Don't be afraid of changes

Don’t be afraid of changes

So the seating arrangement doesn’t work? Change it.  Use actions and simple words to let students understand what you want. Demonstrate it first; of course, and then show them what your intension is.  Physically help them move so they understand. Always say thank you when they listen. When students are not listening during whole group instruction time, change their carpet seating arrangement right away.

座位安排有问题？马上换。用简单的词汇和动作来让学生了解你的意思。示范一下动作，让他们知道你要他们跟着做什么。实际上帮他们搬移座位上的东西也可以让他们了解。记得说谢谢。如果学生在地毯讲课区吵闹说话，马上换。让他们知道每一个行为都会有特定的结果。

Take lining up as an example.  Give clear directions.  Count to three; a quiet line should form.  If it doesn’t happen the first time, ask the students to come back and do it again.  Keep doing it until a quiet line is formed.  There will be students who are obedient and know how to be quiet. Walk up to them and say “thank you for being quiet.” Ask the whole class to go back and form the line again. Pretty soon, the children will understand that you are expecting a quiet line and nothing else. They will start reminding each other so they don’t have to repeat this action too many times.

拿排队做例子。清楚说明要学生安静迅速的排队，数到3 然后看这队伍是否安静。不安静？回去再排一次，再一次，再一次，直到队伍安静为止。不用大声说话，只要轻声跟听话的学生道谢，然后要全部的学生继续努力排队。很快的，学生就会知道并提醒彼此安静排队，免得要再多跑几次。

Good learning habits need to be created and practiced so a teacher’s can be effective.  When fostering good habits, don’t worry about spending time on it because language will be reinforced and behavior will be molded.  Henceforth, teaching will happen.

好的学习习惯需要被创造也需要持续练习，如此老师的教导才会有效果。养成好的 学习习惯时，不要在乎花费的时间因为语言也会被学习到，好习惯养成后，教书的工作才可以真正开始。

Teachable moment

Teachable moment

Any moment is a teachable moment.  When a teacher only has three hours or less a day to teach all subjects, it is a challenge.  So, any tiny moment can’t be wasted. When choosing lunch, math can be added to the counting. Gradually, a comparison can be made.

Do students yell out things in English? Instead of telling them not to use English, just repeat it in Chinese and put it in a sentence.  The language comes from the students, and it’s in a context they can understand.  They will remember it better. 

I often make a crazy laugh to the kids during early October and expect them to scream “Witch!” at me.  “How perfect” I will tell myself, and I will point at myself and keep repeating “巫婆”.  Now, they learn a word that is useful during Halloween but has never appeared in the textbook. The best part is that they won’t forget about it due to the context and the way they acquired this new vocabulary.

任何时候都是教学的时刻。当一个老师只有3个或不到3个小时来教所有学科，是个极大的挑战，一分一秒都不能浪费掉。

选午餐，数数可以加进来，等学生熟练数字后，可以趁此机会来比较多少和多几个，少几个。

学生大声喊出英文，无须浪费时间来纠正，顺势把中文词汇丢给他们，这是学生自己提供的语文，用在情境上，他们比较不会忘记这个词也不会忘记用法。

十月初，我会故意对学生奸笑，他们往往会喊出“witch”，正合我意，我总是指着自己反复再说几次“巫婆”，要他们跟着说“陈老师是巫婆”.一个万圣节有用的词汇就简单学会了。

Once, several students talked about one student being a “smarty-pants”.  How exciting! I asked the student to come to the front. I asked him questions, and then expect his “smart” pants to answer me after putting the microphone to his pants. Of course, there was no sound from his pants. I asked him the same questions, and he could answer everything. I turned to the students and asked in Chinese “who is smart, he or the pants?” Everyone laughed and learned to say, “pants are not smart,” “he is smart” in Chinese. Of course, there will be students trying to answer for the pants.  Ignore this naughty behavior and reward positive behavior and let the students know your expectations.

一次，几个学生形容另一个学生是个 “smarty-pants”。机不可失，我请这学生站到前方, 把麦克风放到学生膝盖附近问了几个简单的问题，当然裤子不会回答，我问学生同样的 问题，这个学生回答了每个问题，接着我问所有学生，是裤子聪明还是他聪明，笑得开怀的学生大声回答“他很聪明，裤子不聪明。”当然会有几个调皮的学生想替裤子回答，故意忽略，然后表扬听话认真的小孩就可以让学生知道老师的态度和期许。

When something drops, say it out loud.  When thinking of something, say it out loud. When you can’t find something, say it out loud.  When you find something, say it out loud.

When the students match your actions with words, everything makes sense to them and they have a better chance to remember the words.

东西掉了，大声的说出来 “啊，掉下去了。”在想事情的时候，也说出来 “我想。。。。” 找不到东西时，也说出来，“我的东西在哪里？”找到了，也大声说找到了或是在这里，学生自然可以从你的行为和言辞找到连贯，由此知道也学会一些课本上不容易教到的词汇。

Students need social language; they need to hear it in daily life and in the most natural setting in order to remember and reuse the language.  So, when to teach these social languages? Any moment is a teachable moment. Students are learning all the time. Look for these teachable moments.

学生需要知道生活上的用语，他们从自然的环境，生活周遭听到这些语文时是最容易记住的。何时教才对？任何时候都可以教，学生无时不刻都在学习。善用这些时刻。

Teaching starts now! (And some free templates for classroom.)

After the mind is prepared, the actual work starts.

Immersion teachers have so much to do it’s not funny. However, don’t expect to teach alone. Here are some suggestions on how to start teaching.

Talk to your teaching partner and grade team, which means every teacher in your grade, and have the whole year curriculum mapped out. Don’t worry about the detailed lesson plans yet, just the big picture.  Map out the year’s plan for every subject.  Here is the simple template to spread the subjects throughout the year. Think about the holidays and the different months while planning.

At the beginning of the school, the pace of teaching should be slow. Procedures are really important. Set the rules while teaching subjects slowly. Often, it appears the children don’t understand the subject, but actually, it is because they don’t understand the language well yet.

If the plan isn’t complete at the beginning of the year, it can always be done later. Then it can be recycled for the next year, with your changes that can improve the next year’s plan.

After the year map is complete, think about the monthly plan.  Then a weekly plan should follow, and finally, a daily schedule. There are several reasons for planning curriculum this way. First, we should have an end goal in mind. Backward design is the key.  When we see the goal or destination, we can adjust our steps and walk toward the goal. Second, simplify the whole year and make it more manageable.  We want to see the whole year curriculum as a big beautiful cookie: it’s better to cut it into bite sizes so we don’t choke and we can enjoy the cookie elegantly.

Immersion teachers know how short instruction time is everyday. No matter how short the time is, all the required subjects need to be taught. The best way to teach them all is to have a good plan and well thought out steps. Integrate subjects together. When you have the whole year’s map done, you can see what language to use for each lesson to better prepare the students and integrate subjects while teaching. Math lessons need Chinese language for support. Chinese language can be combined with math concepts. Science lessons also need Chinese language support.  

We can’t expect students to understand the new language and the new concepts simultaneously. Gradually introduce the language and teach the meanings before asking students to master the learning.  

Everything needs to have a meaning so the students can remember and maintain the language.

I am sharing some templates here and hope they can be of some help in your teaching. 

The first and second ones are for the year map. You can easily make one for science or change the name.  Third one is what I used for first grade table top. It comes in handy when I ask students to do math on their own. The money reward sheet is for good behavior. Mark one cent for good behavior and the children get to practice money concept at the same time.  The last two are daily schedule I made. Very top part is for time then below it is for the daily teaching subjects. Under each day, I can quickly list objectives or important events on that day to remind myself. 

Hope these help some new teachers out there.

At the beginning!

On Immersion Teaching Goals

By Marty Chen

After teaching for several years now and talking with many experienced teachers and administrators, I have developed a list of goals that I believe can help teachers to a better start in the immersion classroom.  There are more goals than this list contains, however I think we should keep it simple to start with. Being overwhelmed is not a healthy and productive state.  

See it as an all-you-can-eat buffet: the purpose is to satisfy your hunger and fill your stomach. Everything might look yummy and tempting at first glance, but we should only put what we can eat on our plate. We should have a variety of food that can nourish our bodies.  We arrange our choices nicely on our plates so we can observe, eat, and enjoy every bite. We can then go back for more after we finish the first plate.  On the second trip, we might try something new, or we might stick with what we like as long as it works for us.

The Chinese often say:水能载舟亦能覆舟: the tide can bear the boats but can also swallow them. Too many rules, principles, or goals might be as bad as none at all.  But consider these important ones:

1.    Believe.  

Belief is what you tell yourself.  You believe you can or cannot achieve something.  If your belief is positive then you will swim above the water; if your belief is negative then you might drown.  As a teacher, you need to believe that you can teach and that students can learn.  When a teacher shows doubt, students can sense it. Believe in yourself and stay confident. One important belief is to believe in teaching 100% in the target language.

2.    Stay 100 % in the target language in the classroom.

This is the only way to do it. Students will try to figure out the message. English is their safety net. The students won’t take risks during learning if they can fall back on English. Let them survive in the target language.  Help them foster survival skills, and stick with teaching 100% in the target language.

3.    Be a role model. 

What happens when students see and hear you speaking English? If you do, make sure it’s not in the classroom.  During my fist year, students thought I didn’t speak English. I later realized it was not entirely necessary, as long as I only spoke Chinese in the classroom. I believe in demonstrating positive behaviors. If I only speak one language, what reason do I have to ask my students to become bilingual? I want the students to know that I speak their language well and can teach and live in a foreign country. I wish to inspire them rather than fooling them.

4.    Integrated teaching.

Time is limited, so do things efficiently. Make subjects connect with each other. Recycle the language throughout the day.  Show students that the vocabulary they are learning is not lifeless. Use vocabulary in meaningful sentences, and use vocabulary in real situations.  Act it out, make it fun, make the words part of their lives.  Generate interest in vocabulary so they use the words in different subjects and different situations.

5.    Caregiver speech.

Students only can hear the target language from you and in your classroom.  Provide as much context as you can. Weather changes? Talk about it every day. Clothing items are different, mention and point them out everyday.  Think out loud and invite students to do the same. Describe things in detail and invite students to say it. Describe events in sequences and invite students to say it too. Offer warm and comforting words when they are hurt or sad.  Offer funny comments and laugh with them.  Students have strong memories of emotion.  Let students know you care and let them hear your caring voice all the time.

6.    Comprehensible input.

Don’t assume. Use gestures, pictures, realias, TPR, multimedia and props to teach the message. Check their understanding and listen for responses in the target language. When I show you an eggplant picture and I say “murasaki”, what did I just teach? Purple or eggplant in Japanese? When I have many different purple objects and I say “murasaki”, can you make the connection that I am teaching the color purple?

7.    Backward design.

Have the end goals in mind. Think about the purpose of each lesson first. Don’t teach because it’s cute or it’s fun for you. Think about what you want your students to hear, say, read, and write.  Think about how can you evaluate the learning outcomes!

8.    Communication. 

Don’t assume! Talk to your partner teacher.  Talk to other teachers.  Talk to your principal.  Talk to your staff.  And talk to the parents.

Does this seem like a lot to keep in mind? Integrate these goals, just like you teach.  Together, all of these goals can be combined into a single act: effective teaching. 

Remember your main purpose:

·      Teach contents to your students

·      Students’ language production in target language

·      Inspire your students to love learning

Teaching is rewarding. Enjoy every moment!

The First day of school -in an Immersion Classroom Management 2

My colleagues and I often say "we will try this next year!" Time really flies when you are in class. To avoid saying too much "we will do this next year", we can only plan and plan.

In the previous post, I mentioned about numbering everything. This can really save your breath. I even number all the papers that need to go home with the students. The reason? If you have taught younger grades you remember how easily papers disappear in thin air after you hand the papers to their tiny hands.  Another thing is if you pick up a note, a homework, or something you handed out earlier and ask to whom it belongs, the chances of someone saying they are the owner are thin. I numbered everything even in English classroom. No need to argue when I show the number to the student. Sometimes funny thing happens, the student might say they already have the papers in their backpack. Ask them to bring it out and you can see who took the wrong ones and who doesn't care about cleaning their mailboxes. A numbered work/document really saves your breath, just saying.

There will be materials you want the students to take home and some materials to stay in classroom.  Since many Immersion teachers have 2 classes share the same room, how to organize these materials deserve some thinking too. In my school, one class uses the desk to store materials and another class uses seat pockets. We bought some seat pockets from Really Good Stuff.  They are holding up quiet well. My partner teacher and I took them home and threw them in washer at the end of school year and they are ready for next year.

First few days or weeks are really for building relationship and routine (or procedures).  Students need to learn : how to walk in quietly, how to hang backpacks, how to choose lunch, how to sit down quietly, how to stand up, how to come to the front, how to line up, how to get out supplies, how to listen, how to react, how to walk in the hallway, how to help teachers, how to listen, and how to learn.  Students need to hear these things million times and practice million times. (Maybe not million times, but you get the ideas.)

Keep the language acquisition order in mind, listening, talking, reading, and writing. So, there is no need to give tons of reading and writing work at the beginning. Students need to hear and get used to the second language until they are comfortable with it.

The first day of school-in an Immersion Classroom Management 1

The first day of school-in an Immersion Classroom

Management 1

First day is a big deal！First day is always a long and a physically  emotionally draining day .

Students are afraid of the unknown. Teachers are nervous and worried about all the things that might go wrong. However, no matter how nervous and how scared a teacher is, do not show it. A prepared teacher can turn any opportunity into a teaching moment.

Even a well-prepared teacher is not fear free. Can you imagine how scared one must be if they are not prepared?

Take a look at the classroom before the school starts. Picture how the students come in, work, learn, study, and interact with each other in this classroom. Have you thought about the furniture arrangement? Have you thought about the flow when students need to move around in the classroom? Desks, chairs, mailboxes, cubbies (or lockers), instruction areas, and hooks for coats and backpacks. There are more. Walk into your classroom pretend you were your student, where to hand backpack and coat. How do you find your desk? Is there a name-tag on the desk? Or nametags will come later based on personal preference?

Students’ first day is the product of teachers’ many sleepless nights, hardworking days and preparations. I had no ideas how to start the first day. The trainings I attended were all about no English and content based curriculum. I wish to share my trials and errors experience here so new teachers can avoid the same mistakes. When you put yourself in your students’ shoes you may discover many useful tricks. Since our students are all different and unique hence the methods should be vary.

Students put their backpacks away, find their desks, and get their pencil boxes out. Students can do these as long as they have attended kindergarten. However, think about how can students find their desks and know where to put their backpacks? This is what I have learned from my mistakes. I assumed the order would fall naturally but no, plans and arrangement need to be there.

Where do backpacks go? My first year teaching Chinese Immersion had a very interesting experience. Hooks for backpack weren’t ready in my classroom. I had to lead the students to walk by other classrooms to the hooks located in the hallway by the office, and I could only speak Chinese to these American kids. It was unforgettable.

 Locker or hooks with labels or without labels? If the decision is not to label the hooks/lockers, how do you let students understand your intention? Will it interfere with the students who try to choose lunch or start morning self-start?

Are there nametags on students’ desks so they can find their desks easily? Nametag is a great tool. Have you thought more about it? I am planning to cover all about this topic later.

Many schools want students to choose lunch first thing in the morning. How do you make this chore easy to understand and don’t take up too much time? I use food’s photos to let them pick. First day, I will pick up their numbers and ask them one by one about their lunch choices. Then put the numbered magnet to the correct lunch choice. This routine will take weeks of practice to let the students get used to it.

I love using numbers. Numbers on magnets, numbers on mailboxes, and numbers on pops. It takes time to have everyone remember their own numbers but once it’s memorized, they won’t forget. Also, you don’t need to make new sets of names every year.

We don’t have a lot of time to teach in half day so I am always trying to find easier ways to do things to save time and save trouble.

Questions and answers from a soon to be hired teacher

I must say that I may not have answers for every question. I believe I am still learning everyday.

Every school district is different and every school has its own culture and ways of doing things. It's wise to ask the school and district before new teachers make any decisions. Search their website, find out what resources you can get. 

Few questions asked by a future immersion classroom teacher:

1. 在immersion教育中，您常用的軟件是那一些？如你的blog，lingt language，還有那一些我們可以開始研發的呢？我的blog是学区提供的。所以你必须先看学区有没有提供，先不要浪费你的精力和金钱。Lingt language是我自掏腰包的软体，可是你可以问问学校有没有经费，如果有，也可以帮你负担这个部分。 我另外使用了Voki, Arch Chinese. 好用，有用的，几个就行，否则你太累，容易厌倦的。

This future teacher wants to know what kind of software I use in my classroom and what else will I suggest. I use lingt, Archchinese, and Voki to assist parents to help their kids. I suggest that she check with school district first before she spends her own money or invest too much personal time on unnecessary things.

2. 請問一下猶他州的教材是不是跟著common core的路線呢？是的，犹他是跟着common core 走。你到学区应征工作可以先问，先了解，也好让他们知道你是设想周全的。
Is Utah following Common Core. Yes.

3. 您覺得第一年的老師來說，最重要的是什麼？我个人觉得最重要的是信念，相信自己和学生做得到。而且相信100%用中文教书是绝对可以做到的。我的学生是最好的证明。相信自己。一定要相信自己，可是也要相信自己需要他人的协助。
What is the most important thing to a first year teacher? I personally think "belief" is really important. A teacher needs to believe she/he and the students can reach the goal. Any Immersion teacher also needs to believe that teaching 100% in target language is doable. Many have tried and done it, no reason it won't work. Believe in oneself and ask for assistant when in need.

4. 作為一個新的老師，我有一些擔心classroom management的事情，雖然平時也用了很多方法來針對不同類型的學生。但是尤其是在language immersion program中，老師不能用英語，只能用中文。那一般要怎麼樣才能培養學生的routine和學習的system？您是否有好的一些文章可以介紹我們閱讀？如果您有時間的話，能否給我們介紹一下您的教學經驗呢？我正准备在msmartychen.com里解说一下我的方法。很多事情是没有一步登天的。每样事情都是有意义的故意安排。为什么做教案很重要，因为你在安排课程时，就可以想到该用什么样的文字和语言。就因为他们不了解，所以老师辛苦，可是也因为他们从零到有，让老师觉得一切值得。示范，示范，演练，演练，示范，示范，演练，演练。就是不断的循环，不断的加深印象。聪明的孩子了解了，马上要他们示范，说给其他小孩听。老师不能说英文，刚开始小孩没有被限制,所以可以利用他们当跳板，不过，在特定时间以后，小孩也不可以说英文了。在犹他州，一年级的小孩在一月中旬就不得再用英文。
The last question is the most common question-classroom management. Students can sense teachers' expectation and confidence level. A teacher walks into a classroom believing things will work out then most likely he/she will see a positive result. If one expects something negative then the result won't be surprising, it would be negative. To have a well behaved classroom is because you make them that way. You demonstrate desired behaviors and you let the students practice until they master the skills. How to start? Picture what kind of classroom you want then provide the skills to the students. Everything you say and demonstrate is planned and and meaningful. TPR, visual aides, body language, and facial expression can be so helpful. Allow students to help each other out. They can use English at the beginning when teachers can't.  First graders are expected to use Chinese only in class after January.

Helping parents

父母在家可以輔助英文，指正數學，加強科學，至於中文，如果他們本身不會中文，我們當然不鼓勵父母教中文。往往在教一個新字詞的時候，小孩馬上聽到所有的音，並且像鸚鵡似的吐出中文，可是家長的反應是“怎麼拼？” 大人多半聽不到細微的聲調，而且對於外語有先入為主的觀念。除非他們原本就會，不希望他們負起家教的責任。

曾與一個新老師在家長面前起了個小爭執，這位老師有個學生得缺課一星期，所以她決定要媽媽來幫小孩補習，方法就是她先幫媽媽惡補30分鐘好讓她幫女兒一星期，如果人的腦袋可以如此神奇運作，中文學校也就沒有存在的必要了。

跟新老師溝通無效，我直接問媽媽有信心教嗎？這媽媽苦笑搖頭，我後來請媽媽讓小孩好好玩，度假還被逼的緊緊的，怕這小孩將來是要討厭學習的，我建議她讓小孩寫日記，寫下想學的東西回來問老師中文是什麼，其他的就好好玩吧！

那家長如何幫小孩學習中文呢？不像台灣到處都有安親班，課輔班，所以要靠其他的方法來幫忙，如果台灣的家長不懂英文，不代表他們不能幫小孩學英文。
 
我做的訓練對此也有著墨，老師可以借助科技的輔助來幫助父母。我開了一個專給父母的部落格，裡面有語文，有數學，有遊戲，內容每週應著功課更新，也常放上學生的照片和學生學習的影片。

播放影片有個重大原則，那就是學生家長必須簽過同意書。而且為安全起見，不要註明地址學生姓名。

既然不能用英文在小孩面前溝通，我跟家長用電子郵件，用部落格，用簡訊來連絡。開學的第一週，在下課後，我安排三天六堂課輪流輔導家長如何使用我的格子，他們都比較寬心。

寬心不代表放心，要讓家長正面介入小孩的學習還是要緊，有個互動式的教學網站可以讓教語言的老師錄音，然後讓學生錄音確定他們會說這些課堂上教的字。我把這網站連結到格子上，所以家長可以方便的使用這些工具。

中文老師的工作很繁複，可是為了小孩的成長，值得。
 
中文班學生家長也有這些工具，可是她們的程度就是趕不上這些小小孩，媽媽們說“他們在生日宴會的時候，會突然開始說中文，然後開始笑。” 有個媽媽說“他老是問我ㄨㄚ   ㄗ 在哪裡？什麼是ㄨㄚ ㄗ？什麼是在哪裡？” （襪子）媽媽們總是笑著問這是什麼，那是什麼，語氣沒有不奈倒是有幾分驕傲。

Job hunting

五月到了。大學生要畢業了，找工作的時間就是現在。從處理應徵信函和對象的過程中，發現到許多不同甚至有趣的心態。

要做沈浸式中文(Immersion Program)教 學是另一門學問，不是如許多人的想像，只要會說中文就可以當中文老師，絕對不是如此簡單，換個角度思考，可以隨便找個會說英文的人來教英文嗎？我曾經在台灣跟個紐西蘭人學會話，這個人滿嘴粗口，張口就是不雅文字，而且我們上課都要在戶外，後來側面瞭解，這位先生是沒有大學文憑的建築工人，如果他繼續當他的 建築工人，我會很尊崇他的專業，可是被台灣人利用他的樣子來賺錢就讓我鄙視了。上過學都知道，遇到一個不懂啟發，不懂教法，不懂學生心態，不懂課堂管理，不懂引發學生興趣的老師，學習過程是枯燥煩悶又沒有效果的。

接到一通電話，說的字正腔圓的標準普通話，自我介紹後，表明要找老師的工作。一問，完全沒有教育本科的學習經驗，問說有沒有接觸過沈浸式教學，他告訴我有，在美國的大學裡教過，教過一堂經濟。講到這裡，我就瞭解了。這又是一個以為只要會說中文就可以當中文老師的案例。

再說明一次，沈浸式教學是指用百分之百的目標語言來教學科。例如一年級的學生在法文的沈浸式課堂裡就會用法文來學數學，科學和法文，老師全程只能用法文上課 和講解。西班牙文，俄文，德文或中文都是此法上學，這就是沈浸式教學。在美國大學教經濟和沈浸式課堂這兩項教學的經驗相差太遠了。

這讓我想到打電話的人的心態，他對這個項目一點都不了解，可是不做功課也不做準備，期待一個工作從天而降的態度令人好奇。

另外也有些人說快拿到教育碩士，有教書經驗，他們可以到哪個學校上班？！履歷表呢？面談？在美身份？這些都不必看，就因為是說中文的人，所以我們必須雙手奉上工作？

另一個主管和我溝通時也一肚子無奈，有個應屆畢業生拿到文憑，拿到證書，拿到一年工作許可，可是附近尚無老師的缺，而這老師除了實習也沒有真正的課堂經驗，所以這主管建議先做一個暑假的教學，爭取經驗，可是這老師說“我只想要全職，我不需要經驗。”

我發現“entitlement ” (擁有權)這個字在這個時代有新詮釋，而且被執行的很透徹，大家把自覺該有的事物要的非常理直氣壯，規矩在自己身上有想當然爾的變通。

另有一些應徵者要學區幫忙負擔律師費用換簽證，解釋過學區沒有餘錢來幫忙這種個案，只能出示工作證明，一位大姐覺得學區要用她就必須付這筆錢，還扯上不公 平，聽說有人可以，這種話就把自己的前途當場斬斷了，第一，你有證據嗎？道聽途說的東西拿來佐證，立場不穩。第二，當面指責將來的老闆辦事不公平，人家老遠就聞到麻煩的味道，敢用你嗎？還不怕你將來惹事？

好的經驗也是有的，一個有興趣的畢業生就很積極，他去找了相關資料，因為沒有教育的背景，所以他找了州政府的教育機構，查到自己需要做何準備。沒有教育背景想教書的人必須先審核學分，然後準備齊全必要的文件好開始拿教育學分，這學分會在2 年完成，證書侷限於外文沈浸式課堂的教書，不可以教普通小學。如果要教的語言是應徵者的第 2 語言，必須先通過這語言的考試。這位應徵者主動去考試，把成績直接加在履歷表裡。

另 一個學校有一個令人啼笑皆非的面談故事，這應徵者竟然公然挑戰州的制度，認為百分之百用目標語言上課是不可能的。這也是事先沒有做好功課的例子，成功的例子處處都有，這制度行之有年，就因為個人不相信，這樣大膽做無謂的革命？或許這人會教書，可是明顯的不是在沈浸式教學課堂。而且這樣有‘主見’ 的人不少，在沈浸式環境，這類人不會被錄用，而且很可能永不錄用，除非心態可以調度過來。

不管找任何工作，準備和學習都是非常必要的。如果要教書，有興趣， 有準備，有信心，有專業背景（可以邊做邊進修）就可以做這份工作，不過還要加上愛心和耐心，態度正確並肯時時學習。

Don't teach content right away.

This post is for Immersion teachers. Procedures should be taught, practiced, and learned before a teacher can try to teach anything.

Without procedures, teaching and learning won't happen. Procedures established well, teachers can teach with ease.

為何說不要上課？這裡說的課指的是學科，是數學，是英文，是各種學科，小朋友來上學，為什麼當老師的人喊“不要上課”？這件事情實在是太重要，太需要說清楚了。 在另一篇文章，“開始上課”，文章裡的第一點就是這個要點的背景。在一個訓練裡，我聽到一個名師來傳授成功之道，她說要想有一個成功的學年，有3個字一定 要牢牢記住，我馬上確定筆有墨水，筆記本有空位，先大大的畫個星星，然後洗耳恭聽，她說：procedure, procedure, and procedure. （也就是程序或是課堂常規。）沒錯，3個重點都是同一個字。她問在座的老師，買房子最重要的是哪3個字？Location, location, and location。（地點）大家回答。為什麼3點都一樣？她問。因為很重要，大家都同意。換句話說，procedure之於課堂，就是location之 於購屋。


有幸在教書的第一年就聽到這金玉良言，所以一直奉行。程序／常規只所以被許多老師奉為圭臬，是因為沒有先建立好程序常 規的教室，很難成功，累死老師和學生然後收不到功效。 其實教室很像家裡，一樣要講秩序，要有規矩。小朋友剛到一個新的環境，都還不知道是怎麼一回事就要開始為學習效果負責是很沒道理的莫名其妙。我當初舉的例 子是專業的音樂家也要彩排熟悉器具和環境才能呈現出精良的表演，小朋友也得先知道學校和教室的各種規矩和流程，才有辦法按照老師的期望表現。 程序常規非常廣泛，也因著教室年級不同而有許多改變，可是不變的是，期望，目標和注意事項都要在教導前就講清楚，溝通明白。

我以前二 年級的學生每年就從門口排隊開始演練起來，老師的期待是學生自動按照號碼排好，說清楚以後，要學生練習再練習。進學校之後，在走廊要安靜緩步從容。可以喧嘩 嗎？為什麼不可以喧嘩？可能的情況下，跟學生討論然後讓學生自定一些規矩，比老師緊迫盯人有用更多。進教室也要安靜，迅速掛好書包和午餐，把功課拿出來放 在指定的地方。拿出早自習，開始做早自習，做早自習的規矩也要說清楚要排演。做完早自習的動作又是什麼，也要設計好，說明後讓學生反覆練習。光是早上進教 室這件事情就可以練個幾天，我會故意做錯誤的示範，背個學生的書包，演一個誇張吊兒郎當的怪物學生，每個程序都是錯的，讓學生指出我做的錯誤，然後請學生 做正確的示範。

 老師做錯誤示範的習慣，我沿用到中文班，因為不想讓學生變成箭靶，畢竟他們的臉皮沒有我的厚，何況療傷溝通也沒有時間， 而且學生輕鬆開心學習的結果都是加分的。我會故意拖著書包，進教室就扔地上，然後開始搖晃椅子，敲桌子，學生很快就說“不對，陳老師不對。” 他們如何會說出“不對”這個字，當然也是另一個訓練。中文班的訓練要加上很多手勢，實際操作，實況練習，因為他們沒有這些字彙，沒有辦法了解大人覺得簡單 的任何事情。 程序常規的教導在中文班其實更重要，因為他們是從零開始，當老師的要把這些基本文字灌輸他們的字彙裡，以後才有辦法上課。有個在他處應徵助教的人曾說，很 簡單阿，就慢慢的說“坐下”，慢慢的說“過來”，對一個從未接觸過中文的小孩，速度放慢就可以使他／她了解了嗎？這是跟教小寶寶說話一樣，他們開口說爸爸媽媽以 前，大人要喊他們多久的爸爸媽媽？

當老師的必須把期待學生達到的目標整理好，要用精簡的文字，而且避免不斷改變用字，說好棒，就說好棒， 不要變成厲害，再變成優秀。他們懂得多了以後，自然有能力了解，在初初起步時，還是以簡單扼要，好溝通，好記憶，好玩為主。用演的，用玩耍的方法來讓學生 熟悉秩序是最快速的方法。舉一個例子，我一開始就教”頭，肩膀，膝蓋，腳“這首歌，我並不要他們馬上記住所有身體部位，可是我會用這首歌教快和慢，一定要 加上動作來唱這首歌，做出快的手勢然後要大家很快的唱完這首歌，做出慢的手勢然後很慢的唱完這首歌，幾分鐘不到，小朋友就懂“快”，“慢”。請他們快一 點或慢一點時，我知道他們是真的明白我的意思。

常聽到老師在剛開學時問小朋友數學不好，理解力不好，如何補救，我的猜想通常是他們數學還可 以，理解力也夠，只是他們還聽不懂中文的程序。有些老師說“他們都懂課堂程序了。” 我會請老師回想班上的情況，然後問老師：你說”拿出鉛筆“時，大家都知道要拿出鉛筆嗎？你說”到前面坐下“時，大家馬上行動嗎？你說”你是個好朋友”時， 他們懂你的意思嗎？這些簡單我們覺得稀鬆平常的事情也是要不斷練習和演練才有辦法做到的。

所以我強調先“不要上課”，在小朋友不懂你的中文程序以前，“不要上課”。先“玩”程序，先讓小朋友寬心，讓小朋友知 道他們是在一個安全可靠的地方學習。他們信任老師，他們理解課堂裡的的各樣步驟和因果，學習就會發生，而且是很快樂的發生。 有時候我們覺得小孩應該懂了，那是我們用自己的理解能力去想像學生的處境，學生的確時時讓我們驚喜連連，可是這些驚喜是一步一步奠定出程序後所營造的。

教書，沒有一步登天的捷徑。