Substitute teaching
"But we're not professionals..." Lin Jingming was a little embarrassed, "We don't know how many years have passed since we graduated."
"It's okay, it's okay. You'll be able to catch up quickly." Principal Wang handed them two apples. "Director Lin, you've seen the situation here. Several teachers have temporarily resigned, and all the teachers we can cover for them have done so. Teacher Ye might go into labor at any moment, so we can't just hold her back and not give her time off."
"Do you have the teacher's blackboard lesson plan?" Xia Zhitang, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly spoke up. "We have no experience in the education industry, so we don't know where the test center is."
"As for English, the kids' sense of language isn't very good. First, we need to pique their interest. Teacher Ye hasn't returned from maternity leave yet, so they can go and sit in on her class first." Principal Wang excitedly stood up and patted Xia Zhitang on the shoulder. "History is really a concern, but from now on, our kids will all choose science. History classes will mainly broaden their language skills and thinking, so don't put any pressure on them."
"I'll teach the history class." Xia Zhitang took the history lesson plan. "I'm just not very professional, please don't mind, Principal Wang."
"Don't worry, Teacher Xia. Let's leverage our initiative and broaden our students' horizons!" Principal Wang spoke passionately. "We'll start tomorrow. Teacher Xia will be in charge of the second and third periods of history this morning! Director Feng will make the arrangements later."
Lin Jingming was staring at Xia Zhitang's face when he was caught off guard by Principal Wang's excited pat on the shoulder.
"I'll trouble you with the English class, Director Lin. There's no rush." She looked at Lin Jingming eagerly, "Director Lin, please take some time these few days to listen to Teacher Ye's lectures. I'll arrange for her to share her experience with you."
Without waiting for Lin Jingming's response, she picked up her bag and walked out: "I won't delay your work, I'll leave first."
"Principal Wang..." Lin Jingming was about to say something when he was interrupted by the sound of a door closing. Only Lin Jingming and Xia Zhitang were left in the principal's dormitory and office.
"You agreed so readily?" Lin Jingming looked at Xia Zhitang, "Do you really want to be a teacher?"
Xia Zhitang nodded: "It's easier for teachers to get closer to students. They are like clams, with hard armor covering their soft hearts."
She suddenly looked at Lin Jingming provocatively: "Besides, being a teacher is quite an interesting experience, or are you feeling stage fright, Director Lin?"
Lin Jingming flicked Xia Zhitang's forehead and said, "Don't use provocation. I'm just worried about affecting the filming progress."
Xia Zhitang slapped Lin Jingming on the arm in retaliation: "Lin Jingming, I always feel that this shoot is different from the one in Tibet."
"From understanding animals to delving into the hearts of people, we also need to consider the human touch and warmth." Lin Jingming couldn't help but smile when he thought of Principal Wang's decisive actions. "It's so interesting, so vivid that it moved me."
"The most important thing for students is learning. It's easier to understand them if you actually participate in educating them," Xia Zhitang said, pointing to the lesson plan. "Do you still remember your own mindset as a student?"
"It's as hard as filming a movie." Lin Jingming couldn't help shaking his head when he thought of his daily routine in high school.
Xia Zhitang chuckled: "What makes you choose to work so hard all the time?"
Lin Jingming leaned back in his chair, looking at the potted plants by the window bathed in orange sunlight, and answered seriously, "I love it."
In order to prepare for class, the two of them brought a small stool and sat at the back of the classroom to listen to Teacher Ye's lecture.
Teacher Ye was standing on the podium with a big belly, reading words to the students in English with a slight accent, and the students followed her in more spoken English.
Lin Jingming was a little dumbfounded. After listening to half the class, he finally couldn't hold it in anymore and pulled Xia Zhitang out of the classroom.
He sat on the concrete playground, looking at the fluttering red flags with a look of despair: "I was so busy filming that I didn't notice how poor their spoken English is. Oh my God, how can I teach them!"
"Lin Jingming, have you always been studying in the best school here?" Xia Zhitang suddenly asked.
Lin Jingming was stunned for a moment, then suddenly sighed: "When the gap in educational resources is no longer just a few words floating on a piece of paper, then we can see the disparity in life."
"Are you confident?" Xia Zhitang looked up at the low-rise teaching building opposite with a gentle expression, "We will also soon participate in the process of watering the flowers and raising the seedlings."
"There is no 'retreat' in Lin Jingming's dictionary."
"Then let's take some time to get closer to the characters' inner world and stop being condescending judges." Xia Zhitang took out his cell phone and took a photo of the teaching building with a red flag fluttering.
Lin Jingming suddenly jumped up: "Go back and reschedule the shooting schedule."
Due to changes in plans, they decided to shoot a round of interviews with Teacher Ye first.
A simple interview room was set up in the only relatively vacant male teacher's dormitory. Behind the simple lighting and setting, Teacher Ye, with a big belly, sat on a simple red armchair with a sense of age.
"Teacher Ye, what is your name, age and occupation?" Xia Zhitang acted as the interviewer.
"My name is Ye Huaizhu, I'm 30 years old, and I'm currently an English teacher at a girls' high school." Although Teacher Ye seemed a little nervous when suddenly facing the camera and the spotlight, as a teacher who has been facing the podium for a long time, she did not have that kind of stage fright.
Xia Zhitang felt that Teacher Ye was in a good enough state to jump right into the interview without any prelude. "How did you become a teacher at Qingshui Girls' High School?"
"Principal Wang and I used to be colleagues. We're short of teachers here, so I took the initiative to apply to be transferred here."
"What is the situation regarding the teacher shortage?" Xia Zhitang immediately grasped the key point. "Can you elaborate on it?"
"Teaching here is difficult, the environment is harsh, and there are many things to worry about." Teacher Ye sighed, "It takes great determination and courage to stay here. Although the salary and benefits are normal, we understand that we can't retain people."
After Xia Zhitang had a detailed discussion with Teacher Ye on this aspect, he began to ask questions about new directions.
“What characteristics do you think your students have?”
Teacher Ye's eyes softened a little: "They may seem quiet, but they are all delicate and tenacious children."
"Director Lin and I are about to become substitute teachers. Do you have any suggestions on how we, outsiders, should teach the class?" Although Xia Zhitang took over Principal Wang's job, he was also a little nervous.
"Be more tolerant and patient. They may not be that smart, but they are very sensitive to people's emotions." Teacher Ye felt sad when she thought about the students blaming themselves and feeling regretful every time a teacher left. "Every time a teacher changes, they always immediately think that it was their own stupidity that caused the teacher to leave. In fact, it's not their fault at all."
After the interview, Xia Zhitang and Lin Jingming stood in the playground and watched the camera crew pack their equipment into the car.
"It's more talked-about than I thought, but also more difficult." The street lights stretched Lin Jingming's figure very long.
Xia Zhitang held up a mineral water bottle, the transparent bottle reflecting the distorted figure of a moth fluttering in the light: "We use the language of the lens to express that invisible thing."
Lin Jingming stood behind Xia Zhitang, bent down, with his chin resting on her shoulder, looking at the moth-filled cage she made of mineral water bottles.
"Wait a minute, use a telephoto lens to take a picture of the school under the street lights, quickly, while the moths are still there!" Lin Jingming suddenly felt a certain intentional expression of the lens language.
"I will find the deeper point." Lin Jingming whispered in Xia Zhitang's ear.
The bell rang and Xia Zhitang walked into the classroom with the tutorial and lesson plan.
The students in the class were stunned for a few moments. As the only female in the filming team, and someone who was working even with a plaster cast, Xia Zhitang had long been noticed by the students.
The squad leader reacted and shouted "Stand up", and everyone stood up and bowed to greet each other.
"Hello everyone, my name is Xia Zhitang, Xia for summer, Zhi for cicada, and Tang for crabapple. The chirping of cicadas signals summer, and the blooming of crabapple trees." Xia Zhitang introduced himself while writing his name on black and white paper.
Lin Jingming was already sitting in the back row of the classroom with a small stool. It was the first time he heard Xia Zhitang explain his name. He felt that the noisy cicadas and Zen sounds in summer became cute.
Xia Zhitang looked at the students in the audience who were staring at each other but no one dared to interact with her, and couldn't help but smile knowingly: "Yes, I am also a member of the crew and not a professional teacher, so for the first lesson today, I will not teach according to the textbook."
Xia Zhitang threw the textbooks and lesson plans aside. The students finally couldn't help but whisper about this unique teacher. Everyone was puzzled by Xia Zhitang's behavior.
"Okay, quiet down." Xia Zhitang suppressed the noise in the classroom. "The first lesson I'm going to teach is about Wu Zetian."
Lin Jingming couldn't help but laugh. In an instant, he had already thought of how to design his own English class.
"Were all emperors in ancient times men? No, there was only one exception in thousands of years, and that was Wu Zetian." Xia Zhitang said as he wrote [Wu Zetian, the only female emperor in a thousand years] on the blackboard.
"How did this legendary woman ascend to the throne within the bounds of feudal society's strict rules of monarch-subject and father-son relationships? Let's begin with her birth."
Xia Zhitang talked about the birth of the empress, her first entry into the palace, her forced ordination, her second entry into the palace and her becoming the empress, and how she gradually seized power from the empress dowager after Emperor Gaozong's death and finally became the emperor.
During this time, Principal Wang secretly took a look at the door and saw that the female students were listening to the class attentively, so he left quietly.
"This is my first time as a teacher. I know you may have doubts about me, so I chose to talk about my idol, Wu Zetian, in my first class."
Xia Zhitang's eyes swept across the students in the audience, and those unfamiliar and childish faces finally dared to look up and look at her.
"I first learned about her when my father took me to read history as a child, and I was fascinated by her. Whenever I felt lost and helpless, I would use her to motivate myself. If she could achieve something unique in the entire feudal society, why couldn't I?"
She smiled a very gentle smile. "Therefore, I also hope to pass this power on to you."
When the bell rang for the end of get out of class, Lin Jingming stood up and clapped his hands with a smile, and then the whole classroom erupted in enthusiastic applause and suppressed crying.
Xia Zhitang glared at Lin Jingming helplessly, then bowed to the students below the podium: "I hope we can study and make progress together in the future."
Some brave students couldn't help but rush forward to hug Xia Zhitang, and then she was surrounded by students.
Lin Jingming's expression suddenly changed. Standing outside the crowd, he shouted anxiously, "Her hand is still in a cast. Be careful!"
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