activity-based learning and teaching.

I introduced the following pedagogies in 2015. Activity-based learning or ABL is one of the pedagogical approaches to teaching. Its core premises include the requirement that learning should be based on doing some hands-on experiments and activities. The idea of activity-based learning is rooted in the common notion that children are active learners rather than passive recipients of information. If the child is provided the opportunity to explore on their own and provided an optimum learning environment then the learning becomes joyful and long-lasting. Following are some of my different kinds of innovative activity-based learning/teaching, and effective teaching methodologies that I introduced in the year 2015.

(a). Teaching with hands-on equations,

(b). Game-based learning.

As per Diane Ackeman’s quote,” Play is our brain’s favorite way of learning”. So, often I conduct games in my classes in order to make my students learning easier. When playing games, students become more engaged in their learning, taught content is reinforced and class positivity is increased. Moreover, it helps students to develop their mighty memory, class cooperation, alert attention, friendly fun, and new knowledge. This is one of my powerful strategies to make learning easier. Moreover, it helps in improving students’ cognitive skills.

(c). Teaching with group activities (cooperative learning):

(d). Warm-up activities:

(e). Blended learning:

I have implemented Blended learning in my classes in order to make learning easier and more effective for the students. As most of the international websites have been blocked in China, I have been providing my students with as many digital study materials as I can. I always upload personalized instructions online ahead of time instead of providing instructions all at once. There has been very good progress in students’ academic performance by these learning methods. Not only Blended learning boost the engagement of my students but also enhances their efficiency. This method also leads students to collaborate with their classmates in their learning. Blended learning was really useful to my students during the Covid-19 pandemic.

(f). Project Based Learning or PBL method:

My students learn well when they work together to discover the subject ideas and apply them in the real world. So, teaching these new innovative methods in my lessons make students enthusiastic and more active. So these fast and simple methods are the easier tools to interact with Chinese students freely and make them learn the subject joyfully.

I have implemented PBL (Project Based Learning) method and successively ran it in our school. 50% of my teachings are based on the PBL method. I have been working with students on many projects during the school year in order to make them acquire the 21st centuries skills such as teamwork, problem-solving, research skills, time management, creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, leadership skills, communication skills and etc., My goal in implementing the PBL method in my classes is to provide an opportunity to my students to develop knowledge, skills and to solve the problems they may face in the real world. Some of the projects that we have completed in our classes from 2019 to 2022 are Hunger Project, Urban Plan, Unemployment, Quality Education, Effective Trading, Profit Maximization, Designing a Rocket,

Constructing a school building by maximizing the land area, Making an open-top box with the maximum volume, and measuring the height of the buildings by using Trigonometry. Landing to the moon, Controlling Covid-19 spread, Economic growth, Well-being and etc., Most of the projects that I plan are based on 17 SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals of UNESCO). I encourage my students to work on 17 SDGs as much as possible in order to achieve them by 2030.

Following are the descriptions of some of the completed projects in my classes from 2019 to 2022:

(i). Project Title: Hunger Project:

Project overview:

Hunger is a worldwide issue. In this project, students will explore a hunger issue for a local and global community in a disciplinary way. By doing research and investigations student team will determine the possible causes and review the strategies that have been implemented to address this issue. At the end of this project, students will analyze the optimum solutions to act on and how to best communicate these problem-solving ideas to the stakeholders.

Project Summary:

I started this project with my 10th-grade students at the beginning of the last school year. There were 12 students to begin the project and I broke them into three groups with four students in each group. At the beginning of the project, I explained to my students all about the objectives, goals, and process and presented them the driving questions such as what hunger looks like, what are the causes of hunger, what solutions we have to take action on, who can help us take action, and how to implement the solution and etc., Students started the inquiring process right away for which I helped them in many ways by taking them to the computer lab to access online resources and providing them with lots of related materials. We also connected and collaborated with one of the Indian Schools, namely MAM School to have a discussion on this topic. My Chinese students collaborated with Indian students and exchanged their ideas and strategies mutually to find solutions for hunger. It was really an innovative and healthy discussion between the two countries. Students took five weeks time to complete the inquiry process. At the end of the fifth week, I instructed them to work on the solutions. They started working as groups in figuring out their own solutions. They made awareness posters and some slogans did the cooking activity, interviews with the community, and many more activities related to this project. I could see the students’ involvement, teamwork, collaboration, and engagement in finding solutions during this process. I encouraged them to use all of their skills at the most to find the solutions. They took three months’ time and came up with different solutions. At the end of the project, all students were invited to present their findings on the Presentation Day in which we had invited Mr. James, the Hunger Project Expert to make the assessments of our students’ projects. All three groups presented their findings and solutions in the class and one best project was selected and awarded by Mr. James.

(ii). Project Title: Urban Plan:

Project overview： I assigned this project to current 10th-grade students during the 2020-2021 school year. We began this project at the beginning of this school year. Students were to create a proposal for the use of a lot in downtown Baoding based on assigned interest group roles (Citizens for affordable housing, Environmentalists, Downtown Baoding Residents, or Downtown Business owners). Along with this proposal, students had to create modeling detailing their proposed use of the lot. Students had to submit their proposals to the panel at the end of the project.

Project Summary:

At the beginning of the project, I provided students with the driving question “How can the vacant lot in Baoding be developed in order to best serve the needs of the community?”. Students were instructed to think about this driving question in order to figure out the solutions. Students took five weeks of time for the inquiry process. They did surfing on the computers and went to some other well-designed city areas such as Baoding downtown, Beijing and etc., to get an idea to make a better urban plan. Some of the students used some urban planning software in this project. To come up with the solution students need knowledge in multiple subject areas. Students started modeling an urban city. For this, they needed to apply multiple subject skills like math, science, economics, art, engineering, and English skills (STEM) to design the model city. At the end of five weeks of time, they started modeling the urban city. At the end of modeling the urban city, students showcased their models to the public. Students, teachers, parents, and community members were invited to view the model city that our students created. On the Presentation day, all the teams explained their presentations in front of the panels. The urban planning expert teacher Pan Yan Ru was invited to be one of the panel members and I was another panel member. All the presentations were assessed by the panel members and the best project was awarded.

(iii) Reducing the unemployment problem in the community:

(g). Inclusive education method:

As I graduated B.Ed., Special Education Degree course in the year 2002, I have been teaching Inclusive Education since 2002. In my Inclusive education classroom, I provide opportunities for all children to learn irrespective of their disabilities. As I am a Special Education Teacher as well, I design the course curriculum according to the level of students I teach. I also make them participate in co-curricular and extracurricular activities. I engage my students with various educational instructions common to all students in my classes. Whenever there require special needs for my students, I group them and provide one-to-one teaching or group teaching. It allows my students to work on their individual goals while being with other students their own age. I always motivate my students with varying abilities when they learn in classes surrounded by other children. I conduct lots of activities in order to make their learning easier. Inclusive education in my classes is one of the successful strategies that I use in my teaching.

This photo was taken with one of my physically challenged students at ShiShi Middle School in 2018.

This photo was taken with one of my physically challenged students at ShiShi Middle School in 2018.

This photo was taken with one of my physically challenged students at ShiShi Middle School in 2018.

(h). I use Khan Academy videos in my classes in order to make my students gain additional knowledge in the subjects.

(i). Following Danielson’s framework for teaching: I always follow Chariot Danielson’s framework for teaching and evaluations. I follow the four domains in my teaching such as Domain 1: Planning and Preparation, Domain 2: The classroom environment, Domain 3: Instruction, and Domain 4: Professional responsibilities.

I follow the following framework in my teaching as well.

(j). Teaching STEM and Inquiry-based learning: In my teaching, I have always been integrating and applying sciences, technology, engineering, and mathematics. As I have pursued 11 educational degrees in various branches of education, I teach my students a variety of content. These methods of teaching produce real-world, meaningful learning for my students. I always connect my lessons with the real world and teach my students how these concepts are applied in the real world. I always make my students work in teams on the problems. Moreover, I use the engineering design process approach for solving problems. I provide time for my students to test their solutions, evaluate the results, and re-design if needed. My STEM lessons are focused on using the engineering design process to apply concepts that students have already learned in Mathematics and Science classes along with appropriate use of technology.

(k). Student teaching students:

Based on Vygotsky’s social constructivist theory, students engaged in meaningful interactions with their peers learn in a socially based and integrated way.  By identifying the student’s zone of proximal development, students can be the scaffold for other students in both expository and investigatory learning. So, as our school is one of the 21st Century schools, I always involve my students not only as receivers of the instructions but also as delivers of the instructions. Therefore I encourage ” Students teaching students” in my classes so that their own learning may be enhanced. I facilitate this peer tutoring and help students utilize strategies such as reciprocal teaching. Through this method, students are not only engaged but also empowered by teaching and learning from each other. Moreover, this method provides a school atmosphere that is positive and compassionate. Through this method, my students get academic, social, and emotional benefits.

(l). Teaching with Songs, dance, skits, presenting a movie, presenting the models that they build, and non-traditional ways of demonstrating their knowledge.

(j). Teaching with prank videos

(k). Teaching morality：

Mark Twain said that “Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured”, So, as anger damages human lives, I always teach morality to my students. Through this moral education, students could distinguish between right and wrong. Moreover, it helps in building a good personal and professional life and eliminates problems like violence, dishonesty, jealousy, etc., from one’s life. following is one of my moral instruction classes in which I am teaching about anger management.

(l). Teaching with 3D videos:

I always use 3D videos in my classes to make the lessons realistic feel. Students enjoy viewing 3D videos with 3D glasses. I convert ordinary videos into 3D videos by using 3D conversion software and get them watched by students with 3D glasses. I used to teach my AP Physics and AP Calculus lessons with 3D videos. Not only this method benefits the students but also the teachers. Teaching with 3D videos makes teaching easier as it is more clear and more fun. I used to teach the lessons such as spacecraft, walking through space, landing on the moon, solar systems, planets, 3D graphs, Geometrical shapes, 3D animations, interior design and architectures, manufacturing industries, and technological sectors.

(m). Warm-up activities:

(n). Jigsaw classroom:

I have implemented and followed the Jigsaw method in my classes and have achieved great success in my classes. I have been teaching my students with the Jigsaw method in the following ways: I divide the students into groups with 4 or 5 in each group (depending upon the number of students in the class) and appoint one student from each group as a leader. And I divide the lesson contents into 4 or 5 segments according to the number of students in a group. Then I assign each student one segment to learn within the prescribed time until they become familiar with the assigned content. Next, I form an “Expert Group” in which one student from each group having the same segment of the content is present. Now I give them time to discuss the main points of their segment and to rehearse the presentations they will make to their jigsaw group. After they are prepared, students in the “Expert Group” have to go back to their own Jigsaw groups and teach their own content to the other students in the group. All students take turns teaching their respective contents to others in their group. I help them with their learning difficulties during their learning process. Through this effective method, my student’s academic performance has increased from 40% to 85%.