Carrying the little boy on his shoulder with one hand, walking and circling with the beat, the little boy who was carried up was so happy that he couldn't close his mouth, and the other children screamed and clapped their hands with excitement. This scene did not happen at home, but in a kindergarten in Chengdu.
This is the classroom of kindergarten teacher Cao Xiaoyan. 33-year-old Cao Xiaoyan from Shaanxi, is a retired taekwondo mobilizer, handsome, sunny smile, 1.91 meters tall and children form the "cutest height difference". Recently, Cao Xiaoyan's classroom video has spread on the Internet, receiving tens of thousands of likes and attention.
Previously, Cao Xiaoyan has been engaged in children's and toddler training for many years, because his wife is from Chengdu, after working outside for many years, he and his wife returned to Chengdu in 2021. In March this year, by chance, he came to work in Jiancheng No. 2 Kindergarten in Jianyang City, responsible for teaching physical fitness classes to children, which was very popular in kindergartens.
In Cao Xiaoyan's view, early childhood is the best time to plant a seed, and he hopes that every child he has contacted can have a good childhood, and there is such a "watermelon teacher" to bring them strength.
▲ "Watermelon teacher" Cao Xiaoyan
The popular king of kindergartens
In fact, lively and joyful scenes are often staged in kindergartens. In one video, Cao Xiaoyan stands in front of all the kindergarten students, lifts a little boy to sit on her shoulders, grabs the boy's little hand with both hands, and says to the children: "Shall we applaud him?" "Good!" The student immediately agreed.
Then, in the cheerful music, Cao Xiaoyan led the little boy to twist, and the students also enthusiastically clapped along with the music, at this time, the male teacher instantly turned into the "child king", attracting the attention of the students. It turned out that the little boy said that he had never sat on his father's shoulder, and Cao Xiaoyan lifted him up after learning about it in class, not only to let him experience, but also to encourage other children.
▲Teacher Cao Xiaoyan's teaching method is deeply loved by children
On the afternoon of May 25, the Red Star News reporter came to Jiancheng No. 2 Kindergarten in Jianyang City, Cao Xiaoyan was preparing to go to the playground for class, from the corridor to the playground, as long as any children saw him, they would shout loudly "Brother Watermelon". There was even a class where children saw Cao Xiaoyan running out of the classroom and surrounding him. Seeing this scene, Zhou Jianfang, as the principal, was already used to seeing it, and quipped: "The 'watermelon teacher' is more popular in school than the principal."
"Watermelon" is the name Cao Xiaoyan gave herself in kindergarten. Cao Xiaoyan said that she has been training in the professional team since she was 8 years old, and her entire training career is very difficult, especially in summer, when the temperature is as high as 40 degrees, she will also train, and eating a bite of watermelon at that time will be particularly happy and sweet. Therefore, "watermelon" is deeply imprinted in his childhood memories.
In the classroom, for different age groups, he will take the children to do some physical games, tell some picture book stories, and carry out some interesting activities according to the age characteristics of the children and their hobbies and physical exercises.
On this day, the reporter observed two classes of the large class and the small class on the spot.
"I'm a magical old man from Planet Alpha, now let's test who has energy in everyone..." In the small class, Cao Xiaoyan turned into an alien, holding an "energy ball" and a "magic wand" to Earth to interact with the children. I saw him slowly approaching a student's head with a "magic wand", and then he was shocked by the energy and fell to the ground, "Your abilities are so strong!" Seeing the teacher fall to the ground, the children smiled happily. Subsequently, Cao Xiaoyan gradually attracted the children's interest through multiple interactions, and the class entered the topic and began to practice exercises such as jumping on one foot and jumping on both feet.
▲Teacher Cao Xiaoyan conducts classroom activities according to the age characteristics of the children
"I have a 'magic ball' in my hand, if I throw it up, you will squat, throw it down, you will jump, in short, you can't be hit by my 'magic ball', otherwise there will be no energy for a while." Finally, the child with a lot of energy, I will take it to outer space to take a 'spaceship' to take a look..." After listening to the teacher's words, the children began to exercise very cooperatively. Finally, towards the end of the class, in order to encourage and affirm the children's participation in the class, Cao Xiaoyan will lead them to take "spaceship" and "plane". Of course, due to time constraints, not every student can sit, in order to take care of all students, Cao Xiaoyan transmitted "energy" to everyone by shaking hands one by one, and the children were finally satisfied.
▲ Teacher Cao Xiaoyan is giving physical fitness lessons to the children
"The 'Watermelon Teacher' is very relatable and very interactive with students in the classroom." In Zhou Jianfang's view, children are not very focused at a young age, and teachers need to integrate children into activities through games, scenario simulations and other forms, so that children are more interested and more involved. Children in the larger class have relatively stronger learning and concentration, and the school integrates traditional martial arts elements into the classroom, and the teacher's expression will still be more vivid and interesting.
Zhao Juan'e's daughter is in kindergarten, and when her daughter returns home, she often shares her life in kindergarten with her. After the "watermelon teacher" came, my daughter was very happy, "Today a 'watermelon teacher' taught us what exercise to do, taught me to do an action, and the teacher also praised her. Then the daughter began to teach herself movements.
As a parent, Zhao Ejuan feels that in a family, men play a very important role. There are male teachers in kindergartens, and for children, whether it is physical exercise or psychological growth, it is better.
Teach classes the way you are
Why did you choose to teach kindergarten? Cao Xiaoyan said that after retiring from the military, he came into contact with students of different ages, and finally chose to be in the early childhood stage because he felt that this was the best stage to plant a seed.
Cao Xiaoyan believes that whether a person is positive or negative in the face of obstacles and challenges in all aspects in the future has a very large relationship with his childhood, and young children are the most important stage of a child's childhood, and the formation of their memories and the construction of the entire ideology and the development of the brain are completed at this stage. "I hope that every child I have come into contact with, when they are adults or grow-ups, will be able to recall that there was a 'watermelon teacher' like this and give them strength."
▲The interesting and vivid interactive teaching method is very popular with children
In terms of educational philosophy, Cao Xiaoyan believes that what children need at this stage is sports, and they have not yet reached the stage of sports. Without the involvement of an interest in sports, children who do not love sports cannot enjoy sports. Therefore, if you want to grasp the sports of kindergarten well, you must start from their interests, you need to mingle with them, and always think from the perspective of children. And his philosophy coincides with Jianyang Jiancheng No. 2 Kindergarten, "What children need in early childhood is physical and mental health development, and the important thing is the exercise process, not the result." Zhou Jianfang said.
In her spare time, Cao Xiaoyan will take the initiative to learn about the games, cartoons or movies and television that children have recently paid attention to, integrate the elements into the classroom, and organize activities in the form of games and scenarios. In addition, he will also learn a lot of family education knowledge to get along with children better. Cao Xiaoyan feels that in fact, every child, whether outgoing or introverted, hopes to get more attention and recognition. For example, the other day in a small class, a somewhat introverted child cried and wanted his mother, he walked up to the child and said to the child: "Ultraman shakes your hand, gives you a little strength, hold on, and we will see your mother when school is over." Hearing the teacher's words, the child's mood stabilized a lot, and then Cao Xiaoyan said, "After meeting your mother, the teacher will tell your mother that you are very good today and have overcome a lot of difficulties in school." With a handshake and a word of encouragement, the child slowly began to adjust himself, a smile appeared on his face, and in Cao Xiaoyan's eyes, he felt that that moment was growth for the child.
I took seven or eight physical fitness classes a day, and sometimes Cao Xiaoyan was so tired that her throat was dumb. "There is definitely physical exhaustion, but when you think of the bright smiles of children, you feel that what you do here and now is very meaningful and valuable, because you will affect them not now, but later."
"It's like after class today, and a child took the initiative to bring the water I had put next to me and asked me to drink it quickly." Cao Xiaoyan said that children are really simple, how you treat them, in turn, how they will give back to you, and finally gradually affect the whole group.
"Scarce" male teachers
Xing Lei is a female kindergarten teacher and has been working as a kindergarten teacher for 12 years. She experienced the process of kindergarten from not having a male teacher at the beginning to gradually having a male teacher now, and she was quite touched by this. Xing Lei feels that in terms of teaching effect, male teachers tend to boldly create course content, which is rich in form and challenging, which is very attractive to children. "Every time the children see the 'Watermelon Teacher' coming to class, they are more excited, and sometimes they don't want to leave after class."
▲ Teacher Cao Xiaoyan
On the other hand, the character of male teachers is more energetic, masculine and strong, which will subtly affect children in class and help everyone show their strong and resolute side of character.
"He is full of love for the children, not only the children, but also the parents." Zhou Jianfang said that "Watermelon Teacher" can mingle with children in school, which further confirms the school's educational philosophy, "I think it is the most important thing to respect children's nature and give them a healthy, pleasant and relaxed learning and growth atmosphere."
Zhou Jianfang said frankly that there is a phenomenon in some families today, the father is responsible for making money, often leaves early and returns late, and accompanies students less, most of the time is the mother or the elderly to accompany the students. Long-term lack of father's company, students are prone to insecurity, and the addition of male teachers in kindergartens can make up for the lack of security of kindergarten students, and can also make children more sunny and powerful.
▲The school integrates traditional martial arts elements into the classroom
However, in reality, many reasons make "male kindergarten teachers" a scarce resource, taking Jianyang as an example, there are more than 300 local officially established kindergarten teachers, of which only 3 are male teachers. According to national data, the proportion of male kindergarten teachers is less than 3%.
Zhou Jianfang introduced that according to the analysis of years of preschool education experience, there are mainly several reasons: first, there are fewer men who choose to study in preschool education-related majors, resulting in a weak reserve base for teachers; The second is salary, for men, the traditional concept is to support the family, resulting in men will not choose this profession; Third, the social concept, some groups of people in society have "colored" glasses for men to engage in the profession of preschool teachers, so that men engaged in the profession of preschool teachers are not recognized by society; Fourth, compared with women, in early childhood, men are slightly deficient in affinity and carefulness.
She said that for kindergartens, there is still hope that more male teachers can enter the teaching force, and hiring physical male teachers is also a new attempt.
Red Star News Reporter Zhang Zhaoting Photojournalist Wang Xiao
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