ACC K-12 Program in Beijing: what I did every day

How did I get to go to Beijing? Well, I got accepted to attend a 6-week teacher training program at Minzu University in Beijing. It was funded by a fulbright scholarship, which covered airfare, some food, housing, travel, and two cultural excursions. I had about 4 hrs of homework every day, learning and memorizing usually up to 100 vocabulary words a day, reading texts, or preparing presentations or teaching demonstrations. The coursework was heavy, but it was motivating 99% of the time. I loved it. There were 11 other participants from around the United States. We were all about the same level of Chinese proficiency, with varying levels of experience. I made some pretty awesome friends there and learned a ton.

And fortunately, we had one of the teachers that was great at taking candid, somewhat awkward photos of us so I have some great documentation of what we did with the program every day:

In front of our Minzu University sign :)

Us reading with some kids at a Chinese public school.

Presenting on the Chinese language 5 modes of communication. Nice hands right?

Discussing some concepts

Presenting for native speakers who will eventually go to America to teach Chinese.

Presentation on positive modes of reinforcement, creating a positive classroom environment

Trying to prep them for how American kids REALLY are ;) ha ha.

Learning about Chinese "tea" culture. Still don't know what that means, ha ha.

Smelling some tea clay bottle things. I am hesitant.

Doing a teaching demonstration about comparing Chinese and American holidays

 

Visiting a private school in China - it was crazy the discrepency in educational materials between private/public schools

Sitting in a boring lecture :)

All of us teachers as well as the private school teachers

Doing a "cultural activity" at the park

Learning some Tai Chi

Playing a Chinese game (kick the jianzi)

At the park with the other teachers

Learning about Chinese writing with a makeshift sponge brush. So creative, right?

Learning...whatever this is...Can't remember...

Play a ridiculously fun game in the park.

Us with some of my closest friends and teachers from the program.

What our homework looked like every day. Response questions.

The walk on campus to the west gate. Beautiful, right?

Bad pic of me with all of my Chinese teachers.

Receiving my certification of completion

Me with my favorite teacher, Zhou Qu, on the last day of class.