[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.
Zhang Jingwei
"In that far away place, there is a good girl..." The "distant place" in Wang Luobin's popular ballad is located in Xihai Town, Haiyan County, Haibei Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province. At the end of August 2019, I set out from Urumqi, Xinjiang, and traveled nearly 1,500 kilometers to this town at an altitude of 3,200 meters. I started my one-year teaching career at Haibei Prefecture No. 1 Senior High w88 casino.
Xihai Town Sculpture in that distant place
Although he is a native of the northwest and is relatively adapted to the local food and customs, he still went through a period of adaptation to the severe cold, hypoxia, and large temperature difference climate of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. I still remember the first day I arrived in Xihai Town. I wore a thin coat in the afternoon, but because there was no heating, I could only use an electric blanket in bed to keep warm at night. The headache caused by lack of oxygen prevented me from falling asleep at one or two in the morning. Fortunately, after a week, I gradually adapted to the plateau climate. When I first moved in, the conditions in the w88 casino staff dormitory were relatively simple. However, the greater the difference in living conditions, the more determined I was to support teaching.
During this year, I served as a history teacher for the second grade in Haibei Prefecture No. 1 Senior High w88 casino, an English teacher and head teacher for the first grade, and a biology teacher for the first grade. In different subjects, I imparted knowledge and sow hope to these children in different capacities. Other students who were teaching together also had the experience of changing teaching subjects. The w88 casino leader once said to us kindly: "When you come to the university where you are teaching, you are like a brick, you can move it wherever you need it."
As a history teacher
The day after we arrived at the volunteer teaching site, the leaders of the w88 casino’s Academic Affairs Office assigned us teaching tasks. I was responsible for the history teaching of three science classes 1, 2, and 3 in the second grade of high w88 casino. This made me frown. Although I had tutoring experience before, I couldn’t help but feel a little nervous at the thought of standing on the podium and facing dozens of students below. What's more, I was also a science student in high w88 casino, so I didn't have much historical knowledge and lacked certain professional qualities. Fortunately, the w88 casino arranged for me to have an experienced grade leader as my master. After attending classes with the master to "learn from experience" and watching videos of excellent teachers teaching online, I was finally ready to be a history teacher.
As a former science student, I am well aware of the learning attitude of my students who do not attach much importance to the subject of history. In order to improve the students' interest in learning, I will specially select historical knowledge videos related to the topic when preparing lessons, and play them for the students when the relevant content is taught in class. For example, when teaching the first lesson of Topic 2 "Science, Technology and Culture in Ancient China" "Era Characteristics of Chinese Classical Literature", I found a video on the Internet introducing poetry collectors in the Spring and Autumn Period. While students watched the video easily, they not only learned about my country's unique classical culture, but also gained a more vivid understanding of the content in the textbook.
Poetry official video
In order to ensure that students can pass the academic proficiency test at the end of the semester (hereinafter referred to as the "Huikao"), after each topic, I will summarize the key knowledge of the topic, test everyone in the form of fill-in-the-blank questions, and ask students who failed to come to me to recite the knowledge points that were wrongly written or missed. Before the academic proficiency test, I compiled all the test questions this semester into a "Summary of the Three Compulsory Knowledge Points" and distributed it to the students, and led everyone to review the key knowledge of the first and second compulsory courses. In the end, the passing rate of the history exam for the class I taught was 100%.
As an English teacher
The biggest problem I face when I am an English teacher is my students’ weak English foundation. Many students cannot even distinguish the most basic subject-verb-object structures, and it is difficult to memorize four- or five-letter words. In order to strengthen the students' basic knowledge, I spent two classes explaining the pronunciation of phonetic symbols and teaching them how to read unknown words. When explaining new words, I will emphasize the connection between the new words and the words I have learned to help students memorize words faster and better. I will conduct word dictation three times a week: in the first two times, I will dictate half of the words in the unit, and in the third time, I will dictate the key phrases and the first two frequently wrong words to ensure that the students can remember and remember the English vocabulary. For students who failed in dictation, I will ask them to copy the wrong or missing words five times, and come to me within the same day to learn the words.
Under such strict requirements, the students' English scores have generally improved. In the final exam, they improved to second place in the ordinary class. What makes me most gratified is the improvement of the last place student Duo Rijie. Duo Rijie's English foundation is very poor. His first few dictation scores were 0, and he was slow to remember words, and he has not mastered the skills to learn English. During spot checks again and again, I patiently explained to him the skills of memorizing words, telling him not to give up and that he would learn well if he studied hard. Hard work paid off, Duo Rijie's dictation improved from 0 points to ten points, thirty points, fifty points, and finally achieved a good score of 72 points in the sixth dictation, and improved by nearly 20 points in the final exam.
Duorijie’s dictation results
As a class teacher
The most impressive experience this year was when I was the head teacher and English teacher of Grade 1 (2). In November 2019, the w88 casino leader in charge of teaching told me that the former head teacher of Grade 1 (2) was hospitalized due to illness, and I was required to temporarily take over as head teacher and English teacher. At that time, I had just figured out how to be a teacher, and I was still at a loss as to how to be a class teacher. I felt even more frightened when I thought about being responsible for all aspects of w88 casino for a class of forty students. But I thought that the two seniors who came to teach in the previous term did an excellent job as class teachers and were highly praised by the w88 casino leaders and other teachers. So I made up my mind not to live up to the w88 casino's recognition of me and the good reputation of the previous seniors, and to be a good class teacher.
In order to be a good class teacher, I did a lot of preparation work: learning from the outstanding seniors in the w88 casino, consulting my former high w88 casino class teacher, reading relevant professional books, etc. What touched me the most was what I learned about the family situations of my classmates when I met with the former class teacher. Nearly half of the students in the class have very average family conditions. Some are living on minimum living allowances, some are registered poor households, some are single-parent families, and some students have no labor force at home or are disabled in the labor force, and their income is very small. After mastering this information about my classmates, I couldn't help but feel that there was a long way to go, and I also realized that it was not enough to just teach them the knowledge in the textbooks. It was also necessary to set life goals and ideals for them, instill in them the concept of education changing their destiny, and let them develop good study habits.
So, in my first week as a class teacher, I held a "Study Skills Sharing Session" for my classmates. I and three other friends who came to teach in a more detailed manner introduced the learning skills of various high w88 casino subjects, and encouraged the students to study hard. Even if the foundation is weak, it is not too late to start learning from now on. We also answered the students’ doubts about whether to study literature or science in terms of subject difficulty, major choice, and employment direction.
Study Skills Sharing Theme Class Meeting
Just like "Only when you raise a child do you realize the kindness of your parents", only when you become a head teacher do you realize how hard it is for a teacher. Since more than half of the students in the class are dormitory students, I have to stay in the teaching building every night during self-study, and patrol the class from time to time to supervise the self-study status of the students. After the late self-study at 10 o'clock, I often go to the dormitory to check whether the residents have gone to bed. I have to get up before 7 o'clock the next morning to go to the class to check on the students' arrival before the early self-study. They also have to follow the class together during eye exercises every day and during morning and afternoon exercises. The busiest time is in early December before the history exam for the second grade students. As a class teacher, I am also responsible for the exam review work for two classes in the second grade. Although it was a very busy time, I saw that my performance in all aspects of the class was gradually improving, and I felt less tired. I felt that everything I did was fulfilling and meaningful.
Zhang Jingwei held a class meeting on the subject of studying the Constitution
No pain means no gain. The most touching thing for me this year is my birthday in 2020. In order to prepare a surprise for me, my classmates asked me to adjust my afternoon classes. Some students specifically come to the office to ask me questions during recess to prevent me from entering the class for inspection. When the class door opened in the afternoon, I was really surprised: "Happy Birthday" decorative balloons were hung on the back blackboard, a birthday cake was placed on the desk in the middle of the classroom, and my friends who were teaching together were also invited to the classroom in advance to celebrate my birthday. The careful preparation of my classmates brought tears to my eyes, and I got the happiest birthday in my life.
Although the teaching life has ended, the glorious years of youth continue. Just as my declaration of supporting teaching "lives up to the time and carries forward the burden", one year of supporting teaching experience has made me deeply realize the difficulties of people's teachers and the weakness of education in remote areas. In the future, I will continue to uphold the spirit of hard-working and willing to give in supporting teaching, use my good years to write the melody of the times, and dedicate my great youth to the great motherland.
