Good afternoon ladies and gentleman, It is a great honor to be chosen to speak here. I value this chance of sharing teaching experience with distinguished teachers very much. To be honest I felt rather nostalgic when somebody told me I would make a speech before all of you fine people. I can still remember when I made my first speech in college. My heart would have jumped out of my chest if I hadn’t tried my best to control my breath. The reason lies in the fact that I really didn’t know what to say at that time! Well today, being a teacher of English for some years in Shenzhen, I have a strong sense of responsibility, which always fills me with strength and confidence. I am from Xinzhou Middle School located in the west part of Shenzhen. There are two extremes in my school. About 38% are from local resident families, whose parents are rich and some even rich enough to own several buildings. But some of the children in such families turned out to be slow in their lessons. They seem to have everything but the motivation of learning. However, About 60% of the students are from working class families in the villages near by, whose parents hold temporary residence identities. Sometimes when we visit these students at home we noticed that a large proportion of their living standards are very critical. Some don’t even have desks good enough to finish their homework on. No wonder they appear quite reluctant to pay enough attention to the teachers in classes, and always find excuses not to finish their homework. And according to assessment criteria there are 40% students struggling to get a pass in the English learning. Some even can not make a proper sentence before they are going to take the matriculation examinations. I still remember once I saw my student coming to school with one arm hanging on her neck. When asked she just said she was careless when she run across a pond, fell down and broke her arm. But later I got to know that she fell from the place she sleeps on the temporary second floor at home, where half of it is a small shop in the village, while she was climbing down the ladder. At that time she was in a hurry to go to school. Not until then did I realized how hard it is for some of our students to manage to survive in Shenzhen, let along concentrate in learning their lessons at school. I believe if children live in poverty, they learn to fight for their future, if children live in comfort they learn to enjoy themselves. Then come the question, “How could I help them?” “What do they need most?” After some years of practicing I got to know three golden rules in English teaching in such kind of schools. Rule No.1 Getting to know what exactly problems in our students’ learning English have and trying best to give them individual instructions; Rule No.2 Try best to build up their confidence, let them have a taste of success. Make them believe that English is not that difficult as they thought to be; Rule No.3 Never trying to teach them the knowledge of English until they really mastered their own way of studying. For the most valuable knowledge is not the knowledge itself; it is the learning strategy. Rule No. 4 The most important aspect in teaching here is love we cherish during teaching. If we don’t love our students whole-heartedly we will never succeed in secondary education in Shenzhen. So from what my experience, “love” is the key to motivate our students! Thank you!

On January 13, Jin Weijie, a teacher from Longhua Chinese-English Experimental School in Baoan rushed to save four primary school students and sacrifice herself. On March 31, a traffic accident happened in Jiangsu Province, once again, a primary school teacher, Yin Xuemei, saved six primary school students’ lives, while losing her own. This touched my heart deeply. Who is the greatest? The teacher! If it was me, if I happened to be there, I would do the same thing, because I am a teacher, too. Working as a teacher, maybe there is nothing special in their life. But we have a belief deep within, that is --we must protect our students, keep our children safe, we won’t let any of them get hurt. Just as what the commissioner of education in Jiangsu Province said: “The accident happened so quickly, it happened in a flick of an eye, there is no time to think about it or hesitate, saving the others is an instinctive action. She did it only because she was of great stature. She forgot about herself in the heat of the moment. ” There is no doubt, teachers are worth all respect! Teachers are selfless! They impart knowledge to the students, they offer ways and skills of learning to their students, and they offer their lives with no hesitancy when necessary! So I am proud of being a teacher. I like students, teaching will be my life-time career. Choosing the right career is very important, most of us spend a great part of our lives doing jobs. Some of us have become very successful. Mainly because they have chosen appropriate careers which match their talents and stimulate their interests . I prefer teaching English. English is my favorite. In my opinion, teaching English is more wonderful than any other subject. There are thousands of different languages in the world. Which language is the most important? As we know, English is an international language, and it could be used all over the world. English is becoming more and more important and popular in China. We adults learn English, school students learn English, even the babies in the kindergarten learn English. It’s a necessary language if you want to go abroad, It’s an essential quality for the researchers to get the latest information in the world quickly. In an age of fast communication, if we want to learn about the outside world, English is definitely the language we should know. Let's take a look at a practical viewpoint, if you're looking for a job that can provide you a good position and a high salary, understanding English often makes it much easier. It can't be denied that English is very important if you want to make a good living. English is a very important language no matter what you do or where you go, Millions of people would like to master English, but it’s not a piece of cake. So being an English teacher is good. I am fortunate that I can express my opinions in English. So I am lucky I can teach English. Furthermore, Being an English teacher, I am very content. I am so grateful to have a life that is filled with teenagers’ trust and love. When my students answer my questions correctly, when they discuss passionately, when they communicate with foreigners fluently, when I see the slowest in thought make progress, I know I have done a great job. Nothing can replace my pleasure. So being an English teacher, I have got fantastic pleasure. It is English that makes my life wonderful. It is English that makes me feel confident. It is English that makes me different If there is another chance for me to choose my occupation, I won’t choose anything except being an English teacher. I enjoy my job, and I love my life.

I still remembered the first time when I became a technical secondary school teacher of English literature. It seemed that it happened yesterday. At that day, I got quite ready and I had the confidence to be a good teacher. I arrived at the classroom, eager to share my knowledge and experience with all the students of my class. Having prepared for two days, I had no doubt to hold their attention and to impress on them my admiration for the literature. “Stand up!” the monitor spoke loudly. The entire class stood up as I entered the classroom. I was a little puzzled, but quickly that awkwardness was over, I regained my calmness and began my well-prepared lecture, sure to gain their respect--- or even their admiration. ‘I’m your English, Miss Jiang. Today we are going to learn . . . ’ I was very pleased with work . As the bell rang, I went back to my office full of a sense of achievement. The following day when I read my students’ diaries, the rosy glow was gradually replaced by a strong sense of sadness. The first diary said, “Our literature teacher didn’t teach us anything today. Perhaps her next lecture would be better.” Greatly surprised, I read diary after diary, each expressed a similar theme. “Didn’t I teach them anything? I described the entire framework and laid the background for the passage we would study in class,” I puzzled. “How should they say I taught them nothing?” It was a long term, and it gradually became clear that my ideas about education weren’t the same as those of my students. I thought a teacher’s job was to raise interesting questions and provide enough background so that students could draw their own conclusions. My students thought a teacher’s job was to provide exact information as directly and clearly as possible. What a difference! I tell myself I can handle it.’ Compared to what others have been through , I’m fortunate. Thinking of these sentences I felt something important struck me. I believe my life would not be that bad and it was proved to be true. Later during my life and work I always told myself ‘I can handle it.’ when my own goals seemed far off or when my problems seemed too overwhelming. And every time I said it, I always came back to my senses. Now the experience with my students has made me learn a lot, and made me be a better English teacher. The following year, it was September 10^th. I went to class as well. When I stepped into the class, I felt surprised. There was a post card on the table, but I didn’t show it on my face. I began teaching lessons. After the class, I walked out of the class with a card in my hand. I opened the card in the office, it was a music card with words on it. It said ‘Many thanks to you, Miss Jiang. We all love you We like your teaching.’ I was impressed by the words. How honest and simple the words were. Hot tears couldn’t help dropping. At that time, I was so proud of being an English teacher. So here, coming to us are words that can give us strength. Whatever you’re going through, tell yourself you can handle it. Tell this to yourself over and over, and it will help you get through the rough spots with little more fortitude.