【外教工作坊】Foreigner teachers‘workshop

2016-12-24 Enrico David

Enrico 

Continuous professional development is vital to building a strong and successful school. At Xiwai, professional development takes many forms, from weekly staff meetings to all-day trainings and seminars and even special off-campus training events.

In the Bilingual Middle School and International High School, foreign teachers also use their Friday staff meetings to share ideas and hone their teaching skills. Each week, a different teacher or group of teachers leads a workshop on some aspect of teaching and education. According to Principal Enrico Piccinini, “Every teacher has something he or she can do better than the rest of us. These workshops are an opportunity for each of us to learn from our peers and become better teachers in the process.”

Middle school

Recently in the Middle School, English teachers Mark Wilkinson and Jo Folscher gave a workshop on how to guide students effectively, with an emphasis on lower-level English speakers. The workshop started with a brief exercise to show that teachers don’t always follow directions well either! Mark and Jo then shared some strategies for how to structure your lessons so that students are able to understand well and be more productive in class. Teachers came away with some great ideas that they can apply in their own classes, regardless of which subject they teach.

High school

In the High School, English and SAT teacher David Mielke gave an informative presentation on the format of the new SAT and how to prepare students for this crucial test. David explained that the new SAT requires much more critical thinking and a great deal of background knowledge from other subjects – not just English and mathematics, but also history, science, and other disciplines. Students can no longer hope to do well on the SAT just by taking “crash courses” and learning clever strategies and shortcuts. The only good preparation for the SAT now is a full and challenging curriculum with a strong focus on reading and critical inquiry.

Also in High School, English teacher Alex Leibowitz gave a talk on how to align our teaching with Common Core standards. These standards for grades K-12 are currently used in 42 out of 50 states in the United States, and they form the basis of our Bilingual Middle School and International High School curricula as well. Alex gave an overview of the standards along with specific examples of how to apply the standards in our lessons.

So far, the foreign teacher-led workshops in the Middle and High School have been informative and helpful. They also provide both experienced and new teachers with a platform to share their experiences and insights as educators. If you would like to participate, stop by the International Department any Friday afternoon – all teachers are welcome to join!

我是中英文分割線

是否堅持可持續性的專業發展是學校建設成敗的一個重要因素。在西外，教師專業的發展呈現出多種形式，可以是周教職工會議、日培訓和研討會，也可以是校外的培訓活動等。

外教周五例會

在國際雙語初、高中部周五例會上，外教們一起分享經驗、打磨教學技能。每周外教都會以個體或小組的形式，就某一個教學或教育議題開展專題討論。外方校長Enrico Piccinini提到，每位教師都有其他教師所不能及的特長，專題研討會不僅為教師們提供相互學習的機會，而且有助於教師們自身的職業發展。

初中部

初中雙語國際部的英語教師Mark Milkinson 和Jo Folscher 進行了一場關於如何高效引導英語水平較薄弱的學生學習的研討會。這個研討會從一個簡短的練習開始，向老師們展示其實老師也並不總是能跟從指令，何況學生？僅接著Mark和Jo分享了一些課程設計的策略，為了使學生更好地理解課堂指令並能有更好的課堂產出。各學科的老師們紛紛給出自己關於課堂管理和教學的好想法。

高中部

 在高中雙語國際課程部，英語及SAT教師David Mielka 獻上了一場精彩的公益講座。他講解了SAT新政及其備考策略。David解釋說新SAT考試對考生的批判性思維能力及除英語及數學以外其他學科（諸如曆史、科學等）的背景知識有更高的要求。這樣一來，要想獲取高分，就不能單單依賴速成班或考試技巧了，而是要通過聚焦於那些培養閱讀能力及批判性思維能力的充滿挑戰性的課程。

英語教師Alex Leibowitz 則做了一場關於如何將教學接軌核心課標的講座。該課標是目前美國 的42個州（共50個州）K-12年級使用的課程標準，也是國際雙語初、高中部課程設置的基石。Alex介紹了課程標準的主要內容，並舉例闡述了如何將課標運用到日常課程教學中的具體實施辦法。

小編：我們都知道，SAT今年改版了，那它具體有什麼變化呢？我們的學生又需要注意哪些事項呢？不妨來聽聽我校SAT教師David怎麼說。

David & SAT

Everything You Want to Know About

The New SAT

SAT的新政策

1、現在，SAT的總分從之前2400分改為1600分。數學占總分的50%，即1600分占了800分，而做題時間在180分鍾中占80分鍾。

2、論文寫作可選寫，但大部分名校仍有要求。此外，論文寫作的時間由原來的的25分鍾改為50分鍾；

3、若有答案錯誤，則不扣分。（換言之：猜測不扣分）

4、詞彙和語法題改為基於語境的題目，而不是孤立存在的。

5、閱讀文章的內容與核心課程及AP科目相一致。

新SAT的核心技能

1、語境中的單詞

學生需熟記不同課目中的重點及常用生詞和短語；其次，能根據語境猜測詞義；

2、證據運用

學生要會解釋、綜合、和使用“證據”。這些證據的來源廣泛，包括信息圖表（如表格、圖表和圖形）及文學和紀實文學體裁，人文學、科學、曆史與社會研究等科目、以及工作和職業的話題等。

3、材料分析

學生閱讀一篇文章後，要會解釋作者是如何使用論據來說服讀者的。這個任務反映了大學寫作的任務，因為它要求分析作者如何使用論據、論證手法、修辭手法來有力論證。

4、廣泛閱讀

學生需要掌握有關藝術、科學、 公民、文化即政治生活等的理念、爭論或思想趨勢。

SAT測試被大多美國4年製大學采納。許多希望出國留學的西外學生需參加該考試，所    以他們應該盡早熟悉該考試。2016年，新版SAT推出，新政策包括：數學部分變得更長，更多基於語境的閱讀和寫作，以及與核心課程目標更緊密地保持一致。 此外，論文寫作雖然推薦給大多院校，但卻是可選項。這個研討會討論新測試的變化，所需的學術技能，以及西外的課程設置如何更好幫助學生備考。

寫在最後

迄今，初、高中部外教引導的研討會都非常有益，不僅信息全麵而且可以切實幫助教師解決日常教學問題，進而對教學有新的理解。這些研討會還給有經驗的和新教師提供一個平台來分享他們對教學的洞察並交流經驗。如果你想加入我們，不妨在每周五下午來訪我們國際部，歡迎所有的老師們加入我們。