February 2010| By Karen Leong Clancy
Last summer, seventeen teachers spent three weeks learning about and experiencing China as part of the third Committee of 100-sponsored San Mateo County Summer Institute. In exchange for this opportunity, teachers are required to develop lesson plans and be observed teaching a sample lesson related to China. The exciting results show how exposure to the history and culture of China can bring fresh ideas to teachers of subjects from geography to ceramics to music. Hundreds of students are benefiting from this inspired teaching and learning more about China in the process.
In October, group leaders from the Institute began visiting schools to observe the classroom impact of the Summer Institute, which incorporates a week of lectures and field trips led by academic China specialists and two weeks of travel and study in China.
Student ceramics projects using Chinese themes, characters, colors and forms.
Capuchino High School ceramics teacher Zan Truman taught a unit on Chinese pottery. From her knowledge that many Chinese historical artifacts are found in ancient tombs, she taught how examining burial sites can help one learn about culture. She made the lesson relevant to students by having them make their own “artifacts” with illustrations from their lives. Students tried to replicate color processes from the Ming dynasty as well as designs from the Neolithic era. Their finished products were displayed at the school. Truman is finding the resources gathered from the Institute useful in everyday teaching.” One part of the Institute that I particularly liked and that continues to impact my teaching was the opportunity we had at the Asian Art Museum… I now am able to access the online database of jpeg images for my classroom use.”
Participants in the Summer Institute are encouraged to share their experiences with their school communities and school boards. For example, two Alta Loma Middle School teachers, Rachel Weber and Nina Mendez, teamed up to develop a short video they presented to fellow faculty members. It happened that their presentation was observed by two principals visiting their school from Shanghai as part of an education exchange. The guests were excited both by the enthusiasm of the teachers giving the presentation and the thoughtful questions asked by the audience.
Maria Carrillo High School teacher Claudine Gans-Rugebregt quickly realized that her textbooks were outdated as she traveled through China. Now her 9th grade geography lessons include photographs she took and materials she received during the Summer Institute. She worked with the school’s librarian to develop a lesson that would teach students how to use online resources with current information, and had the students prepare and present news stories as if they were broadcast journalists.
More classroom visits will be scheduled this spring. Ralston Middle School music teacher Peter Thielen is preparing his students for a concert playing Chinese instruments. He recently took them on a field trip featuring a behind-the-scenes visit to Symphony Silicon Valley where students met Beijing-raised composer, Gordon Lee, who was preparing his East-West concerto,“Young Impressions of the Old City.”
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