From Xinwang teacher to N teacher to lecturer, I am growing rapidly

The first lecture finally came to an end, and I breathed a deep sigh of relief. I couldn't help but send messages to the principal and teacher Xiao Yang, and received encouragement from teacher Wang Zi again. To be honest, there hasn't been a day in the past half a month that I haven't thought about this matter and this class.

I still remember that on October 22, Teacher Wang Zi sent an invitation, asking me to work with him to provide charity training for teachers participating in the Green Pepper Project. I really felt a lot of pressure at that time. I have always been the one being trained. How can I train others? However, with the encouragement of Teacher Wang, I mustered up the courage to take the course. Because I like to do this and that with Teacher Wang, he gives me insight into a bigger and broader world; following Teacher Wang, I am also growing rapidly.

1. Green Pepper Project

Let’s first talk about the Green Pepper Project here. This is a public welfare plan for the development of rural education. I heard Principal Wu Hong mention it before when I was studying in N Division, and I also read related articles in N Division Planet. The Green Pepper Project has successfully completed three training sessions since 2017 and has trained more than 60,000 teachers, with many outstanding young teachers standing out. In October this year, the Green Pepper Project was launched again, this time focusing on “rural special post teachers”.

What is a "special post teacher"? Special post teachers are recruited through open recruitment of college graduates to teach in rural schools below the county level in the central and western regions, gradually solving the problems of insufficient teachers and unreasonable structures in rural schools.

This time, Teacher Wang took me to take the Green Pepper Charity Course, which will start in November this year and end in January next year (2021). Hours, content is customized.

2. Behind-the-scenes actions

After taking the course, I kept thinking about what should I talk about? My brain was running at high speed, and the overall thoughts were swirling in my mind. Oh, what a mess. What to do? Yes, please ask the principal for support.

The principal is worthy of being a principal. After I expressed my thoughts, he gave me a lot of suggestions and helped me sort out the overall thinking. He also selflessly shared with me the materials from his lectures abroad.

Everything is difficult at the beginning. After a week of conceiving and organizing, the first class finally took shape. I quickly showed it to the principal. The principal personally helped me revise it and told me to explain to the teachers what they should pay attention to since the audience groups are different. At the same time, Teacher Wang Zi always encouraged me, gave me suggestions, and gave me small tasks from time to time to constantly polish and train me. Teacher Xiao Yang also actively helped me with ideas and opinions.

There are so many people silently supporting me and encouraging me. I really feel so warm!

After intensive preparation, my first lesson finally came.

3. Go to the screen

To be honest, although I can communicate with the children on the podium with ease and talk freely, it is still very difficult to communicate with the special teachers through the screen. Nervous.

There was no class that afternoon, so I found a quiet place and practiced crazily. However, the more I practiced, the more nervous I became. Suddenly I felt like I was just applying for a job. This feeling is more like fear than nervousness. I am afraid that I will not be able to speak well and will embarrass Mr. Wang Zi and our school, I am afraid that I will be coaxed off the stage by the teachers, I am afraid that there will be emergencies that I cannot handle, and I am afraid that I will face Lian Mai with the teachers.

But he eventually calmed down. The end of being nervous and walking calmly started with Teacher Wang’s sudden video conference call.

Teacher Wang Zi invited Director Wang Hong and me to try out the microphone and further discuss the use of the new equipment. Maybe this is Teacher Wang testing whether I am really ready. During the conversation and exchange with Teacher Wang, I felt completely calm and my whole body became much calmer.

After dinner after work, the time is just right.

I simply touched up my makeup and changed into a pink top (previously in the growth course, Teacher Dou Jihong taught us some techniques for live broadcasting, one of which was the color matching of clothes), and then waited quietly. After Teacher Wu Dongmei warmed up, I started my first experience as a lecturer.

I followed my own design, talked about it, and interacted with the teachers from time to time. One lesson was finally completed successfully. After a class, I was covered in sweat. This hour was more tiring than teaching the children in the class. It’s really hard to imagine how Mr. Wang and the others manage to take so many charity classes a week.

4. Reflection

After the course ended, I immediately received a call from Teacher Wang. Teacher Wang praised me for my general demeanor. But I was talking incoherently about the course with Teacher Wang. There is the excitement of being a lecturer, mixed with some indescribable feelings.

Afterwards, I calmed down and reflected, but found many problems

First of all, my speaking speed was a bit fast, and I was just rushing to class.

Secondly, as the first class, teachers are introduced to more macro concepts, more foreshadowing and encouragement, and less real substance. Such classes are not attractive. The next lesson needs to work more on the content.

Third, the interaction in the classroom may be due to network delay. I saw that the teachers did not give many answers, and I felt quite disappointed at the time. But looking at Mr. Wang’s screenshot, the teachers are still very active in interacting with me. I think I can stay more time in the next class and try to achieve real interaction with the teachers.

Fourth, the method is poor when dealing with emergency situations. At the end of this course, my network delay was getting bigger and bigger, and I couldn't turn the ppt directly. Thanks to teacher Wu Dongmei's active response, she was responsible for operating the ppt, and I just explained it. In fact, I can also use screen sharing. But at that time, I only thought about exiting and re-entering, but I ignored what to do if I couldn't enter.

I think, with this experience, I will do better next time.

Thank you to Teacher Wang for forcing me to grow. I also strive to live up to your expectations.