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Finally,The Normal First Week in School

by Pu-mei Leng

Even though we have been back to school full time for a semester, it felt different when we start a normal school year with all its rituals and traditions. The same with my classes.

I know many Chinese teachers, especially those who teach younger ones have the whole class stand up and greet the teacher like the classrooms in China. It’s a ritual liked by many students and I was told it felt “fake” online. I do not have formal greetings in my classroom. But two things I have missed in the past two years are the English Zone and the first day of peeling bananas.

At the entrance of my classroom, I usually used colored masking tape to create an English Zone. It does not mean that they have to go to English Zone when they tell the meaning in English or use one or two vocabularies they do not know in the sentences. It just creates an awareness that they should speak Chinese in this classroom. Usually, when I hear students chat in English when they walk in or finish a task early, I simply get their attention and point to the English Zone. Interestingly enough, they switch their chat to Chinese. Students seldom move to the English Zone to chat in English. I do not recall any such case at all. They go to English Zone only when they have something important to say or a question to ask, but are unsure of communicating in Chinese. Some will try in Chinese first, then run to English Zone to make sure there is no confusion for the messages.

Peeling a banana is one of my favorite activities when I started to teach Chinese with CI. It was a reminder for myself and a message to my students. It made a deep impression on me when I first heard it from a veteran CI teacher Susan Cross. It succinctly captures the essence of why we teach with CI method (it’s the easy and more effective way).  Even though my students came from middle school nowadays and have experienced CI method already, peeling a banana from the bottom in the classroom is still a meaningful symbol to them. It’s fun, of course. You will hear some say, that’s the monkey’s way. But when they reflect on this activity, many will say, think outside of the box, and try new ways…. Why not? The symbol is so strong that they will remember it.

Too bad this year I had a hard time finding enough yellow bananas. One class had raw and green ones that ended up in the trash can.

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