During my journey as a teaching fellow in the USA, both teaching and interactions with the local community were meaningful and inspiring experiences!

At the beginning, I often entered the classroom with enthusiasm and ended each class in disappointment. My American students are much more active and expressive in class, as compared to my Hong Kong students. Classroom management became a problem and students’ learning styles were also so different. Yet, I am thankful that our cultural differences which brought frustrations at times had encouraged me to experiment with alternative teaching methodologies and explore other possibilities in teaching, learning and education. For example, raps, games and various speaking activities were introduced to utilize students’ expressiveness and energy as more constructive learning resources. Although classroom management remained a challenge, I was impressed with the improvements the students made along the school year.

Besides teaching, community services were also a vital element of my fellowship, through which my growth from cultural exchange extended from the school setting to other aspects of the society. Volunteering services such as Christmas charity sale and serving dinner to the homeless allowed me to communicate with the locals and understand more about Americans from different walks of life. A more in-depth and comprehensive understanding of the American society and its culture is resulted from all these cross-cultural experiences.

I am really grateful for the diverse opportunities available in this teaching fellowship. The people whom I have met, the places where I have visited and the things that I have done not only help me improve as a teacher but also grow as a person.

Yip Man Shuen, Angel
Chinese Teaching Fellow 2016-2017

Students were so excited and engaged when our Chinese team incorporated learning tasks in a Scavenger Hunt! They ran around the enormous campus to perform tasks related to Chinese culture and language!

When I was volunteering at a Christmas charity event, I did face painting and hand painting for children to raise fund for young patients! It was both a fun and meaningful experience!

Chinese cultural class has been students’ favourite part of the Chinese curriculum. Sporty students were particularly enthusiastic about Chinese Kung Fu!

It was Chinese Culture Day for the preschool. Adorable young kids dressed in traditional costumes and played with the Chinese toys they made in class. They also did a dragon parade around the campus! They filled the campus with so much energy and festivity!