What is the Review Week Homework?

- Let's do it the "Meta & Mindful Way" 

  Gisela Jia

Nov. 13, 2022 

For Levels 1-5, each third week, we have a review class. Then, what's the homework?

A few years back, we did NOT have any homework for the review weeks. Those students are now in our advanced levels, most doing very well.

The past few years, the review weeks have been filled with teachers' instructions: "This is a review week. The homework is.....".  

The following week, some students would come back to class, shrugging their shoulders, with one line "I didn't do it." Some others, "to teachers' satisfaction", have done exactly what the teachers have assigned. 

Is something wrong with this picture? Yes. It takes me some courage to confess this. 

For students who tell their teachers "I didn't do it" - they reinforce their self-concept that they are not interested in Chinese or they're not good with keeping track of their tasks; they may sense another victory when their teachers have no consequences to give them other than noting in their teaching reports "didn't do homework". 

So, to these students, the "teacher assigned homework" is technically damaging to their Chinese learning, as well as their overall growth.

To these students, what if there's a review week homework that at least gets them to pause, and think about what they need to review, how they would do it, and if they don't do it, explain why. Spending a few minutes on just this, being mindful of one's learning, is, without any question, nutrient to the growth of the mind.

For those students who happily report to their teachers "I have done what you've told me to" - How can we be sure that "teachers' assignments" get students to practice what they need the most? Even in medicine doctors disagree about treatments, let alone a multi-year project of learning a complex language and culture.

Even if teachers assign the most targeted tasks, a vulnerable mentality is cultivated here. A dutiful student may not always have the most observant and thoughtful teacher year after year. That's even just a small matter. 

A large matter is - A dutiful student will only prove to have charted a successful learning course if he/she propels him/herself when there's no longer a Chinese teacher in his/her life. 

To become a "self-propeller", he/she needs to have the motivation to propel him/herself, and is confident with the methods. This comes from the existence of many prior moments when he/she is supported to be MINDFUL of his/her learning.

If we, teachers and parents, don't create such moments, who will?

To create a mindful Chinese learning culture will take years, I believe. But why don't we start with making the review weeks mindful moments? 

How can family members be mindful? Again, a comprehensive answer will come from years of practice. But for now, just a few quick thoughts - 

1. Allow "loving/hating/being puzzled by Chinese" as comfortable family topics

2. Consider break weeks when there's no Chinese homework.

3. Feel comfortable asking teachers why certain assignments are made.

4. Observe some basic principles of language and cultural learning.

Example 1) Skills need extension and application. Ask yourself -

I speak Chinese. Do I try hard enough to insert at least some Chinese expressions here and there? 

I don't speak Chinese. Have I tried to expose my child to someone who does speak the language? Have I tried to ask my child to say, read something in Chinese and explain to me what that is?

Example 2) Skills have a priority rank - Listening, speaking, reading and writing. If your child hasn't even managed to listen and speak well with new words of a unit but spends most of his/her available Chinese homework time on writing, ask your child to think - Why?

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In Developmental Cognitive Psychology, there are the terms starting with META. Meta-memory is to go beyond just memorizing things, but to think about why and how to memorize things, and what methods fit oneself better or worse based on trials. Meta-linguistics is to go beyond just producing the language, but to think about what the target language is structured, and how oneself is doing in that language. 

Tremendous amount of research has consistently shown, the more META things children do, the stronger learners they are.

In educational practice, such research findings have found applications in the MINDFULNESS movements.

I've known these for many years. However, it took some poignant recent observations for me to finally connect it to our teaching. 

I've seen excellent students giving up Chinese in high school and colleges like nothing had happened, just like my daughter giving up violin. How much I wish she had spent even a little portion of her time with her talented violin teachers on chatting & thinking about music & playing & musicians' lives & music communities, instead of just dutifully practicing and performing the music. 

I also sense, among young adults around me, and even among some of our conscientious students, an overwhelming sense of duty of learning Chinese language and culture. That sense is heavy, and at times, even dreadful. 

On the other hand, I've also sensed the tremendous resolve and outstanding thoughtfulness of parents. You have been very mindful of your children's Chinese learning, and we've heard and seen that. 

Dekema who is tagging along her daughter Seven in learning Chinese, carries out morning routine Chinese conversations with her daughter. That is mindful practice because the mother-daughter duo feel they need to apply what's learned in class to truly master it. Each time it's a review week, I always end the class with Kara by saying "Yes, you'll do your father's review week homework." Kara's dad George, a computational mathematician writes computer programs to create homework based on the content of the past two units. That is mindful because the practices hit the targets identified by the family and in ways pleasant to the student. Yan and her son Donovan who is rather fluent and an emerging reader would look at the core words covered in the past units and write poems with these words. That's mindful because the mother-son duo have figured out an activity that appeals to student's creative writing interest. (Details of these families' work will be shared down the road.)

The list goes on and will definitely grow longer ...

To end the teaching note of today - A mindful Chinese learning culture will unlock much of the learning power of our students. We trust you are the best partners to create it! We're eager to be questioned by you, demanded by you, and challenged by you. But educational things come along slowly, and we trust you'll bear with us when you find us taking time to answer to some of your calls.

(For more teaching notes by Gisela, click this link.)

https://ccbgdiscuss.blogspot.com/search/label/Gisela%27s%20teaching%20notes