Professional Development

       When I first came to Penn, I participated in a writing workshop organized by Writing Commons. This activity shocked me at the very beginning. In the first session, they divided all the students into groups for discussion, and each student had to give their opinion on reading. Although I can speak well enough to pass the Toefl exam, I still get nervous and don't know what to say during daily conversations. As a result, I listened more but spoke less in several workshops. Still, this workshop helped me learn a lot about academic writing in the U.S. and prepared me for future learning. Since it was my first time studying in a foreign country, I also learned about what I need to pay attention to when writing a paper in the United States during the workshop. Although I was taught these things in the undergraduate program, the focus was on the essay's logic. Writing Commons reminded me to pay attention to the citation format and not to miss any citations. In addition to academic writing, I also learned how to use AI to assist academic writing. Although AI can help us accomplish our writing tasks efficiently, we also need to be cautious of the authenticity of the content provided by AI. It is unrealistic to rely on AI for writing; we still need to use our brains to produce content.

        The training session at FNW was also very beneficial to me. Of the teacher trainings I've participated in, only the FNW training covered the methods of starting conversations with students. All the other training only taught ways to deliver the knowledge, maintain classroom discipline, and control the pace of the class. FNW writing coach training, on the other hand, pays attention to the details. For example, I learned that how we start a conversation with a student is very important, and the beginning of the conversation determines the atmosphere of the whole session. If the student does not feel good at the beginning, the probability of being unwilling to listen carefully will increase significantly. The methods taught by FNW, such as making a comfortable space, setting a positive tone, creating a human connection, etc., all help me to have a good start in each teaching session. Combined with my own experience as a student, I did find that the methods FNW introduced were things I would have appreciated as a student. Students and teachers are not robots, and it is crucial to establish a good atmosphere for both. Besides, I also realized the importance of respecting student work. I considered it normal for a teacher to use a red pen to correct a student's work, but FNW training cautioned that teachers should never make any changes to a student's work. In contrast to the Chinese education style, FNW emphasizes respecting the originality of the student. If we make corrections with a pen, not only do we demotivate the student, but we also violate the originality of his work. If there are any suggestions, they should be written on a separate sheet of paper and given to the student. In just two hours of training, I was able to overturn a lot of what I thought was the norm in teaching, and it made me realize that I have a long way to go in the field of education.