Teacher
Hsiao
Life-long learning is always my goal. I believe that continued learning is the key to become a successful teacher. Therefore, I devoted three weeks of my summer time to the University of Virginia (UVa) for professional development.
Before I attended the program at UVa, I’d heard that its Chinese-teacher training program was intensive. I did not believe it. In my bag, I packed a lot of personal belongings such as CDs and VCDs and I planned to watch these during my leisure time at UVa.
Guo
I have learned a lot in this 100% immersion program. It is amazing to see the increase in students’ language output from novice low to novice high in a mere 24 hour immersion program (3 hours a day, 5 days a week). At the beginning of STARTALK, I doubted whether the students would be able to grasp so much information and approppriate so much language output in such a short time.
Doty
I feel very fortunate to be able to participate in the 2011 STARTALK Virginia Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language program. I learned a lot from this program.
Chung
I joined the STARTALK program right after completing my first year teaching Chinese in three middle schools. I was very excited and grateful for having this opportunity to be trained as a Chinese teacher. Learning how to teach Chinese in the target language and also exploring SLA theories and current best practices were two of my main objectives for this three-week course.
Chin
I have some thoughts on the following topics:
Cheng
"I appreciate the genuine support and individualized attention the program consistently gave to each participant...What I have learned from this program will definitely reshape how I approach language teaching... I hope to be able to come back again!"
For teacher participant's teaching philosophy, CV, and so forth, please contact the webmaster.
Chen
The three-week UVA STARTALK Chinese teacher academy has been my best three weeks in the States so far. It was very intense. It requires all the teachers to study hard and work hard. Most teachers participated in late night studying or group discussions in the hotel lobby. We learned the latest theories and teaching strategies in the first week, and then we were able to apply what we had just learned to the two-week practicum. Before teaching in the classroom, we had rehearsal every afternoon. Dr. Tseng and other teachers gave me valuable suggestions and pointed out my blind spots.
Yeh
I learned so much that it was as if I'd feasted at a bountiful buffet! After the intense training with all the outgoing teachers in this program, I was not only equipped with a useful and correct evaluation system to enrich my teaching efficiency but also a serious attitude toward professionalism. Virginia STARTALK Chinese Teacher Academy must be the gift from God for my 2012 summer. Special thanks to Dr. Tseng and her family.
Yao
I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to participate in the 2012 UVa StarTalk teacher training program. It was three very intensive weeks indeed, but THE best three weeks of professional development! I have learned so much from Dr. Tseng, especially how to select and modify authentic materials to teach students at different proficiency levels. I have also learned a lot through the two-week practicum and from the wonderful co-trainers and fellow teacher trainees.
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