Seattle schools provide housing
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 19 states that are taking part in a new partnership between China’s institute Hanban and the College Board, a nonprofit organization that administers the complicated Placement examinations and SAT testing ). Plans are for a further one hundred guest teachers across the U. S. by this summer and 250 by 2009. The partnership is part of China’s big effort to push the Mandarin language and getting folk in other countries to learn it.
This is the ideal program for many Pacific Coast states that do a lot of business with China. Chief Sealth school principal John Boyd went to China as part of a Hanban program and was stirred to provide a course in Mandarin to his Seattle colleges scholars. He and Noah Zeichner, who heads up the high school world language program, wished to expand the international focus in his Seattle school. They already have a student exchange program from Chongqing, China.
Zhu Dan teaches the Mandarin language in 3 Seattle faculties – 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 3 reasons – to improve her very own English skills, to help northern Americans understand more about China and its culture, and to help get the program started within the Seattle schools. She wants to leave her scholars with enough understanding of the Mandarin language to survive a visit to her country.
Before going to the united states and the Seattle schools, Dan had to take a two-week crash course in Beijing. It covered our culture and education system, our money system, and the way to write a check ( something barely done in China ).
lots of her Seattle colleges students took her course, because it sounded engaging. Others have pals or members of the family who speak Mandarin. Inside her first two weeks of instruction, Dan’s Seattle schools scholars could count to 10 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 track’My Darlin’ Clementine’. In addition, Dan shares her Chinese culture with the students, making her classes even more engaging.
Besides the guest teacher program, many Seattle faculties now are providing instruction in Mandarin, as well as advanced Placement courses in Chinese and the AP testing that earns college credit for the Seattle faculties scholars who pass. For this year, Dan’s Mandarin class at Sealth school meets after college. It will be part of the ordinary, daytime curriculum in the fall. Principal Boyd is encouraging elementary faculties within 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 picture.
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