2008 Teacher-training Summer Program
Description of the Program
1. One-week Intensive Seminar
The intensive one-week seminar will focus on providing a comprehensive
understanding of Chinese language structures in relation to English language
structures. Participants will learn from real language performance samples
taken from learners of Chinese whose native language is English. With
a good grasp of Chinese language structures, teacher-trainees will be
able to help students more effectively.
2. Three-week Teaching Practicum
During the three-week teaching practicum session, students will first
observe experienced teachers who are college professors and high school
teachers, to see how they design and conduct a class. Teacher-trainees
will take observation notes and present what they see in a follow-up conference,
in order to discuss particular teaching methods or techniques they have
observed, and to explore other ways of teaching.
Teacher-trainees will first serve as teaching assistants for instructors for 10 hours, then design lesson plans and conduct 4 hours of instruction in large classes at both the beginning and intermediate levels. Teacher-trainees will present their lesson plans to program leaders and receive feedback on them. The classes will be videotaped, and a one-on-one and/or group critique will be carried out, to assess whether the instruction successfully achieved the teaching objectives and to determine how to improve performance. The teacher-trainees will be asked to design three activities using authentic materials in each class and to use only Chinese while teaching. The teacher-trainees will also learn about the use of technology in language teaching.
3. Four-week Online Course
During the four-week online course, teacher-trainees will study materials
that will enhance their understanding of Chinese culture and society and
how to teach these topics to students at different proficiency levels.
4. One-on-one Student Teaching
Teacher-trainees will continue to gain teaching experience by conducting
supervised one-on-one instruction for four high school students, for 75
minutes per student, each week. They will also keep a journal to document
their teaching experiences.
5. Pedagogy Project
In addition, teacher-trainees will conduct a curriculum design project.
They will pick a grade level and language course level for which to design
a first semester course curriculum. They will be required to provide a
rationale, instructional materials, and syllabus for the course.
6. Final Week Assessment
and Sharing
The design of the summer program emphasizes both process and demonstrable
growth from the time teacher-trainees enter the program to the time they
exit it. During the final assessment week, teacher-trainees will conduct
a post-program assessment and present their project findings.
7. Schedule for the 3-week Teaching Practicum:
June 30 to July 18:
Mon.-Fri.
09 - 11: Classes with short breaks
11 - 12: Lunch
12 - 02: Classes with short breaks
02 - 03: Conferences
1. The first class begins at
9 am.
2. Each class is 50 minutes long with a 10-minute break.
3. Classes and activities will be held at Hunter College¡¯s main campus
on Lexington Ave.
4. Student-teachers can pack their own lunch or purchase lunch at the
College¡¯s cafeteria.
Important Language Policy:
Student-teachers are required to speak only Chinese (100 percent) in the
classrooms. This will be the primary criterion for evaluating your performance.
If you speak English to students, we will have to ask you to leave the
program without a refund.