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Jiaxing (Chris) Li
Volunteer Teacher in a Chinese Mountain School
Information about my teaching
This school situates on the top of a mountain in Yunnan, China. It is only a thirty-minute drive from where I live. I found this school in the summer of 2018 after I returned home from my American school as a freshman. My mom helped me contact the headmaster of the school, who gave me permission to teach those kids for two weeks.
I stayed there from June 20th, 2018 to July 6, 2018. I taught introductory English letters to these kids who were from the first to third grade and worked with the only 8 teachers there to supervise those kids as their school-life assistant.
In the summer of 2019, I went there again for two weeks to teach them English letters. It was a great experience even better than the first time because I had a stronger relationship with the teachers as well as the students there.
I plan to go there in the summer of 2020. However, an unexpected pandemic extremely upsets me. I am afraid to go back to my home and reunite with those kids because of the coronavirus. All I can do is nothing but praying for them to be well and stay healthy during this unbelievable time.
Reflection of 2018 and 2019 Volunteer As an English Teacher
This is the first English class for all of the second graders. Based on the school curriculum, they don't have a chance to learn English until they become a third-grader. Many kids who live in a city receive education, which includes English, in their first grade (some even started in kindergarten).
It is a common phenomenon that unfortunately is happening in poor and distant regions like this. Schools in this kind of area often have poorer school facilities, teacher resources, living environments, and accept students from low-income families. Due to the naturally disadvantaged location, students here usually have a lower cognition ability and universal knowledge about the world than their city-peers do, especially in this time of human history where information can be gained handily.
Personally, my life, in general, has many similar experiences of this kind where I transitioned from one school that is less-developed to the one that is more progressive in terms of the teaching methodology.
(hit the unmute button to listen to the audio)
Interview with student 1 Haiyuan Gao:
He is the one that impresses me the most. He is the one of smartness and liveliness. He learned how to play Chinese chess himself and had a genuinely awesome chess skill. He solved the sudoku problem individually without my help and learned how to solve a Rubik's cube at such a fast speed. He loves Rubik's cube just as much as I do. I believe he's gonna make his dream come true.
One day he asked me, "Mr. Li if you're so good at studying, so that means you can go to college, right?" When I said yes, he was so surprised. But what I'm gonna say is that: so far, almost everyone I know is able to go to college easily, and yet, that becomes a "dream" to him. This, again, shows how little resources they own in the world they were living in.
When I left in the summer of 2019, he asked me:" Mr. Li, am I going to see you again?" I said:" Yes, of course, we will going to meet again!" I hugged him and ended my two-week volunteer work there.
(hit the unmute button to listen to the audio)
Student 2 Dongju Shi:
She was an exceptional student as well. She always managed to get a score that is close to perfect every time in the English exams. She was also a top student in her class and ready to attend another school to continue her scholarship.
In the interview, she said that it took her two to three hours to get to school from her house because it was too difficult for a car to travel using the routes in the mountain. Also, she didn't have the opportunity to travel to distant areas and regions where almost every aspect of life was vastly different from hers.
I have to acknowledge that I don't have sufficient time and energy to give them a one-by-one step regarding how to change their lives. I cannot change their lives on my own as well. I am just a flower planter who spreads pollens as much as I can. If those pollens get on the flower and make them germinated, then my job is done.
Thank you, beautiful little angels. It's always a pleasure to see and teach you. I am always eager to teach you how to solve a 3x3 Rubik's cube and to teach you how to pronounce some of the difficult English vocabularies. Here's what I want you to remember: we are unwillingly brought to this strange and amazing world. Everyone was assigned to a different race, family, gender, etc. You are the ones who are fortunate because many of you have the purest hearts I have ever seen. You are also the ones who are unfortunate because you are confined in a mountain and a little town that you may never be able to fly out of. In the end, I want you guys to be in charge of your lives. Whether you choose to stay there and help with your family, or you choose to adventure to the outside world, I am always the one who is willing to be supportive of you and standing by your side.
Thank you guys for being part of my life.
Your English teacher,
Jiaxing (Chris) Li
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