5．我们今年的夏令营昨天刚刚结束。用一句话形容“又是一个大丰收年”。原本计划招75人左右，结果学生总数达到120人以上。在这里我要特别表扬：曹志敏、李淑芬、赵铮、傅白薇、冷静等老师。早出晚归，任劳任怨，为学校赢得了荣誉，并取得了突出的经济效益。在交通安全、环境卫生、应急事件处理、儿童疾病应对、等方面都有可圈可点之处。尤其是在处理与不同文化背景的家长的关系方面，体现了我们老师的过人之处。突然有一天，一位白人家长说他女儿头上有虱子，一口咬定是在夏令营染上的，她们同样可以坚定的态度回绝说不是。这样闹不好可能就出现僵持不下的局面。她们没有那么处理，而是以和蔼的口吻苦口婆心地向此家长解释：重要的是马上采取有效措施先灭绝虱子，对每一个学生都进行了逐一的检查，保证本夏令营没有虱子，本来就没有。They have done lots of extra work to make that parent convinced。
中文AP 考试准备课程 (AP Chinese Preparation Course) 是特别针对高中学生准备中文AP考试（AP Chinese Language and Culture exam）而设立的。课本学习和模拟考试 约八个月，学习进度较快。学生将在五月参加被大学理事会认可的AP中文考试。学校将帮助联系报名。考试成绩上报学校作为教学反馈参考之用，是否上报大学，学生可以自由选择。学生必须已完成本校九年级或以上的中文课并熟练掌握中文打字。上课时需要用中文输入软件的手提电脑。本课程使用由 北京师范大学出版社出版的“收获”（Harvest Intermediate Chinese）一书，包括课本和配套的练习册及光盘3 盘。所有作业和考试按AP考试题型。课程强调中美文化的比较和中文知识的实际应用，包括听说读写四方面。有关中文AP考试的详情，请上大学理事会网站查询。http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/sub_chineselang.html
Basic Chinese for Adult (成人汉语初级班)
Time:Saturday 12:00pm – 2:00pm
Instructor:Minggang Lee (李明刚)
This class will emphasize on conversational Chinese. In conjunction with a text book of applied Chinese, we will study real life Chinese words and sentences that are easy to understand, uses correct grammar, and with proper cultural and situational connotation. We will also introduce the basic pronunciation system (pinyin) and character writing. We will strive to make this class fun, informative, and culturally relevant. If you are interested in learning the Chinese language for the Chinese culture, travel, business, making friends, or just for fun, come join us. Prior experience with Chinese language is helpful but not required.
Mr. Lee is a native of China and has been living in the US since his teenager years. He completed high school in China, and college through graduate school in the US. Outside his professional life as a scientist, Mr. Lee has a keen interest in the Chinese language and culture. He is well versed in both Chinese and English languages, and has been a popular teacher for beginning adult English at NWCS for several years.
English Debate (8th grade & above)
Time:Saturday 12:00pm – 2:00pm
Instructor: Sam Timinsky
I am very excited to start working with such dedicated and driven students this fall and I believe this course offers both students and instructors the chance to explore our current and new ways of thinking about ideas.Debate is one of the best ways to deepen and expand your knowledge about concepts new and familiar to you. I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce myself to the school and to outline the course objectives and my educational goals of my class.
I graduated Magna Cum Laude Marist College in Poughkeepsie New York with a B.A in History. I am graduate student at the University of Washington's Jackson School of International Studies. I did competitive forensics in high school and debated for 3 years, 2006-2009, at Marist College. I coached debate for 6 months with the Newark Urban Debate League (NJ) in 2009 and at Newburgh Free Academy in Newburgh New York for 1 year, 2009-2010. I have prepared public debate events for the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute in 2008 and I am the new Director of Debate at the University of Washington.
I am very excited for this course. We are going to use current events, as well as, small amounts of philosophy and political theory to learn the basics of argumentation and then develop our public speaking skills and translate argument into debate. Do not be discouraged by the philosophy and theory we will be dealing with these at a very basic level their inclusion is meant to help students understand how ideas have evolved as a means of developing stronger argumentative skills. The primary goals of this course are, in addition to making students into more comfortable and confident public speakers, students will learn to think more critically and use those skills not only in spoken formats, but in writing as well. This will involve developing research, writing, and listening skills. Debate is a challenging and difficult activity and mastering even the basics is no easy task; students will be expected to research and critically evaluate information on current events and other topics. Success in the course requires dedication, active participation during class, and completion of all assignments.
As I stated before one of the central elements of debate and this course will be confronting and challenging their current opinions and beliefs. We will engage many controversial issues in the class – this will require students to listen and consider views that are at times very different from their own. The only way we can really understand and defend our own beliefs is by listening and considering opposing viewpoints and testing them against one another. Confronting different ideas, however, means controlling one’s emotions and showing respect for the views of others that means teachers and classmates. I strongly believe that the classroom should be a free and open forum of discussion where everyone has an opportunity to offer their opinion and others must show that individual respect. Discussions in class should focus on the issues at hand and never turn to personal assaults or resort to hurtful or inappropriate language. Not only are these disrespectful to other students and myself, but personal attacks almost never persuasive logical arguments, but rather, an attempt to divert attention away from the weakness of one’s own position.
My role in this class, along with my teaching assistant, is to facilitate discussion and provide new tools for discussion. Debate concepts and persuasive skills are tools to help increase awareness and understanding of the world around us. This will not be a lecture heavy class, though I will at times give short lectures, students should expect to spend much of their time in class discussing issues and asking questions of themselves, their classmates, and the instructors – we will not fill your student's head with answers rather we will give them the opportunity to develop their own.
Students who have completed the Robinson Center course at UW with Dr. Christi Shiver will find that some elements of this course are very similar. These students are still encouraged to join us as additional materials and density, as well as, additional argument styles will be introduced and engaged.
Also, unlike the Robinson Center we will not be on a tight schedule and will have ample time to cover all materials at length.
I look forward to meeting and working with all of you this fall.
SAT Reading and Writing
Instructor: Rachael Harper
The SAT is a crucial element for entrance into most universities.The good news is that score improvement can be achieved steadily and rapidly through understanding the tricks and traps of the SAT, breaking the test down with strategies, and building a stronger base in reading and writing skills.In this course, we will build a “tool box” for each student for the SAT that will include strategies, vocabulary, grammar points, and writing skills. We will concentrate on four areas for the writing section: Identifying Sentence Errors, Improving Sentences, Improving Paragraphs, and Writing the Timed Essay. In addition, we will focus on four areas of the reading section: Sentence Completion, Reading Comprehension for Short Passages, Reading Comprehension for Long Passages, and Vocabulary.Each student will be expected to do one to two hours of homework outside of class each week, participate in frequent in-class drills, and take several quizzes and tests. (Course Texts TBD)
High School Writing
Instructor: Rachael Pederson
This course is designed to help any level of writer sharpen their organization, speed, accuracy, grammar, and vocabulary in writing.Each week the class will focus on one vital skill, while larger quarterly writing projects will give students the opportunity to demonstrate their mastery of those skills.Meeting deadlines, engaging in peer editing, and reading published samples of writing will help students who struggle to put words on paper gain confidence in their new abilities. For others, the lessons will improve upon a natural love for written self-expression.The course is perfect for students who feel mentally blocked during timed-writing exams, and is also ideal for those preparing for accelerated, college-level courses.It will be a challenging—yet fun and supportive—learning environment for writers. (Course text: Write-Brain Workbook)
English Creative Reading & Writing for Grades 4 & 5 (Bellevue, 2 sections)
Instructor: Eva Carlstrom
This class for fourth and fifth graders combines reading selections and vocabulary work with instruction and practice in a variety of writing forms. The first semester focuses on telling and writing stories (both fiction and personal narrative), while the second semester explores persuasive writing, poetry, and comics. The class includes information about the history of the English language, which helps make sense of its huge vocabulary and crazy spelling! Also covered: creating characters, writing dialogue, what makes a good story, supporting your opinion with facts, and common grammar and punctuation difficulties. Students will be expected to participate in class, including giving some oral presentations, and will generally have vocabulary, reading, and writing homework every week. (Course texts: 240 Vocabulary Words 4th Grade Kids Need To Know, and 4th Grade Writing Practice)
English Creative Reading & Writing for Grades 3, 4 & 5 (Seattle)
Instructor: Eva Carlstrom
This class for third though fifth graders combines reading selections and vocabulary work with instruction and practice in writing. The first semester focuses on telling and writing stories, while the second semester explores various forms of poetry. The class includes information about the history of the English language, which helps make sense of its huge vocabulary and crazy spelling! Also covered: creating characters, writing dialogue, what makes a good story, parts of speech, grammar, and punctuation. Students will be expected to participate in class and will generally have vocabulary, reading, and writing homework every week. (Course texts: 240 Vocabulary Words 4th Grade Kids Need To Know, and 4th Grade Writing Practice)
English Reading & Writing for Grades 6, 7 & 8 (Bellevue and Seattle)
Instructor: Danina Garcia
This class is designed to help young writers become strong writers! It class will help students learn to tell their stories and express their opinions while growing as writers. We will use a vocabulary workbook that studies the roots of English, so that students can expand their vocabulary.In addition, through focused work on grammar mechanics and writing styles, students will develop their own voice as writers and learn to correct their own mistakes.Through close readings of novels, scripts, essays and poetry, students will also analyze different types of writing. Most importantly, students will practice writing in many different styles: autobiographies, novels, scripts, and essays.Class time will be filled with games and creativity; homework will be regular and stimulating. (Course text: Vocabulary from Classical Roots A)
English Reading and Writing for Grades 2 and 3 (Bellevue)
Instructor: Sarah Bitter
Second- and third-grade students will enjoy developing reading, writing and critical thinking skills in this engaging class. They’ll read materials from a wide variety of cultures (with a particular emphasis on Chinese cultural sources) and practice writing stories, poems and nonfiction of their own. Writing practice is emphasized in this course, and students will all develop a portfolio of written work. Grammar and punctuation will be introduced and practiced. A moderate quantity of homework will be assigned. (Course texts: Singapore Primary 3 Writing and Singapore Primary 3 Reading)
Debate 101
Instructor: Sam Timinsky
This class is designed for students in grades eight through twelve who have a genuine interest in public speaking, public presentation, argumentation, and argumentative writing. The goals of this course are to help students think critically, develop argumentative skills, and feel comfortable speaking in public. In this class students will learn to research and write argumentative papers (using several types of evidence including artistic and philosophical forms) and learn to engage in open discussion with their classmates about current events and philosophical issues.Students will also engage in debates against their classmates and instructor on various topics. Anywhere from two to three hours of homework will be assigned weekly.Homework will primarily be researching current events and writing papers.
