启明星人| 柳慧：带着个“宝贝口袋”的“百变”中文老师
启明星人 8/20
加入一个社区的理由可以有很多，但最能让我们对它产生归属感和认同感的，往往是它包容、暖心的小环境。
启明星就是这样的社区，20年来，大家受到启明星的感召加入它，又共同塑造它。
正值启明星创校20周年之际，我们决定走近20个“启明星人”，展示他们的故事，进而呈现20年的启明星社区丰富且真实的一个个侧面：
本期《启明星人》，让我们走近北皋校区小学中文老师柳慧：
北皋校区小学中文老师柳慧
“可爱”老师、“神奇”老师、“超级”老师、“欢乐”老师、“百科”老师、“跑题”老师、“趣味”老师、“幽默”老师……
如果告诉你，这是孩子们对同一个老师的称呼，你是不是很想知道这位老师的什么样？
这位老师就是柳慧——北皋校区小学部的中文老师。她常年教授中高年级，在启明星已经工作11年了。
《可爱的》
作者：冰心
除了宇宙，
最可爱的只有孩子。
和他说话不必思索，
态度不必矜持。
抬起头来说笑，
低下头去弄水。
任你深思也好，
微讴也好；
驴背山，山门下，
偶一回头望时，
总是活泼泼地，
笑嘻嘻地。
柳慧说，这首诗很能代表自己的教育理念。
“变脸”老师
柳慧老师看上去温柔、沉静，在孩子们面前却是另一幅模样！面对孩子们时，她幽默、活泼，总是笑眯眯的。用学生们的话来说，“感觉窗外的乌云，都被柳老师给笑跑了！”
柳老师自己爱笑，也爱逗孩子们。有一回，她教的5B班的一个同学上课时犯瞌睡，柳老师叫醒他：“你中了100万！”这句玩笑把全班同学都逗乐了。被叫醒的同学一脸懵。柳老师又继续逗他说：“你刚才一定做美梦了，在梦里中了一百万！“ 这让学生们觉得更有意思了，柳老师既幽默地叫醒了打瞌睡的同学，又活跃了课堂气氛，没用一分钟，课堂教学就恢复正常了。
不过，和气幽默可不等于没原则。柳慧对孩子们严慈相济，原则分明，让孩子们形容她是 “变脸”老师。
5年级的孩子们在作文中把她的“变脸”记述的惟妙惟肖：
有一次，数学课结束，柳老师笑眯眯地坐在前面的椅子上等待休息时间结束，途中也有一部分同学来和柳老师聊天儿，可是就在这个时候有同学从人群外面钻进来，对柳老师说：“老师，上一个小长假作业我没做……”气氛瞬间凝固了，柳老师瞬间从开心变成了一副默默无闻的样子，眼神也低沉了下来。当我们还没反应过来时，柳老师就已经走到前面的讲台上了，她让没交作业的同学老老实实地站起来，并严厉地询问不交作业的原因，并且给家长发了邮件。
还有一个孩子的文字更可爱：
“每次我们排完队回来，柳老师总是‘怒气冲冲’看着我们，可我们排好队出门前，她总是笑眯眯的，因为我们出门前总是整整齐齐的出去，然后乱七八糟的回来……”
“跑题”老师
柳慧也被孩子们叫做 “跑题”老师。
讲法布尔写的文章《蜜蜂》，柳慧会从法布尔为研究蜜蜂怎样做实验，实验过程和实验结果讲开去，补充很多作者小时候的生活和成长的故事，一下子讲了两节课；
讲郭沫若的《白鹭》，她会从《白鹭》横跳到郭沫若的另一篇经典诗歌《天上的街市》，还给孩子们播放了相关的视频，引导大家欣赏这首优秀的诗歌，让孩子们对郭沫若的作品有了比较全面的了解；
在“日积月累”学习环节讲到“不饱食以终日，不弃功于寸阴”的作者葛洪，她拓展到葛洪的医药学家和炼丹师身份，然后从炼丹师说到了希望长生不老的秦始皇，从秦始皇讲到《史记》，讲到班里爱读历史书的郑好同学，鼓励同学们向郑好学习，多读一读历史类的书籍，最后才又说回到“日积月累”的学习环节。
……
这种跑题，可把孩子们高兴坏了！
“柳老师的‘跑题’可以给我们增加课外知识，还因为有趣能集中我们的注意力，真是‘会跑题’啊！”
还有一个孩子说：“我觉得柳老师更适合去当历史老师，因为总会跑题到历史。柳老师的知识是很丰富的。”
这个孩子说对了，柳老师的学科专业除了教育学，还有历史学！
“宝藏”老师
柳老师在孩子们眼中还是个“宝藏”，她会带孩子们读书，带他们做各种有意思的活动，好像总是随身带着一只不只装了书本知识的“宝贝口袋”：
她会配合中文学习设计很多活动和情景，启动学生的学习兴趣。比如在线学习期间，她牵头语文组的其他老师一起组织学生通过配音学习经典文本，让学生挑选《百万英镑》、《红楼梦》或《水浒传》片段来配音。这看起来只是个有趣的学习活动，实则需要学生反复阅读文本，揣摩人物说话时的心理活动，领会作者的写作意图，对文本进行更加全面、维度更丰富的学习。
配音活动不但让在线课堂更有趣，也为学生在家学习补充了课外资源，还有非常重要的，老师们将这个活动作为形成性评估，得到了学生直观的学习反馈。
柳老师也特别推崇海量阅读。她在教室放一只书箱，看到合适的书就买回来放进去。当看到有孩子需要读书时，她总能变戏法似的从箱子里抽出一本书递过去，奇妙的是，那本书肯定还挺适合那个孩子读的！
柳慧把读书也做成了“双向”互动，她成立了读书俱乐部，鼓励孩子们读书，也鼓励孩子们推荐好书。“《偷书贼》、《穿条纹睡衣的男孩》就是学生向我推荐的，我赶紧买来读，觉得好就推荐给更多的学生。”柳慧说。
柳慧也兼任PYP探究单元的中文教学。在《我们身处什么时空》主题单元，孩子们要学习“现代移民“的概念、原因、挑战和影响。为了让孩子们思考其中主动移民和被动移民的概念，柳慧特意请来学生家长讲述自己的“移民”经历，孩子们听的津津有味。2位妈妈都是离开家乡，几经辗转在多个城市求学、工作，最后移居北京的，她们是主动移民的代表。学习完主动移民，柳老师又启发孩子们关注启明星一直帮扶的仁育苑的孩子们——他们背井离乡，被收留在家育苑，是被动来到北京的“现代移民”，他们是被动移民。
孩子们从多个角度理解了“现代移民”的概念之后，也深深同情仁育苑的那些被动移民到北京的孩子们，大家捐助了一些物资和学费，解决了疫情时期仁育苑孩子的学习需要。
柳慧说，自己之所以能给学生们不断组织新的活动，拓展新知识，是因为她自己就是个喜欢挑战和新鲜的人。比如听同一首歌，她会找来5个版本反复听，听其中的相同，听其中的不同，好像入了迷；看一本书，她会找来同一个故事的电影，把书和电影反复比较；再比如，她喜欢看悬疑推理故事，喜欢阅读心理学书籍……
“在工作环境方面，启明星也在教学理念、教学策略方面给了我很多空间去尝试。在这样的学校教书对我来说既是工作，又是兴趣。”柳慧说。
新学期了，带着“宝贝口袋”的柳老师，又会变出什么新鲜东西呢？等着看吧！
DAYSTARer 8/20
There are many reasons to join a community, but we experience the greatest sense of belonging from those with a warm, inclusive atmosphere.
Daystar is such a community. For over two decades, people have been inspired to join Daystar, and together we have shaped it. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the founding of Daystar. In recognition of this moment, we decided to interview 20 Daystar community members so that they could tell their stories and present a detailed image of the Daystar community:
Today’s post is about Liu Hui , a Chinese teacher at Daystar Beigao Elementary School.
Liu Hui , Chinese teacher at Daystar Beigao Elementary School
Cute, magical, super, happy, encyclopedia, playful, fun, humorous, these are all words used in Daystar student essays to describe a particular teacher. Do you want to know what this teacher looks like?
This special teacher is Liu Hui, a Chinese teacher at Daystar Beigao Elementary School. She has been teaching middle school and senior high school at Daystar for 11 years.
“Beloved”
by Bing Xin
Beyond the cosmos vast and wide,
Beloved most, are children by our side.
No need for formality, nor calculation,
With them, we share a pure relation.
We can chat and laugh, gazing up high,
Or bend down low, splashing water to the sky.
Be it a deep thought or a soft song,
On a donkey's back, or a mountain foot.
When we glance back, and take a peek,
Their smiles and liveliness, they always keep.
Ms. Liu said, this poem represents her education philosophy.
A Teacher with Different "Faces"
Ms. Liu may seem quiet and calm, but she puts on a totally different face in front children – she’s lively, humorous, and always smiling. Students have said, “When Ms. Liu smiles, the dark clouds outside the windows are laughed away.”
She loves smiling and making kids smile. Once, a student in Class 5B fell asleep during the lesson. She woke him up and said, “You have won one million yuan!” Everyone laughed except the sleepy student who still felt groggy. She continued, “You must’ve had a sweet dream about winning a prize of one million yuan!” The students liked that joke even more. Ms. Liu woke up the sleepy student and lightened the mood in the classroom. In less than a minute, the class was back to normal.
But being kind and humorous doesn’t mean she isn’t strict. Ms. Liu is both strict and kind and has clear principles. The children describe her as a teacher with different faces.
The Grade 5 students wrote vivid descriptions of how she “changes her faces”.
Once, after the math class finished, Ms. Liu was relaxing in her chair at the front of the classroom. She was smiling and waiting for the break between classes to end. Some students were chatting with her. A student came through the crowd and said, “Ms. Liu, I didn’t finish the holiday homework…” The whole class went quiet, and Ms. Liu changed her face. She changed from a happy face to one that was solemn, and her eyes became strict and serious. Before the students realized what was happening, she walked to the teacher’s desk, sharply asked the students who hadn’t finished their homework to stand up and explain, and emailed the students’ parents.
Another student gave cuter description:
“Every time we come back after lining up, Ms. Liu gives us an “angry” look. But when we line up to leave, she always smiles. This is because we line up properly when we prepare to leave, but we don’t come back in an orderly line…”
Playful Teacher
The students also say Ms. Liu is a playful teacher.
When discussing the article Bee written by Fabre, Ms. Liu spent two lessons on Fabre’s bee experimentation process and results. She also included stories about Fabre’s childhood and growth.
While discussing “Egret” written by Guo Moruo, she jumped from “Egret” to another classic poem by Guo called “The Streets of Heaven”. She played a video about the poem and guided students as they learned to appreciate it. This helped them to have a more comprehensive understanding of Guo’s works.
During a lesson focusing on learning more over time, she taught them about the author Ge Hong, who wrote “Think not of eating all day, waste not an inch of time.” Then she deviated to Ge Hong’s life as a medical scientist and imperial alchemist. From there, she told them about the First Emperor of Qin who wanted an elixir for eternal life. From the Qin Emperor, she moved to Shiji (Records of the Grand Historian), then mentioned a student named Zheng Hao who loves reading history and encouraged other students to learn from Zheng Hao. Then she finally returned to the topic of learning more over time.
But the students love her deviations.
“When Ms. Liu deviates from the main topic, she teaches us a lot of extra information and that is really interesting and holds everyone’s attention.”
Another student said, “I think Ms. Liu would be a good history teacher because she often shifts to history and she knows a lot about it.”
This student is right. Ms. Liu majored in both education and history!
Treasure teacher
Ms. Liu is a precious treasure to the students. She has children read books and participate in interesting activities. She opens a special “treasure pocket” for the students that contains more than just textbook knowledge.
She designs a variety of activities to trigger students’ interest in learning about Chinese works. For example, when classes were being held online, she led the Chinese teaching team in having students study classic Chinese articles through dubbing. Students chose portions of The Million Pound Bank Note, Dream of the Red Chamber, Water Margin, and other classics to dub. While this may seem like a fun activity at first, the students must read the text multiple times, think about how the characters feel, and try to grasp the author’s intention to have an in-depth, comprehensive understanding of the text.
The dubbing activity made online learning more interesting and provided students with more after-class resources. More importantly, the teachers could use it as a formative assessment and received positive feedback from the students.
Ms. Liu also encourages students to read widely. She has a bookshelf in the classroom. Whenever she finds a good book, she buys it and puts it on the bookshelf. Then, when a child needs something to read, she simply removes a book from the shelf, like a magic trick. The book often turns out to be perfect for the child.
Ms. Liu also makes reading a two-way interaction. She set up a book club to encourage kids to read books and recommend good books to one another. “The Book Thief and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas were recommended to me by students. I bought and read them right away. I thought they were good and recommended them to more students,” she said.
Ms. Liu also teaches Chinese for the PYP UOI. In the unit “What time and space we are in?” students learn about the concepts, reasons, challenges, and influences of the modern migrant. To help them understand the concepts of active and passive migration, Ms. Liu invited parents to talk about their “migration” experience, and the students greatly enjoyed the lesson. Two mothers left their hometowns to go to school and get jobs in different cities, and they finally moved to Beijing. They are the representatives of active migration. Next, Ms. Liu inspired students to think about the children they have been helping at Our Learning House. These children left their hometowns and were taken in at Our Learning House – they are modern migrants who came to Beijing passively.
After learning about the concept of modern migration from multiple angles, the students felt sorry for the kids at Our Learning House who had passively migrated to Beijing. They donated materials and money to cover tuition fees to help the kids study well during the pandemic.
Ms. Liu said the reason she continues organizing new activities and providing supplementary information for students is that she is a person who enjoys novelty and challenges. For example, when she listens to a song, she finds five different versions and listens to them over and over to identify the similarities and differences. When she reads a book, she finds the movie based on that book, and compares them. In addition, she likes reading suspense and mystery books and books about psychology.
“Daystar provides an excellent work environment where I can form my own educational philosophy and strategy. Teaching at Daystar is both a job and a hobby to me,” said Ms. Liu.
The new term has begun. What new things will Ms. Liu take out from her “treasure pocket?”
END
启明星人|中文个体与社会教师兼学生事务主管张雪野：温暖但带有“锋芒”的火 Daystarer| Chinese Individuals and Socieites & Dean of Students Yuki Zhang: A fire that is Both Warm and Sharp
启明星人| 安保主管钟道清：希望孩子们开开心心来上学，平平安安把知识带回家 DAYSTARer | Zhong Daoqing: Hope students come to school with happiness and go home with knowledge and safety