The Last Day of the Summer Class

 



Hurray! Finally we finished the summer class. The moment I stepped out of the classroom, I remembered the sentence in the article "Advice to a Young Man":

"The work...gives you a perfect and grateful appreciation of a holiday."

I felt relieved not because I love the students less, but because I love vacation a little more. After a year's hard work, I finally can take a good rest, living slower, reading, cleaning out my study, spending more time with my family, chatting with friends and students, playing the piano, etc.

Today, on the quiz sheet, the students were given a question:

 Q: Which part(s) of this summer class do you like most?  Why?

They could answer either in English or in Chinese. I'd like to share their opinions here. Before listing the answer, I'd better say something about what we did in class.

The book we read this summer is High School Musical: Wildcat Spirit. Every day, we started the class with greeting. Then the students had to take a quiz about what they'd learned the previous day. The quiz included five parts: Vocabulary, True/False, Multiple Choice, Who Says What, and Short Answer Questions. After the quiz, it was the students' show time. They were assigned to give a summary, ask questions, introduce vocabulary words, or lead a discussion about difficult sentences.

After 8 days' class, here are their feedback:

Q: Which part(s) of this summer class do you like most? Why?

Ans: 1. 報告方面，因為做報告時能將小說的細節看得更仔細，也能增進自己的語文能力。小說也非常好看，所以上起來很充實。

2. 上台即時表演，因為感覺讓課堂的氣氛輕鬆許多。

3. When I answered the questions because I was happy. The questions were so funny.

4. Reading this book because it is so much fun.

5. 都還不錯，尤其是讀小說，不像課本那麼無聊。小說裡看不懂的字會自己去查，然後背起來。課本把單字列出來，要不是考試要考的話，不會自己去背。

6. I like all parts of this summer class. In fact, I like reading novels. I even read Harry Potter.

7. 讀小說，因為比教科書有趣很多。

8. 上台報告，因為必須事前把文章看熟，又可練習上台和一些不認識的同學們說話，不會怯場，之後得到的收穫也很多。

9. 做問題和找句子，不無聊，不然一般的英文課我一定是睡覺的。

10. 看同學做的講義，舉手回答問題，氣氛很好，感覺不像在上課，比較像有獎徵答。

11. 同學上台報告分享，同學問進行互動，提升學習的興趣。

12. 輕鬆卻不失實用，可以了解自己和別人看到的有何不同。都很喜歡。

13. To give a report is my favorite part, because I can learn English and enjoy the book. I also like the teacher June, because we always had fun in class.

14. I like to talk with classmates or play and have fun in class. I have something to do, because I am bored at home.

15. 上台報告，很少有機會可以上台講話，感觉很好。

16. 都很喜歡，因為不管是哪一個部份，都很好玩，而且每一部分(幾乎)都是由同學們自動自發去準備。

It seems that I made a right decision--choosing to teach a novel. If we had had more time, we would have watched the movie together. Well, reading alone was good enough. The students could visualize all the scenes in their mind.

Speaking of the students, I have something to say. They are marvelous! They accomplished each mission they were responsible for. Before they left, they cleaned the classroom so they could return a clean classroom to school. Lovely!

At the end of the test, I left some words to them:

Words from June: I really enjoyed spending time with you this summer. Most of you did a great job. Keep up your good work. Have a good four years, and construct for yourself a wonderful life. Best wishes.

Good!  A happy ending.

P.S.

Guess what they are doing?



Ans: See? A clean classroom.