Perfect program for many Pacific Coast states
Written by man on December 12th, 2009 in Other.
The Seattle schools have a new’guest’ teacher. Zhu Dan arrived in the Seattle schools in January 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 nineteen states that are collaborating in a new association between China’s institute Hanban and the college Board, a non-profit organization that administers the complicated Placement exams and SAT testing ). Plans are for a further a hundred guest teachers across the united states by this summer and 250 by 2009. The partnership is part of China’s sizeable effort to push the Mandarin language and getting folks 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 journeyed to China as a part of a Hanban program and was inspired to supply a course in Mandarin to his Seattle colleges students. He and Noah Zeichner, who heads up the high school world language program, needed to expand the global focus in his Seattle school. They have already got a student exchange program from Chongqing, China.
Zhu Dan teaches the Mandarin language in 3 Seattle schools - Denny Middle, Madison Middle, and Chief Sealth colleges. While the institute Hanban pays her a stipend, the Seattle faculties provide housing, airfare and cover other costs. Dan is residing with Sealth teacher Frank Cantwell and his folks.
Dan requested the guest teacher program for 3 reasons - to improve her very own English talents, to help Americans understand more about China and its culture, and to help get the program started within the Seattle faculties. She wants to leave her students with enough awareness of the Mandarin language to survive a trip to her country.
Before journeying to the US and the Seattle schools, Dan had to take a 14 day crash course in Beijing. It covered our culture and education system, our money system, and the way to write a check ( something seldom done in China ).
lots of her Seattle faculties students took her course, because it sounded fascinating. Others have chums or members of the family who speak Mandarin. Within her first 2 weeks of instruction, Dan’s Seattle colleges scholars could count to 10 in Mandarin, pronounce the Chinese names she gave them, work through 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 fascinating.
Besides the guest teacher program, many Seattle schools now are supplying instruction in Mandarin, as well as sophisticated Placement courses in Chinese and the AP testing that earns college credit for the Seattle faculties 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 autumn. Principal Boyd is encouraging elementary faculties within his area of the Seattle colleges to apply together for a second guest teacher for the Mandarin language.
Journey around the world by visiting famouswonders.com and while you’re at it, also check out Tiananmen Square facts.
