One of Guilderland's priorities is to move students beyond New York State's standards, preparing them not just for the tests they will take in school but also for the real "tests" of life. Here is an example of how the district is accomplishing this priority:

Making the world a smaller place

Guest teacher shares lessons from home

It is 8:15 a.m. at Pine Bush Elementary School and Mr. Zhou Ji has the undivided attention of more than 80 second and third grade students. It’s time for “morning exercises,” a daily ritual followed in many Chinese schools and just one of the countless lessons that Zhou Ji has taught the children about his homeland throughout the past five months.

“Morning exercises keep children healthy and wake them up so that they are ready to learn,” said Zhou Ji. By having his students participate regularly in the activity, “the children have a better feeling of what it is like to begin each day in China.”

Zhou Ji, a high school English teacher in Jiujiang, China, has been working with teachers and students at Pine Bush Elementary since last August. He came to Guilderland through the AFS International Exchange program for teachers and students as part of his first trip to the United States.

“I joined the program because I wanted to learn more about America and its people,” Zhou Ji explained. “I want to better understand the language and the culture so that I can bring that experience back to my students.”

Yet Zhou Ji has taught the Guilderland community just as much as he has learned from it by sharing his life experiences from “half a world away.”

Global perspectives

Zhou Ji has spent the majority of his time working in Audrey Jurczynski’s second-grade classroom.
“Much of the second- grade curriculum focuses on communities, and so having a guest that is from a community and culture very different from ours has worked out extremely well,” she said. “We are continually learning from each other.”

Zhou Ji works with students in a variety of ways to explore the similarities and differences between living in China and America. He talks about aspects of daily life—from family traditions and holidays to transportation and school—as well as more general topics such as language, animals, and climate.

“It’s amazing how the children have begun to independently ‘comparison think’ between the two cultures,” said Jurczynski. For example, while studying the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, students asked Zhou Ji what the words ‘freedom’ and ‘hero’ mean to people in China. “He has really broadened their views of the world,” she added.

In addition to teaching at PBES, Zhou Ji has also spent time speaking to students at several other schools throughout the district.

He will soon be joining the staff at GHS for the remainder of the school year and will work closely with host teachers within the English, social studies, special education, and English as a second language (ESL) departments.

A new environment

While in Guilderland, Zhou Ji is staying with retired GHS English teacher Jean Michelle “Mickey” Nieman, who has been involved with the AFS program for over 40 years.

Although Zhou Ji has adapted quickly to his “home away from home,” he notes that he was surprised by many American mainstays—including the size of our school classrooms. “At my school, it is normal to have between 40 and 60 students per classroom,” said Zhou Ji.

He was also impressed by the relationships that American teachers have with their students. “You can tell that American teachers work hard,” he said. “They spend a lot of time preparing and are always thinking about what’s best for the students.”

Zhou Ji has been keeping a journal and photo album of his experiences at GCSD and plans to share his recollections with his students when he returns home in June.

--February 2006