[Editor’s note]The Graduate Student Support Teaching Corps is a national demonstration project of the youth volunteer poverty alleviation relay plan jointly organized and implemented by the Youth League Central Committee and the Ministry of Education. Since 1999, w88 casino has recruited more than 220 volunteers to carry out volunteer teaching activities in Hualong of Qinghai, Haiyan of Qinghai, Yuzhong of Gansu, Jingyuan of Gansu, Huining of Gansu, Wujiaqu of Xinjiang, Mengla of Yunnan and other places. In the summer of 2019, the 21st postgraduate teaching support group of w88 casino went to the western part of the motherland and began a one-year volunteer service. Over the past year, they have been unswervingly committed, rooted in the grassroots, and used practical actions to write their own unique youth stories and passionate feelings. In the process of fighting against the COVID-19 epidemic and helping to eradicate poverty, they were brave enough to take on responsibilities and were not afraid of difficulties. In a short period of time, they did one thing after another that they will never forget. Now, as their service period is about to expire, the Propaganda Department of the Party Committee and the Youth League Committee of the w88 casino jointly launched the "Stories of Supporting Teaching" column to share with everyone the unique youthful power of the students of the University of w88 and Economics. 

Yin Lurong

I am Yin Lurong, a girl who is always ready to stand on the podium.

I graduated from the Chinese w88 casino of the w88 casino in 2019. In July of the same year, I came to the Wujiaqu Primary w88 casino of the Sixth Division of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps as a member of the graduate student teaching team. During this year, I had many identities: morality and rule of law teacher, Chinese teacher, head teacher, moral education department teacher, young party member teacher, etc. My colleagues and leaders affectionately called me "Xiao Yin", and the children called me "Teacher Yin" like a little tail every day, so our story began.

 “What can I bring to the students in the teaching area”

“One year is not long, what can I bring to the students in the teaching area?” This is a question I asked myself every day when I first arrived in Wujiaqu. In terms of time, one year is too short, and the supporting teachers are destined to only become passers-by in the growth of the students; in terms of experience, the senior teachers in the supporting teaching areas can provide more accurate learning guidance to the children. As a college student volunteer, I eagerly hope to find my identity as soon as possible and integrate my knowledge and experience at the University of International w88 into my teaching work.

Registration for a small w88 casino-based special course started at the end of September. I was attracted by this second classroom set up to improve students' overall quality. I thought of the art training classes I organized when I was working in the w88 casino league committee during college. After understanding and preparing, I decided to open a fairy tale course for third-year students, focusing on the three main courses of "line class", "acting class" and "props class" to conduct preliminary training on the students' Mandarin, performance skills and self-hands-on ability. Although each course requires complex preparation and design, it is gratifying that after one semester, the course has been loved by the children and has improved their confidence in expression. There is a little boy in Class 5 who was laughed at in the first line class because his Mandarin was not standard and he raised his hand. By the end of the final performance, he was able to speak the next line in a standard and fluent manner and was unanimously encouraged by his classmates. The parents of two girls even asked for my contact information before the end of the semester. They thanked my course for making the originally introverted and timid children gradually become cheerful and confident. Seeing that an inconspicuous second classroom can bring so much gain to the children after studying, I found my value as a support teacher for college students for the first time.

This also found a new entry point for my future work. In the daily work of the Moral Education Department, I found that the guidance of young announcers and hosts in each program of the Wujiaqu Xiaohong Scarf Radio Station and TV Station has always been a key and difficult point in the work. I recalled the children who were fascinated by reading aloud and Mandarin training in the fairy tale drama class. Children, I have a new idea - to set up a "Little Host" training program. Starting from the third grade, we will consciously provide regular training to children who are interested in specialties in aspects such as physical fitness, Mandarin, and interview skills. On the one hand, it can improve the children's professional abilities. On the other hand, it can also improve the efficiency of personnel training in future work. In addition, when I was working in the spring semester, due to the impact of the epidemic, many reading courses could not continue to be offered, which has always been a big regret in my heart. During World Book Day, Teacher Liu Zhao, director of the Moral Education Department, advocated: Why don’t we open an online reading platform? I was immediately attracted by this idea. Combining what I had learned in my major, we quickly decided on the content and model of the "Reader" platform. We used teachers to lead students in reading, and regularly selected excellent traditional literary works for recording and sharing. Then my partner Chen Yutong and I created the first program "To the Oak". After it was highly recognized by teachers and students in the w88 casino, the production of the twice-weekly Reader program was integrated into our daily work.

The story behind “4, 2, 11, 405”

"4, 2, 11, 405", these four numbers have accompanied my one-year teaching work. In the past year, I taught a total of 11 classes and 405 students across four grades and two subjects.

In Wujiaqu Primary w88 casino, the biggest challenge facing teaching work is the frequent flow of teacher human resources. Due to subjective and objective reasons such as work pressure and local policies, it is no exaggeration to say that even the head teacher Chinese teacher can rarely bring a class of students from first grade to graduation, not to mention the personnel transfers caused by various reasons every semester. When a teacher is sick or goes out for exchanges, as a supporting teacher, I naturally act as a "firefighter."

I have always wanted to become a Chinese teacher, so I took exams and did Chinese teaching internships before teaching. I thought I was fully prepared, but my confidence and excitement were quickly extinguished when I received the Chinese language substitute task for the first time - I couldn't find a suitable teaching entry point, I couldn't determine the key points of primary w88 casino Chinese textbooks, and even faced a group of primary w88 casino students, I didn't know how to control the rhythm of the class, etc. All of a sudden, the pressure and confusion came like a wave, and I was involved in an unfamiliar field for two whole years. I couldn't finish preparing the courseware for the first lesson in three hours, but every time I thought about the students' expectations for me as a new teacher during the day, I couldn't allow myself to back off or treat it perfunctorily, so I continued to study the syllabus and tutoring materials, downloaded different courseware for study, and asked colleagues and leaders around me for advice. Only then did I gradually find my direction, and my career as a substitute teacher officially began.

However, on the road of continuous cultivation from passing the exam, what gained me the most was learning from the seniors in the primary w88 casino. Among them, the one who impressed me the most was Teacher Liu Zhao from the same office. Teacher Liu Zhao is a fourth-grade Chinese teacher and the director of the Moral Education Department. At that time, I was teaching third-grade Chinese, and the text was "Seaside Town". It was the third class I taught. Compared with two months ago, I already had richer Chinese teaching experience. I was able to prepare a course completely and calmly and inject my own teaching characteristics. However, I still had some troubles in the most basic and important teaching of new words. I remember that I was about to get off work, and I inadvertently mentioned this topic to Teacher Liu Zhao. As soon as he mentioned Chinese teaching, Teacher Liu Zhao immediately sat up and shared his teaching experience with me without hesitation. What impressed me the most was that he, who was teaching fourth grade Chinese, when he heard the third grade text I said When answering the question, he could blurt out the number of natural paragraphs and lines of each word in the teaching focus, and then analyzed the possible problems that may arise in the students' learning one by one and made suggestions. That was the first time I saw the eyes of my seniors radiating light, like stars, showing concentration, love and warmth. From that day on, I became more determined in my original intention. Yes, loving teaching and caring about students are my initial aspirations to become a teacher.

The company of children is the warmest light when you are homesick and helpless

I thought I would accompany the students on a journey, but in the past year, I seemed to need the company of my children more when I was alone in a foreign land. In addition to often being called in as a Chinese substitute teacher, the class teacher is also a very important role in my teaching. During the epidemic, the work of a class teacher was like a mountain, which often brought me many unknown challenges that I had no experience to follow. During the resumption of classes, I served as deputy class teacher intermittently for many times, cooperating with the class teacher in daily temperature measurement of students, classroom disinfection and other tasks. Less than a month before the end of my volunteer teaching, due to special reasons, I had to take up the post of class teacher of the fourth grade of the second grade. It is not an exaggeration to work six days a week and be with the students almost all the time. "Teacher Yin, could you please check if Zhang Jianbang's quality report book is in the w88 casino?" "Teacher Yin, Chang Chuanying's thermometer is not enough"... After get off work every day, batches of WeChat messages and phone calls replaced the phone calls I had with my family and friends.

However, as the end of the term approached, a large amount of class management and support teaching finishing work came to me. The long-term accumulated homesickness collapsed with the pressure of work. On several consecutive noon days with a high temperature of 36 degrees, I tossed and turned in the small dormitory bed and could not fall asleep. The sweat from Doudou somehow soaked the corners of my eyes. I thought about having to face students’ temperature measurement, class, and organization again in the afternoon. There was a lot of work such as materials, etc., and I couldn't cheer up when I entered the w88 casino. Unexpectedly, when I stepped into the classroom, a bunch of little tails followed me. Some said hello to me, some complained to me, and some acted coquettishly. Maybe they noticed my lack of energy, and each of them even performed "stunts" for me. Looking at the innocent eyes and exaggerated performances of the children, I burst out laughing for some reason. In this way, the last final exam was ushered in while accompanying the children day after day. As the exam approached, I was more nervous than these little guys. Before going to bed, I reminded the parents not to forget the w88 casino requirements. After organizing the children to enter the exam room and take their seats, I emphasized again and again that they should be careful and check. I guess it was because I was worried. I was too nagging, and several children playfully joked to me, "Teacher Yin, let's go! I've said it N times!" I had no choice but to give up and leave the classroom. These careless little guys probably didn't know that my repeated nagging was just because the end of the exam bell meant we were about to part ways.

Now that I am back in my hometown, I often think of interesting stories about teaching in the small southern town, and I can be fascinated for a long time. When the epidemic in Xinjiang was not optimistic, the students took turns to share their anti-epidemic life with me. Maybe the story between us is not over, and these little stories I left in the northwest will surely become stars that will shine on me and my children as we move forward together in the future.

These are my review of volunteer teaching, a journey of a southern girl in the vast northwest, a story of youth who dreams of being a teacher but is still growing up with the children.