We’ve reached the end of Week 3 and I feel like it was yesterday when we started. We are beginning to approach the halfway mark of the program and I’m not sure how to feel. I’m super excited and grateful to be able to form the strong relationships I’ve built with my students and Duke Engage team members but I’m not looking forward to them ending soon.
This week, I presented hobbies and after-school activities with the middle school students. This was a very exciting topic because I got to know more about my peers and my student’s talents/interests. Some of my students find pleasure in playing instruments, drawing, reading, and playing sports. I feel that this subject allowed me to bond with my students and created a safe space in the classroom for them to open up and share.
For my Bao Bao Ban session, I presented different material. We talked about things we see outside. This topic was very interactive and I had songs, games, and dances prepared to invite the students to get excited about the content. I received a lot of positive feedback and even more participation in these activities. I am still exploring ways to keep the classroom exciting as it does get a bit draining to just watch your teacher talk for one hour straight!
Lastly, I had another Mandarin lesson and I actually feel like I learned something. In contrast to last week, our teacher presented a PowerPoint and the repetition of phrases really helped to reinforce the material. I am now comfortable with counting to twenty and by tens up to one hundred. I am very happy with this progress and can’t wait to see more growth.
Cheers to Week 4!