The
Summer Session Program is drawing to a close before I could find time to realize
how time flies like an arrow.
In retrospect,
I may safely draw a conclusion about my 40-day stay at Yale as follows: it was
busy, and I often felt dizzy because of the jet lag, hot weather and the tight
schedule, but the time was limited, I couldn’t be lazy.
During
my stay at Yale, I did a lot of things including observing classes of the teachers
in Yale Language Institute of Summer Session, discussing teaching methods with
Siggy and Carrie, making a presentation in the Public Free Library of New Haven
City, Searching for information about teaching methodology, writing blogs,
observing the worship services in some churches on Sundays, going to some
famous places to get more knowledge about the culture of America, etc. All the
activities made me as busy as a buzzy bee, but I felt liking flying all the
time and I really enjoyed every day.
Among
all the above-mentioned, the class observation activity is the most impressive
and significant one for I have been benefitted a lot from it. Before I came to
Yale, I had few chances to learn systematically about the teaching methodology
and I seldom discussed about it deeply with others even though I myself often meditated
on it. The class observation at Yale became the turning point which would help
me slow down the paces and think over my job as a teacher. By observing the classes,
I found that all the Yale teachers are excellent in classroom teaching. Some
are active and energetic, some are gentle and systematic, but all are
passionate and responsible and their classes are informative and instructive. After
the observation, Carrie and Siggy not only helped us digest what we observed
through deep discussion but also instructed us how to apply the advanced
concepts and methods into our classes, which I believe would be greatly
beneficial to my work in the future.
Another
meaningful thing I did was travelling. I took every possible chance to go to famous
places with the purpose of learning more about America. Besides the outdoor
activities arranged by the Summer Session Program such as Thimble Island trip,
Mark Twain’s old residence trip and New York trip, I visited Boston,
Philadelphia, Washington DC, and Niagara Waterfall at weekends, trying to keep
the historical sites and scenic spots deep into my mind.
All
in all, my experience at Yale is absolutely unforgettable, because there are
too many things deserving to be memorized. What I regret most is that time is
relentlessly so limited. I think “Time flies like a rocket” can better describe
the elapse of the 40 days at Yale than the old saying “Time flies like an arrow”.
Anyhow, happy time always slips away fast, so the time of my stay at Yale.
