Thank you for growing up together. Tang Chenyue, a new teacher in the Shanghai Phonetic Experiment, took her first "high school entrance exam": Children's Chinese Language | Class Teacher | Shanghai Phonetic Experiment
Today, the 2023 Shanghai high school entrance examination kicked off in the rain. Located at the entrance of the examination center of Tongji No.1 Affiliated Middle School in Yangpu District, there is a bustling crowd of parents and teachers who come to take the exam.
Inside, there is a young figure bustling around. Just after 7 o'clock, Tang Chenyue, the homeroom teacher of Class 3 at the Experimental School of Shanghai Conservatory of Music, arrived outside the examination center early. She checked in one by one for the children in her class, and then took out stickers that read "Success in the High School Entrance Examination" to stick them on one by one. This young teacher, who had just started working for two years, was here to send her first batch of students to take the exam. For her, sending students into the exam center and reminding them to "carefully read the questions" will also usher in her first "exam" as a teacher.
Tang Chenyue is with the students.
"Yesterday, the children came to the school to apply for admission tickets, and I suddenly had this feeling. The children are taking an important exam for the first time in their lives, and I will welcome my first 'test' as a homeroom teacher and Chinese language teacher. Two years ago, after graduating from Shanghai Normal University as a graduate student, Tang Chenyue joined Shanghai Phonetic Experiment as a Chinese language teacher. She smiled and said, 'I will participate in this high school entrance exam with the children.'"
A new teacher served as the head teacher of the third year of junior high school and taught Chinese. Tang Chenyue ushered in his first graduating class earlier than many of his peers, but he also had to bear greater responsibilities. "When I heard that I was going to take the children to the graduating class, I was both happy and a little nervous," Tang Chenyue said. "I was in Class 2 when I was an intern. I had nothing to say with the children. I got along very well, but I served as the head teacher and took on Chinese teaching at the same time. I feel that I need to grow up as soon as possible."
Over the past two years, she has accompanied her children in their growth, learned how to interact with them, familiarized herself with and understood the policies of the new high school entrance examination, and answered questions from parents. "Growing up overnight," she said, and the pressure of taking a graduation class also gave her the motivation to accelerate her pace. "In school, I have a 'homeroom teacher' who teaches, as well as professional mentors. Other teachers in the third grade group are also my guides, so being a homeroom teacher for a graduating class is both challenging and rewarding."
A few weeks ago, she went to seek advice from the academic director and experienced teachers, listing the possible unexpected situations during the exam delivery process: students being late, feeling unwell, forgetting to bring their ID cards... All these small "accidents" she thought of had corresponding contingency plans. When all her students arrived and checked in, she breathed a long sigh of relief, "Fortunately, none of the plans were used."
Before the middle school entrance examination, Tang Chenyue carefully prepared gifts for the children: after distributing the admission tickets yesterday, when she saw Teacher Tang carrying a bunch of things into the classroom, the children's eyes lit up. The teachers in the third year of junior high school secretly prepared a small "brocade bag" for the children before the exam, while Tang Chenyue prepared a lucky pen. The children competed to draw blind boxes, exploring each other's gifts and laughing brightly. Tang Chenyue then took out another gift, which was her graduation gift for the children: it was also a pen, but each one contained Tang's "special blessing" - a word from the children's names, which she "hid" in the blessing message. She had prepared this gift for a long time. "I'm afraid there won't be everyone at the graduation ceremony, so I gave it to the children yesterday. I'm glad they all like it."
Yesterday, the children took a group photo under the flowing red flag at the entrance of Class 9, helping to wipe off the blackboard newspaper, clean the classroom, and waving goodbye to Teacher Tang with their admission tickets at the door. Tang Chenyue felt reluctant and mixed with emotions. "When I was a teacher in my graduation class, I had to feel a sense of separation," Tang Chenyue said. "But when children take the middle school entrance exam and go to their ideal high school, it's not only their gain, but also mine. Because I can grow up with them."
