Past events
Since spring 2007, NYU Project DCLT has been supporting language teachers through multiple professional development events world. These events moved online in spring 2020. Topics include online assessment, music and drama in remote learning and more. We are happy to share the videos and resources from the forums! *Additional events added as they happen!*
All languages in the world are interesting. But Chinese is nonpareil, in that it’s a unique blending of music and painting, as spoken Chinese is singing: music, and written Chinese, painting: fine art. So when the two wed, it becomes a fascinating language that possesses a special visceral quality, as opposed to the cerebral Western languages. Ben Wang, Senior Lecturer in Language and Humanities at China Institute, led this workshop for K-12 educators to advance our understanding of the uniqueness of Chinese pictographic characters as a foundation of Chinese language and culture. This virtual workshop was presented by Confucius Institute at China Institute in collaboration with the New York University Project DCLT. Here's the recorded video of the event, enjoy!
Myths are enduring legends that help reflect and shape human relationships with nature and one another. To better understand how myths and mythology are interwoven within Chinese history and society, the ECNU Center at China Institute presents “An Examination of Chinese Mythology,” a new professional development workshop series for K-12 educators of Chinese language and culture. This workshop will offer a deeper knowledge of Chinese mythology, expand perspectives and understandings of Chinese culture, and enrich K-12 classroom teaching. In addition, the series provides an opportunity for participants to discuss the complex yet changing relationship between nature and human society.
This event took place virtually on June 11, 2022 as a collaboration between the ECNU Center at China Institute and NYU Project DCLT. Enjoy the video of this wonderful event through this link.
On this Nov. 20th, 2021, DCLT virtual session which featured (1) a presentation by Dan Lauber, NYU Shanghai Assistant Director of Admissions, followed by Q&A. Dan shared with us the ins and outs of what it’s like to be a student at NYU Shanghai - from academics, global experiences, living abroad, learning Chinese and more; (2) Three faculty members from the World Language Program of NYU Shanghai, shared their experiences of teaching Chinese in both Shanghai and NYC, with a focus on using CLT and contextualized learning and assessment at the beginner level Chinese, online technology application in the post-pandemic era, and design and implementation of extra-curriculum learning activities through field trips, theme-based activity, and cross-school language exchange events. Presenters: Dan Lauber, Meng Wang 王蒙, Qiyi Zhang 张绮翼, Xiaoyu Huang 黄晓玥. Recap this amazing event here!
Real Scenarios: Tips to Survive and Thrive as a Chinese Teacher in the U.S. Nov. 12th, 2021.
Presented and facilitated by the group Courageous Dialogues with Chinese Educators, this event examined real scenarios, those "ouch" moments in the workplace, and developed solutions and strategies to survive and thrive as a Chinese teacher in the U.S. Follow Courageous Dialogues with Chinese Educators on Twitter @CDCE1955 and Facebook @Courageous Dialogues with Chinese Educators.
Nov. 6th, 2021, China Institute and Project DCLT partnered for this workshop “An Examination of Chinese Mythology (1) – the Fire God” led by Professor TIAN Zhaoyuan who provided an overview of Chinese mythology and delve into the story of the Fire God and his symbolic cultural roles in China’s past and present, as well as its relevance in American K-12 Chinese language and culture classes. Recap this amazing event here!
On Oct 22th, 2021, Project DCLT shared resources for teaching Chinese language, culture and paying attention to student's social emotional learning. Cleopatra Wise, Director of Asia Society's China Learning Initiative (CLI), shared Asia Society's treasure trove of resources for teaching and learning. Ping Wu, Chinese teacher at Columbus School for Girls shared her rich collection of resources and concrete strategies for engaging students. See some of Wu Laoshi's ideas about teaching during COVID-19 in this article posted to Asia Society's China Learning Initiative site. Here's the video for recap!
What's the new learning model at your school? What challenges have you encountered? What strategies have you used to stay safe and engage your students in learning? What strategies have you retained from online learning? We are stronger when we work together. See all the great ideas and strategies shared by teachers who joined us for this workshop on Oct 8th, 2021. Here's the recorded video for the great event!
On October 30th 2020, DCLT hosted the virtual forum: Finding and Engaging in Your Professional Communities. The Panel shared their experiences learning about these communities deciding to participate in them and routinely follow and participate in them. The teachers are invited you to listen to the panelists' experiences and share their own experience engaging in professional communities. Recap this wonderful event here and PowerPoint.
On October 17th 2020, DCLT invited Yusi Gao, Helio Andres and Susanna Brock to present a compelling, interactive and humanistic approach to teaching language through drama, focused on remote teaching as we were all on Zoom! This workshop shows us how to bring fun and creativity into our classrooms -- for language teaching and other content areas! Many great idea for making Zoom interactive for children of all ages.
Yusi, Helio and Susanna are graduates of the CUNY Masters program in Applied Theater, where they met and began to develop this workshop. Review the recording of this event here and all resources here.
On October 9th 2020, DCLT hosted the virtual assessment forum. How are the teachers handling assessment in this blended, hybrid, virtual era? Online quizzes and tests? Projects? What about oral assessments? Teachers are invited to share about their approaches to virtual assessment, including technologies they are using.
On September 27th 2020, DCLT hosted the first virtual forum in the Fall. We invited teachers to share strategies, challenges and joys of this new learning environment. What model has the schools adopted? What is prep like? How are the students doing? How are the teachers doing?
On Sep 14th, 2020, China Institute welcomed Confucianism expert Zu-yan Chen, who introduces Confucius, China’s greatest sage, and the philosophy that has shaped Chinese governance, values, and ideas for thousands of years. Following the lecture, contemporary China expert Zak Dychtwald joined Professor Chen in a conversation about Confucius’ legacy and his relevance in today’s hyper-modern China.
On May 1st and 15th, 2020, DCLT hosted two virtual forums which focused on visuals for online teaching. After a month of online teaching, teachers were eager to share about their experience. Videos, resources and teaching practices that worked well during online teaching were shared in these forums.
This presentation discusses the important role of a Chinese language teacher as a cultural ambassador and proposes an integrated approach to teaching and learning of Chinese culture in American classrooms. This new approach will focus on what to teach and how to teach culture by integrating: (1) cultural practices, products, and perspectives, (2) traditional and modern Chinese culture, (3) high and pop culture, and (4) Chinese culture and American/world cultures. The presenters will also share case studies of teachers using the IMAGE model in developing ICC.
On March 27th, and April 3rd, 2020, DCLT hosted two virtual forums to share tips for online teaching. Presenters, all current teachers who moved into the remote/online environment during the pandemic, shared their best practices and tips for developing online learning environments which foster student engagement and learning. K-12 teachers were also invited to share their experiences in moving their classes online.
How can social-emotional learning help our teachers and students cope with the changes and stress brought by COVID-19? During the social emotional learning in teaching workshop, speaker Nancy King Wang guided the participants through the framework of social-emotional learning while relating to the ongoing new reality.
Art of Engaging Students in a Hybrid Learning Model
Hybrid teaching has become a common scenario for many teachers this school year. It presents more challenges than merely teaching online or in-person. However, the goal of student engagement and language input has remained the same. This session will introduce some highly-effective activities for engaging classes and the designing principles behind them. Albeit not a panacea, it will start the much-needed discussion on hybrid teaching with the participants.
Since spring 2019, The presenter Chen Gao have been working towards developing a fully online curriculum for an Elementary Chinese course which combines both synchronous and asynchronous components to provide students with personalized learning experiences. In her presentation, she will share what she have learned so far.
Virtual Gallery Tour and the learning of Chinese culture
Discover China Through Art (DCTA) is a beloved art program that mainly draws on each of China Institute Gallery’s exhibitions to provide a lively experience for learning Chinese art and civilization. Join DCTA, China Institute and NYU Project DCLT for a special virtual field trip to the Art of the Mountain: Through the Chinese Photographer’s Lens. This exhibition presented 63 photography works from 27 photographers to illustrate the complexity of Chinese mountains, from their significance to sentiments. The virtual field trip will be followed by a discussion of how to use art and field trips in the teaching of language and culture.
What Educators Can Do to Combat Violence and Racism Against Asian Americans
Courageous Dialogues with Chinese Educators provides a space for educators to grow and to learn about critical issues surrounding diversity, equity and inclusivity. Join CDCE and Project DCLT as we explore the history of Anti-Asian bias and discuss the recent rise of Anti-Asian sentiment and violence in the US and recognize a common struggle. Presenters will provide resources for action, strategies for connecting with school and community groups, and ideas for including critical issues of diversity, equity, inclusiveness into your curriculum. We will also join together in a facilitated affinity space where participants can listen, share, heal and provide strategies for moving forward. CDCE is a group of K-16 Chinese heritage educators and non-heritage Chinese language and culture teachers promoting courageous dialogues among teachers communities and in the curriculum.
Intercultural competence is the ability to interact and communicate with people from different cultures in a respectful and effective way. It is the bridge between diversity and inclusion and is key to creating welcoming learning environments for children of all backgrounds. This series of professional development events includes three events focusing on strategies to develop students' intercultural competence through a powerful tool: music. This series is cohosted by China Institute and NYU DCLT.
Dead Ideas in Online Teaching