“Teacher, when are you leaving?”
“Teacher, will you come back later?”
“Teacher, why did you come to Xinjiang to teach?”
……
On July 8th, the Jiuli Sunlight Art Teaching Assistance Group of the School of Arts and Communication, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) ushered in its fifth day of teaching support. The volunteer teachers were ready to start their new day of volunteer teaching at Hongqi Farm School.
Next, let’s go into the classroom and get closer to the group of volunteer teachers with love and hope.
Music class in progress - serious teachers Miss Yang, Mr. Zhao, Miss Jin and Miss Chen
Jin Xuting (Miss Jin): In the morning piano class, we taught the children the basic knowledge of music theory and guided them on the journey of notation. To my relief, most of the kids kept up, and the seniors showed intelligence and discipline as they quickly grasped what they were learning. The children in the lower grades, although their comprehension skills are a bit weak and their pace of learning is a bit slow, they are all very active and enthusiastic in the classroom.
Yang Mengqi (Miss Yang): Today is the first day of my main lecture, and I feel a bit nervous. I’m afraid that the children won’t understand what I’m talking about. What should I do if I can’t control the situation? However, when I see the children in person, I feel relieved, and they are really very cute. When those innocent eyes look at me and call me Miss Yang, I really feel that the whole world has been healed. The first lesson was on the recognition of notes and the determination of time value. The assigned questions were basically completed on time, and I am really happy that everyone can understand. I feel a full sense of achievement, and I feel like I can’t even feel the time passing as long as I put my heart and soul into my lectures.
Zhao Likun (Mr. Zhao): Today, the students were very enthusiastic, but there were inevitably some disruptive situations in the classroom. Children at this age still need the teacher to encourage them, and after providing guidance to each student, such situation is rarely seen again!
Chen Jiaxin (Miss Chen): Today, when I was giving a class to the children in Class B, I saw their eyes full of thirst for knowledge and noticed their excellent comprehension skills. I marveled at how eager they were to learn. It only took a few minutes to review the rhythm patterns learned yesterday, and they were also able to quickly accept new content. The smiles on their faces conveyed the joy of acquiring knowledge. In fact, I was also educated in teaching, and for me personally, it is also a spiritual purification, a collision between my soul and the hearts of children.
Dance class in progress —— patient and responsible Sister Xiaolu
Xu Lujia (Sister Xiaolu): There are new kids today. The morning and afternoon classes are scheduled to teach children the forward and backward steps in Latin dance, and review the time steps taught before. Children are always curious, have different ideas and questions, and are full of energy and creativity. During the break, I learned the movements of Xinjiang dance with local children and felt the charm of folk dance.
Vivid and interesting handicraft class —— Mr. Yu, Mr. Ren, Miss Lv and Miss Chen
Yu Jifei (Mr. Yu): The main lesson today is handicrafts. In class, many students have unleashed their unique imagination, such as colorful earth, Saturn with huge halo, blue Uranus and Neptune. While making planets, the students were inspired to think and imagine everything in the universe. The students were very observant and their love for the beautiful planet was also seen in each child’s work.
Ren Junfeng (Mr. Ren): When I took the art class C as a substitute, I started by taking the children to imitate individual animals, and then went on to explain and demonstrate one-on-one. It wasn’t until the children understood and learned to draw objects alone that I began the next lesson.
Chen Xiaolan (Miss Chen): Today’s class mainly focuses on the clay making and orbit arrangement of the seven major planets. In class, I deeply felt the creativity of the children. Instead of inherent limitations, they dare to try and express themselves.
Lv Xiaoyan (Miss Lv): Today, a handicraft class was offered to popularize the science of the eight major planets among children from Hongqi Farm. For children, this is an interesting and educational topic. We are looking forward to teaching the children through a variety of activities in the coming lesions, so that they can gain more knowledge and practice their hands-on skills. We hope that the children will not forget to look up to the stars while staying on the ground.
Colorful painting class ——Muzi, Xiaohua, Xiaoliu and Xiaocong
Li Qian (Muzi): The lesions in the afternoon mainly focus on drawing small animals, and everyone enthusiastically follows Brother Xiaoliu step by step to complete the work. Today, the children became more familiar with us and cooperated with us in drawing and doing handicrafts during the class. When school was about to end, they all put their works of the day into their schoolbags and when they left school, each of them took the initiative to say goodbye to us and went home happily with their own works of art.
Shao Menghua (Xiaohua): In the afternoon we had a painting class, combining the origami content in the morning with the painting in the afternoon, allowing the children to paste little frogs onto paper, and then hand-painting the lotus leaves on the lake, etc. Each child was very active, and we could see their unique styles and wild imaginations from their works.
Liu Wuke (Xiaoliu): Today, in the painting and handicraft class, we led the students to get to know various animals and personally drew and folded them, leading them to recognize the rich and colorful world. In the class today, we learned that teaching is a fulfilling and rewarding job. What we gain is not only opportunities for teaching and guidance, but also a deeper understanding and experience of the local area and the lives of the students.
Lv Haocong (Xiaocong): Today is the second day of class, and we offered classes in painting, handicrafts, and art appreciation. In today's class, we learned from the opinions of the volunteers and the teaching experience we accumulated yesterday, adjusted our teaching methods, and gradually got closer to the children.
“Teacher Xiaohua, I really like you. You’re very nice, but I’m not happy with only 12 days, and I want to attend your classes every day. Teacher Xiaocong, you’re very nice. I’m not happy with only 12 days, because I want to attend your classes every day.”
—— A letter from the children to volunteer teachers
“Not sure yet. I may not come next year, but there will definitely be others like us coming. We will also have the second, third, and fourth year ......”
