An encounter with Lishan High School

      With elation and excitement, I came to Lishan High School. As soon as I arrived at the front gate, the sign “School of the Future” drew my attention right away. An imagination came up in my mind: a fascinating school with high-technology. Walking through the buildings, I gaped at amazement by seeing significant architecture and fantastic facilities. What an ideal school I have dreamed of!

      Two students guided us to class 207, the teacher, Ms. Liu, have already been in the classroom to welcome our visiting. To my surprise, there were two female students in the class and the rest were male ones. In the beginning of the class, Ms. Liu clearly informed students that they were going to review the reading “Echo and Narcissus” by listening to the CD. After that, she asked students several questions related to the reading, recalling their memories. It was reported by Ms. Liu that Students were a little bit nervous, so she had to call their names to answer. I noticed that Mr. Liu repeated each question approximately for six times, making sure that students totally understood the question. However, repetitions seemed to be the distraction for me. Most students used their own words to respond correctly. Then, they moved to the listening part. Mr. Liu firstly played the content once, and asked students the questions printed in the textbook. When the student gave the wrong answer, she played the part again. In the end of the class, Ms. Liu helped students review vocabularies and sentence examples, and required volunteer students to make sentences on the blackboard. Students actively participated in this activity; they wrote most perfect sentences except minor mistakes. Ms. Liu told students that she would explain the differences between “worth” and “worthy of” as a closure.

     Passing lots of buildings, we reached class 308, and students were cleaning the classroom. I was amazed by the vivid pictures clung to cupboards. The teacher, Ms. Yuan, came to the class promptly; she greeted us with all smiles and soft voice. To start with, she put phrases on the blackboard which students have already learned in the lesson “Handling Stress.” Then, she passed the handout and told students that they were going to have an activity. “Write down your problems and find two consolers to give you suggestions,” Ms. Yuan said. After that, students started to work individually, finishing their parts. Ms. Yuan walked around, seeing students’ works, and asking students to share the problems they got. However, some students in the corner kept talking and didn’t pay attention to other classmates’ sharing. Next, Mr. Yuan showed some “dialogue poems” and asked students to read aloud. Students seeing those pieces, she required them create their own dialogue poems with peers. Mr. Yuan, at the same time, looked around whether students had questions or needed help. With the advent of the ring, two groups finally shared their works. Mr. Yuan said “Let’s call it a day” as an end.

     We left the classroom and came to a conference room. There were four teachers sharing their teaching experiences and giving us advice. All teachers mentioned that they spent a lot of time preparing the class and designing different activities to arouse students’ interests after class. That way, students may not feel sterile and lose motivation. In addition, they indicated that they learned a lot from students and other colleagues. Staying in different schools was a kind of training and challenge: it’s necessary to adapt to the environment and students’ properties. Furthermore, they firmly recommended developing our interests. On the one hand, we can have an outlet to vent stress. We, on the other hand, can constantly learn new things and gain knowledge. It is essential to keep in mind: live and learn.

It was beneficial for me to observe two classes and obtain lots of useful ideas. Through visiting two classes, I saw different teaching styles, well-organized procedure, and good time management. Ms. Liu and Mr. Yuan’s teaching process was fairly smooth, and they all build an all-English learning environment which made me strongly impressive. The atmosphere in the classroom was pleasant and students were involved in the whole process. Unfortunately, I didn’t see too much authentic teaching since they almost finished the entire lesson. If I had another chance, I would like to see how teachers taught grammar which was the part I really wanted to learn. To conclude, it was a very precious experience for me to recollect the life of senior high. Also, those advice provided by all teachers benefited me a lot. I will keep learning, broadening my horizon, and seeking my own teaching style.