2. I believe cross-cultural understanding is muchmore important than language itself. I believe class management is a pro-cess of education. I tried my best to know my studentsin different occasions and assessthem diversely.
I will ask students do self-reflectionevery now and then, because I be-lieve it is the source of continuousstudy and the motivation of pursuingexcellence.
I believe little bonus could also makebig difference.
Education background:
9/2009-6/2012, Beijing Foreign Studies University, Master, Major in Teaching Foreigners Chinese Language
9/2005-6/2009,Shandong University, Bachelor, Major in International politics
Hometown: Ping Dingshan (literally translation is Flat Mountain), Henan Province, China
Contact details: susan20110126@163.com, QQ: 875816528
Hobby: Traveling, Singing, Writing
Basic information
Who am I
My philosophy
A Master’s Degree candidate of Beijing
Foreign Studies University majoring
Teaching Foreigners Chinese Language
A participant of Chinese Language As-
sistant Program conducted by Chinese
government and DEECD
A volunteer working in Keysborough
Secondary College Banksia Campus
A Chinese language teacher assistant
dealing with more than 280 students
from Yr7-12
I believe that working as a volun-teer is to work dutifully, dedicated-ly and professionally. My students are equally treaded re-gardless of learning ability, culturalbackground and social status. I believe a good relationship withstudents is the very beginningwhen conducting teaching. I believe language class is fun I teach my student knowledge aswell as thinking path and lifeattitude.
Successful application for Confucius
Classroom.
Successful application for Exploratori-
um.
Students of Banksia Campus who do
Year 10 Chinese increase from 2 to 40.
An embedded language environment.
Successful try in various and engaging
cultural activities.
Students’ language improvement by
more practice chances, individual tu-
toring and more constant, coherent
teaching.
Changes of Our
Chinese Class in 2011
3. SIDEBAR TITLE
“The Confucius classroom “is our place and it just might be ……“ “Then,
the decorations spread from our Confucius Classroom to ……“
A Desirable Environment —The Starting Point
Free to Come, More Reasons to Stay
“Receiving my main part of education in China, I have found that ……“
“……the more they trust you, the more engaged they will be.“
Students’ Progresses, Teachers’ Best Rewards
“I firmly believe that a good teacher is one who ……“
My Understanding of Australian Education
“If you research the Australian Education Department website
for VELS ……“
4. The Confucius class-
room is our place and it
just might be the most
colourful and cultural-
ly detailed classroom
throughout the whole
school. Before, it was
very empty, and the
first thing I did when I
came here was to deco-
rate it with the tradi-
tional handcrafts I
brought from China.
Gradually, we accu-
mulated more things,
so that the old ones
could be replaced as the
new, better ones came
in.
We were all so excited on
the day we hung the two
Chinese paintings in the
Confucius classroom.
When I first got them from
my friend, I never thought
they could be so exquisite.
After Tian had them
framed in a professional
way, they lit up the whole
space.
Then, the decorations spread
from our Confucius Class-
room to all the junior build-
ings, through a range of
posters which presented
school subjects in Chinese.
Though the English literal
translations were a little
tricky, with the indicative
background pictures nobody
could miss the true meaning.
This idea originally came
from our College Principal,
Heather, and will create an
environment for the children
that is embedded by the Chi-
nese language. This is some-
thing which will probably be
extended further and more
creatively in the future.
5. Receiving my main part of education
in China, I have found that getting
used to the classroom here is by no
means an easy thing. I still remember
when I first took over the class; it was
so hard to get the students to concen-
trate and follow my instructions!
Compared with Chi- nese middle
school students, the children here are
more like University students who are
regarded as independently responsible
individuals, which is why they don’t
engage with you unless they want to.
In this case it is possible for their
pursuit of knowledge to become a
second priority. As a teacher, you
must catch their attention with a lit-
tle bit of fun first before you begin
with the class.
Appropriate class activities then be-
come No.1 on my thinking list.
I know that every kid wants to be the
focus in their teachers’ eyes, possibly
because some kids lack attention at
home with their family, which can be
why they are rebellious, doing things
the opposite way to the way their
teacher wants, just to be noticed.
I decided to try getting rid of the authoritative image by
treating them equally, yet individually and making them feel
special. I have learned that when you truly put your heart
into teaching, children are able to feel it and appreci-
ate it. In return I have found that the more they trust
you, the more engaged they will be.
Because of a good understanding of all
the students, I was able to replace the
Chinese teacher to communicate with
students’ parents personally. This Parent
-Teacher Interview experience changed
my single-dimension perspective of stu-
dents’ evaluation. A good teacher
should be sensitive to students’ progress
and potential. Therefore, the evaluation
should be inspiring and diverse. I also
realize that in the future, we should at-
tach more importance to interactive
communication with parents, and may-
be discover more ways to develop it.
School and family both play an im-
portant role in a child’s education. To
bring this collaborative relationship to a
healthy circle, personalized feedback to
parents is necessary.
6. Students’ progresses, teachers’ best rewards
Kids here don’t have much chance to practise Chinese because English flows eve-
rywhere, and because of that, we can’t really blame their bad memory, since lan-
guage is the tool for communication. In response to these circumstances, I pro-
posed “10 Minutes Chinese Only”. During this time, no matter how confused the
children were or how much they struggled, teachers could only use face, ges-
tures, and visual prompts in the surrounding environment to give them clues. In
my mind, for our kids who only have a small vocabulary and who are always shy
and reluctant to speak Chinese, the effect was unpredictable. However, to my
surprise, it was a complete success! They would all stop doing irrelevant things
and listen to you carefully, eyes blinking, memory searching deeply. There are
no greater rewards than this: being a witness to my students’ progress. I’m so
proud of some kids; they are on their way.
I firmly believe that a good teacher is one who shares plenty of enlightening phi-
losophies and who teaches as much through personal example as verbal instruc-
tion. For VCE students, the most important thing is to help them keep a dynamic
perspective and positive life attitude so that they will be humble and graceful
when in favourable circumstances, and tenacious and optimistic when they are in
adverse circumstances. I would also like to enhance the depth of their under-
standing and the breadth of their communication skills overcoming their use of
limited and specific words when answering teachers’ questions in oral tests. I have
tried my best and conveyed all this by sample texts and personal guidance. Maybe
one day in the future, they will re- member there
used to be a teacher whose words opened a win-
7. Personal
Development
Personal develop-
ment is a professional
requirement of teach-
ing and so during the
year, we participated
in four Professional
Development
sessions with the
CTTC (Chinese Teach-
er Training Com-
mittee).
I also attended the
CLTFA (Chinese Lan-
guage Teachers Fed-
eral Association) An-
nual Conference in
Sydney. After every
session I felt rejuve-
nated and full of en-
ergy.
In the first profession-
al session, we were
told that parents
would say “Have a
good day!” when
their children were
leaving home, and
that the educational
goal was to foster
children as responsi-
In the second PD, we were in-
formed that a good relation-
ship with students is the foun-
dation for everything.
they are ready to learn. It also recommends that to engage
students with language studies, with the aim to sustain them
through to year 12, the content delivery should be as hands
on and entertaining as possible as Australian students learn
best through doing. The Levels, as described above, also at-
tempt to map the students’ personal progress by monitoring
the students’ collaborative learning and creative thinking
paths. Teachers are required to effectively provide the five
elements essential to learning. That is to ENGAGE, EXPLAIN,
EXPLORE, ELABORATE and EVALUATE, commonly referred
to as the E5.
If you research the Australian Educa-
tion Department website for VELS
(Victorian Essential Learning standards),
you will find out that the framework and
guidelines for the teaching and assessment
of LOTE (Languages other than English)
are well-defined and rigorous.
Divided into Domains (which define subject
areas) and Levels (which qualify skill devel-
opment), the guidelines do not dictate a set
curriculum for each year level but rather
they suggest that each group of students is
assessed by their teacher for the content
My Understanding of
Australian Education
In the third PD, we were encour-
aged to take advantage of every
opportunity in the classroom to
use our mother language, ideally
more often than English. We
were advised that a smart
teacher embedded language in-
to class interaction and manage-
In the fourth
PD, we explored
how using
“International
Communication
Technology” is
becoming our
new teaching
strategy. All the-
se ideas and
concepts are
refreshing and
have triggered
improvements
in our classes.
8. SIDEBAR TITLE
Chinese Cuisine Festival — Dumplings
“Cultural activity is a good way to implant alternative cultural codes
into a student’s mind. LOTE Week is an intense period. ……“
LOTE Week
Chinese Excursion — 2011Chinese Cultural Day
“We encourage students continue Chinese study and set more ef-
forts in it, because some non-background kids in other schools have
done such great work.……“
“Dumplings could be easily got from Chinese restaurant, and most people like
eating dumplings. However, few people know how to make dumplings and ……“
9. Financial
Chinese Excursion
Cultural activity is a good way to implant alternative cul-
tural codes into a student’s mind. LOTE Week is an in-
tense period. This was the first time that many cultural
activities were held in this school. It happened to coincide
with one of most important Chinese traditional festivals –
the Moon Cake Festival. The children enjoyed moon cake
and jasmine tea, as well as a shuttlecock competition, chop-
sticks competition, Chinese painting, chess and karaoke.
Some students were even more delighted because they had
successfully participated in the daily “Chinese Cultural
Puzzle”. Even some teachers were interested in joining us,
and that was great! Though Tian, Li and I were so busy
that week, we were still very happy. We hope these activi-
ties will become a regular, yearly program that will run
long into the future.
We encourage students continue Chinese
study and set more efforts in it, because
some non-background kids in other
schools have done such great work. We will
show children Chinese Language Show
or Competition video every now and then,
and even took them to Town Hall to watch
the contestants’ on-the-spot demonstra-
tion.
LOTE Week
10. Chinese Cuisine Festival
—Dumplings
Time: 08/12 —12/12
Place: Confucius Classroom
Dumplings could be easily got from Chinese restaurant, and most people like eating dumplings.
However, few people know how to make dumplings and the way to cook them. Therefore, at end
of School Term4, we bring dumpling production site into our Chinese class. From stuffing to
the skin, the whole process was showed vividly in front of students in Chinese class. Students
took initiative to help teachers out making dumplings, engaged and enjoyed the process. What’s
more, we also guided children how to cook them. Eating dumplings out of their own hands, both
teachers and children were having a good time.
11. Time flies! A full year has passed and much has
been achieved. However, there are still things
that I couldn’t accomplish that I believe would
be of long term benefit to both the teaching of
Chinese and the school’s broader academic
environment. They include:
R o o m f o r i m p r o v e m e n t
Continue to work on creating an
embedded language environment.
With Chinese Exploratorium coming into our
school next year, students are not limited to
static images any more. An exhibition room is
planned and should be paired with an inte-
grated arrangement and decor. For the new
Chinese Classroom, in addition to more post-
ers, ornaments and children’s work, the allo-
cation of an exhibition shelf and a bookcase
will make it appear more professional. Cultur-
al pieces could be accumulated and shown,
and all the donated books from Hanban could
also be applied in an appropriate way. Stu-
dents could assess the books by following a
series of rules for the “Chinese Book Corner “,
and can even further set a regular “Reading
Time”. Then, good learning habits will be es-
tablished.
Proceed to organize various Chi-
nese cultural activities.
“LOTE Week” this year was a great success,
which is a good start for more follow-up cultur-
al activities. Since we’ve already successfully
applied for the Confucius Classroom to ac-
commodate any large-scaled cultural activi-
ties, we could do more promotions, e.g. invite
other schools’ personnel (could be within the
Confucius Classroom intranet) or even the
Chinese Education Consul to our school. For
next year, hopefully the Chinese Cooking
activity could be more formal and more en-
gaging.
Provide students with more tradi-
tional talent courses.
As Chinese painting, paper-cutting and callig-
raphy are art forms, courses like this not only
activate and add flavour to Chinese classes,
they can also develop students’ creativity and
motor-skills. Based on this, a public fundraiser
could be held in, and even out of, the school
community. Chinese art pieces could be sold,
giving the students a sense of achievement
and an opportunity to practise Chinese arts.
Spare no efforts to encourage
students’ participation in Chinese
language competitions.
Spare no efforts to encourage students’ par-
ticipation in various Chinese language com-
petitions. The experience of joining in on a
competition will significantly boost students’
language skill levels as well as their motiva-
tion to study. If high-achieving students were
to compare themselves with mainstream
students, they would easily identify the gap in
achievement potential, encouraging them to
look for and compete with other high achiev-
ers. This should inspire continued improve-
ment through friendly competition with their
peers.
Strengthen mutual communication
between teachers, the school and
parents.
Develop different channels to strengthen
interaction between teachers, the school and
parents, and update parents with students’
performance more frequently. The subject
notebook should be adapted so that students
can write down the date and class content
that day, and then parents’ signatures would
be requested, encouraging parents to recog-
nise their child’s development. Parents are
also welcomed whenever cultural activities
and fundraisers are planned. During Parent-
Teacher Interview times, children’s projects
can also be shown. Parents will be proud of
their kids and also appreciate what the teach-
ers and school have done.
Expand school influence by visit-
ing primary schools and character-
ized Chinese teaching.
Send advanced students to visit primary
schools periodically to share experience and
to show achievements in Chinese learning.
As long as accomplished and responsible
students are chosen for these programs,
their outstanding performance will win the
school a good reputation and Chinese teach-
ing will also become a feature of our school.
Primary school students and their parents
who value Chinese study will prefer our
school. As a result, the development of the
school and Chinese teaching will become
mutually promoted.
12. Thanks Giving Season
Last but not the least, I want express my appreciation to our
school and all the people here who offered me help generously
during the whole year.
I want first say “Thanks” to Chinese teachers Tian and Li.
Without your help, I can’t settle down my life here and set into
work immediately, can’t make progresses on good relationships
with students, let alone making more contributions.
Their democratic and cooperative working way makes me not
only feel be respected, but also gives me plenty of freedom.
I want to say “Thanks” to Patrick and Heather, especially to
Richard, who treat me equally as other staffs, support my
work so much and always care about living conditions. Thank
you for your generosity on work, by encouraging me to get
more personal development chances, and also on life, by great
efforts in seeking better homestays and trying to meet my other
needs.
I want to say “Thanks” to our friendly staffs, Steve, Glenda,
Jonathan, Elif, Mitz, Judy, etc. Your assistance and guid-
ance makes me a relax and harmonious working environment.
I want to say “Thanks” to my homestays, for your under-
standing and tolerance in life.
And also thank all the kids, your
progresses proved the worth of my
efforts.
This is definitely a meaningful year.
what I harvest this year that every-
one’s friendly and kindness I’ll never
forget! Hope one day you could
come to China and be my guests!
Susan Wang
On DEEDC Appre-
ciation Farewell, Li
and Richard, the
most important
persons for me.
Homestay Cathryn
Levvey, enjoying
dumplings I made.
Having a good time
with her.
Steve and Glenda, who
always help me out in
the key moments, and
did so much for me
this year!
Tian, always makes funny
face when taking picture,
(the only individual pic-
ture with me?) cares me
like big brother, the most
important person, too.
