Zhou Shien: Happy memories in special courses

"If you make up your mind to leave some feelings of joy and happiness for your students, a good course will appear in your education!" Zhou Shien, a Chinese teacher in the primary school of Peiying Experimental School in Baiyun District, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, designed and developed a series of courses with the concept of "fun and simple", allowing students to experience happiness and happiness while leading them step by step into the halls of literature.

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Characters: Zhou Shien, a Chinese teacher in the primary school of Peiying Experimental School in Baiyun District, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, is committed to the teaching and research of "writing and reading", and has opened a number of school-related courses related to reading and writing, such as "Teacher Zhou teaches you to write essays", "Teacher Zhou teaches you to write children's poems", "Teacher Zhou teaches you to be a small journalist", as well as "School Series: Starting from Spring, Looking for Autumn on Campus", "Growing Up Series: Writing a Book for Childhood, Our Graduation Ceremony", "Reading Series: Playing Around the Class Book Corner, Playing Reading" and so on.

The course says: Course design is not so difficult, go forward with heart, walk and walk, there is a road, and the course is also there.

"Happiness" is two words often mentioned by Zhou Shien, a Chinese teacher in the primary school of Peiying Experimental School in Baiyun District, Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, who said: "Education is a thing that makes people happy, whether it is the teacher or the recipient, can feel happiness from the educational process, this is the greatest success of education." ”

Zhou Shien is a teacher who is willing to "find fault" for himself, and always likes to do some fresh educational experiments. In addition to classroom teaching, Zhou Shien has developed a series of interesting lessons that are deeply loved by students and parents. Often the previous class of students has not finished teaching, the parents of the next class of students will ask around: "Will Teacher Zhou teach my children?" Parents commented on Zhou Shien: "It is very happy to be taught by Teacher Zhou, both students and parents." ”

Fun Simple: A fun lesson should be "a dish"

"Childhood in another country" is a documentary about Finnish education, and Zhou Shien relishs one of the scenes: a group of lively and cute children walking through the forest, looking for things they find cute or annoying according to the requirements of their teachers. This is a normal curriculum in Finland at the primary school level, which is an interdisciplinary project learning, and teachers do not have any knowledge requirements and assessments. This coincides with Zhou Shien's curriculum philosophy: ignoring outcome evaluation, attaching importance to process learning, and allowing students to harvest happiness in observation, practice and discovery.

For curriculum design, Zhou Shien is no stranger, he has developed "Teacher Zhou teaches you to write essays", "Teacher Zhou teaches you to write fairy tales", "Teacher Zhou teaches you to write children's poems", "Teacher Zhou teaches you to be a little reporter" and other school-based courses, bringing the school's literary clubs and small journalist clubs to a good reputation. However, Zhou Shien was not at all sure about developing a relatively comprehensive curriculum, but he still decided to try it hard.

The school has a beautiful back garden. Around the back garden, Zhou Shien designed a course - "Looking for Autumn on Campus". The content covered by the course includes art, music, comprehensive practice, reading and writing, and the learning methods are different, some lessons are mainly project-based learning, some lessons are mainly taught by teachers, and some lessons are completely free for students to practice, communicate and discuss. The location of the course is also not fixed, and the classroom, back garden, art room or science laboratory have become the place where the course is carried out.

"Looking for Autumn on Campus" has only 6 lessons, but it makes students happy and happy for an autumn. Zhou Shien vividly remembers the scene of the first class: when he announced that the class was not in the classroom, the students could not believe it, and one by one their eyes were wide-eyed, with doubts and surprises on their faces. In the first class, Zhou Shien let the students shuttle through the back garden of the school, looking for autumn colors and smells, collecting autumn fruits and leaves, and then returning to the classroom - exchange, discussion, painting autumn, talking about autumn, writing autumn. Zhou Shien did not speak emptyly on the podium, but the students naturally understood that "the harvest of autumn comes from the cultivation of spring." One student concluded: "This kind of cultivation is a human being, a natural wind, rain, thunder, electricity, and the gift of the passage of time." Zhou Shien was very surprised, when the teaching jumped out of the limitation of space, the students' thinking and language were activated at once, the innovation ability and personality development were also presented, and "the childlike heart and joy returned to their innocent faces."

For the curriculum he developed, Zhou Shien laughed and said that "it is a bit like Chinese cuisine and Western cakes." Dishes and cakes are the main ingredients, but there are many condiments in the cooking, such as chili, pepper, monosodium glutamate, soy sauce... The same is true of curriculum development, there is a main line of discipline education, quality education, and moral character cultivation, but there are still many branches buried under the main line, and the traces of knowledge integration, interdisciplinary intersection, and diversification of learning methods are obviously visible. "An interesting lesson should be a dish, a dish full of color and flavor, hot and spicy enough, so that students can enjoy eating and learning." Zhou Shien said.

This time of curriculum development, what did students gain and what did they get? Zhou Shien couldn't say clearly. But he felt that if there was a class or a few lessons that allowed students to suddenly feel something new, feel happy and happy, that was the harvest. "Joy and happiness are so rare for today's students, for a fast-paced childhood." Zhou Shi'en was not without emotion.

Split Merge: Design "short courses" like building blocks

With a successful attempt, a series of courses with the design concept of "fun and simple" were gradually freshly baked under the "drumming" of Zhou Shien.

In addition to autumn, spring is also the beginning of the school season, so we will develop a three-lesson course - "Departure to Spring". The course is divided into 3 themes: Spring, Spring Hunting, and Planting Spring. With "couplets" as the core, the couplet creation, selection, and posting ceremony are carried out to meet the lively and festive atmosphere of the opening of the school; the spring search takes "finding spring" as the main line, integrates art, writing, and nature courses, and infiltrates the moral education concept of "only by cultivating, there is a harvest"; the spring planting spring is based on the practical activities of "planting", so that students can take advantage of the good spring light to plant seeds, and with the help of the seeds' rooting, germination, flowering, and results, cultivate students' observation ability and labor habits.

"Playing with the Book Corner" is a class course, which was developed by Zhou Shien when he built the class book corner. The bookcase in the book corner was bought by Zhou Shien out of his own pocket, and he "tossed" it for two hours with a screwdriver before he set it up. Zhou Shien felt that he could not waste his hard work, so he developed the course "Playing with the Book Corner". The course consists of 5 lessons, or follows the design principle of "simple and fun".

The first two lessons are arranged in the class book corner. But this is not a simple arrangement - taking the name, it has to go through the democratic discussion of the whole class; designing the background of the book corner, arranging the books, designing the book stamps, making the library card... These projects are "assigned" to students who are willing and have special skills, and the final results are formed after in-depth exchanges between students. The next three lessons include: formulating a book lending system that meets the class situation, carrying out the "good book drifting activity" in the class book corner, and holding a class flea book market. After a few lessons, the class book corner was revitalized, the students' interest in reading increased, and their hands-on ability, unity spirit, and democratic style were naturally cultivated.

With the "Play book corner" course, there is naturally a follow-up "Play Reading" course. How to read a book? Zhou Shien has his own insights and methods, he has classified the classic children's books: children's books with characteristics in language, he advocates "appreciative reading", appreciates the language characteristics of works from different angles, and improves students' reading and writing ability through the combination of reading and writing; in the ups and downs of children's books in terms of storylines, he advocates "analytical reading", using mind maps as an aid, teaching students to analyze storylines, and allowing students to learn the basic skills of novel and script creation In terms of character depiction, he advocates "sculpture reading" and analyzes how the author uses to make the character image vivid and tangible. The "Play reading" course has a total of 6 lessons, one book at a time, and one reading method at a time, students not only learn how to read, but also improve their literary appreciation and writing ability in reading.

Zhou Shien called his series of courses "short courses": the time span is not long, the number of lessons is 3-5 lessons, and it seems to be scattered on the surface, but when you connect these types of courses, you will find that the scattered courses will become a complete closed loop. Taking the reading series course as an example, when you see "playing with the book corner", you may feel that you have not yet touched the essence of reading; when you see "play reading", you will feel that the addition of the previous course and the subsequent course is actually serving reading; when you see "I can also compile a book", you will suddenly realize: the sum of the three courses is a complete "reading course".

"It's a bit like building blocks, halfway up, the onlookers don't know what they're building, but when it's done, the buildings and models made of bricks will be displayed one by one in front of the onlookers." Zhou Shien said, "Originally it was just 'crossing the river by feeling the stones', and even a little lazy thought was at work, wanting to design some courses with a not too long cycle, but did not expect that unintentional and lazy instead achieved a more complete curriculum system." ”

Although it is "unintentionally planting willows and willows", Zhou Shien does have his own unique views on curriculum design: the design and development of the course should not only be grounded, but also flexible and simple; the course length can also be one or two sessions, ten sections and eight sections, which can be combined into one course, and can also become a course when split. "This lowers the threshold of curriculum design, which every teacher can design, and also reduces teachers' fear of curriculum design." Zhou Shien said, "However, curriculum design may also wish to adopt reverse thinking, teachers with a high degree of specialization or a skill can build a high level, first design the concept and framework, and then carry out the planning, design and implementation of the curriculum." ”

Professional Features: Make childhood into a book

"Various courses are the foundation for the happy growth of students, but curriculum development will also become a ladder and cornerstone for a teacher to move towards the path of specialization and specialization." Zhou Shien admits that he is the beneficiary and harvester of curriculum development. Through continuous exploration, practice and reflection on the road of curriculum development, Zhou Shien has gradually become a teacher with distinctive characteristics.

Zhou Shi'en likes to dance and ink, and in his spare time, he reads and writes, drinks tea and chants. He expects the students under the podium to also be tainted with some reading and writing, and to enrich their hearts with words and reading. Xiaoyi, a student who has graduated from primary school for many years, will always spit on the course of "a seed trip" whenever he talks about Zhou Shien: "Teacher Zhou is really strange, as soon as the school starts, he gives us a bag of seeds, let us sow seeds, water, and then record the growth of seeds, draw the appearance of seed growth, write observation diaries every three or five minutes, and finally hold a class flower exhibition, flower photography contest, and we are 'entangled' by this seed for a whole semester." Although Xiaoyi said that it was "entanglement", she also said that "such an interesting lesson cannot be forgotten".

A seed gifted by Zhou Shien made Xiaoyi say goodbye to the fear and difficulty of writing, and her Chinese scores are excellent so far. "Most of the dozen or so weekly notes of the first semester of the third grade were written about this seed." XiaoYi said with a smile. "A Seed Trip" is a special course carefully designed by Zhou Shien, with the purpose of "improving students' interest in writing and solving the problem that students do not have writing materials".

With "Reading and Writing" as the axis, Zhou Shien has developed a series of courses, "100-word composition", "submission must be in the middle", "comic characters"... Interesting courses lead students through the green grass of literature. In these courses, Zhou Shien is most satisfied with "publishing a book for childhood". The course is only 5 lessons, but the span is a summer vacation. Take the first and second lessons during the summer vacation: point out the meaning of the book, leave a wonderful article for childhood; guide the method of publishing the book, including taking the title of the book, compiling the catalog, writing the preface, selecting articles, inserting pictures, etc. The third lesson lasts for a summer vacation, in which students write a novel of no less than 5,000 words, and then work with their parents to compile, typeset, and print the novel. The fourth and fifth lessons are book sharing, displaying, and auctioning. "A book can record a wonderful childhood, how good! After you become a parent, you can also brag to your children - you see, your parents were the ones who published books! Zhou Shien liked to say this to his students the most.

In Zhou Shien's view, school education is based on the curriculum as a carrier, and all the culture and characteristics of the school come from the curriculum, and at the same time feed the curriculum. Distinctive courses breed distinctive cultures, which then extend to the environment, activities and other aspects, thus shaping distinctive classes and distinctive students. "The curriculum is the outline, and the culture and characteristics are the purpose, and if you create a good characteristic course, you can outline the outline and have the effect of four or two thousand pounds." Zhou Shien said.

In 2021, the sixth-grade students brought by Zhou Shien are about to graduate, and he is not willing to give up, always wanting to leave something for the students. Therefore, he integrated disciplines such as language and integrated practical activities to design a 5-hour class course "Our Graduation Ceremony". Zhou Shien said that when he read the "embedded couplet" he had carefully written for each student in the sound of music, and shook hands with them one by one to say goodbye, the students had long been unable to cry. According to the rules, after shaking hands and saying goodbye, students have to pack up and leave the classroom, but they are unwilling, and they have been watching and watching outside the window... The parents involved also said: Such a graduation ceremony is touching and happy, unforgettable and promotes growth, "although the child shed tears, but the tears are not only sad, but also full of happiness."

How can a teacher design a good curriculum?

Faced with this question, Zhou Shien replied: "If you make up your mind to leave some happiness and happiness for students, a good course will appear in your education!" From Zhou Shien's voice, you can hear his warmth and firmness.

China Teachers Daily, October 27, 2021, 7th edition

Author: Jin Rui, a reporter of this newspaper