth highschool principal John Boyd went to China as a part of a Hanban program and was inspired to supply a course in Mandarin to his Seattle faculties students. He and Noah Zeichner, who heads up the high school world language program, wanted to expand the global focus in his Seattle college. They have already got a student exchange program from Chongqing, China.
Zhu Dan teaches the Mandarin language in three Seattle colleges - Denny Middle, Madison Middle, and Chief Sealth high schools. While the institute Hanban pays her a stipend, the Seattle schools provide housing, airfare and cover other fees. Dan is residing with Sealth teacher Frank Cantwell and his folks.
Dan applied for the guest teacher program for three reasons - to improve her own English talents, to help Americans understand more about China and its culture, and to help get the program started inside the Seattle faculties. She wants to leave her scholars with enough knowledge of the Mandarin language to survive a trip to her country.
Before traveling to the united states and the Seattle colleges, Dan had to take a 14 day crash course in Beijing. It covered our culture and education system, our money system, and how to write a check ( something rarely done in China ).
many of her Seattle schools students took her course, because it sounded interesting. Others have pals or family members who speak Mandarin. Inside her first 2 weeks of instruction, Dan’s Seattle faculties scholars could count to ten in Mandarin, pronounce the Chinese names she gave them, work thru the pronunciation drills and vocabulary exercises given them, and sing a song about the Chinese New Year to the song’My Darlin’ Clementine’. Additionally, Dan shares her Chinese culture with the students, making her classes even more engaging.
Besides the guest teacher program, many Seattle colleges now are providing instruction in Mandarin, as well as complicated Placement courses in Chinese and the AP testing that earns university credit for the Seattle schools students who pass. For this year, Dan’s Mandarin class at Sealth highschool meets after faculty. It is going to be part of the normal, daytime curriculum in the fall. Principal Boyd is encouraging elementary colleges inside his area of the Seattle faculties to apply together for a second guest teacher for the Mandarin language.
If you find this article useful, you may also visit famouswonders.com to read more about some of the best places to visit and have a look at Tiananmen Square Beijing.
Tags: China, Mandarin, Seattle Schools, Zhu Dan