Reflection on previous year:

• Students had better focus and awareness of what they were doing in their work
• Some of those who initially were not active participants of class discussion demonstrated improvement as they gradually became more outspoken and attentive toward others’ opinions

Highlights of design:

• Interpersonal skills as a goal that run through the whole year curriculum
• Establish relationship between modules through module and students’ personal goals and reflection
• Incorporate knowledge building principles into the overall Chinese language teaching

In the third year, Tim restructured the curriculum to connect the modules and attempted to incorporate knowledge building principles into the overall Chinese language teaching. Tim aimed to develop students’ habit of thinking and self-reflection and to help them learn to respect and cherish things around them. He also wanted students to understand what the authors had learned from life as well as to learn better interpersonal skills. These goals and training for students’ language skills ran through the whole year curriculum.

There is a total of seven modules in the Chinese language curriculum. In every module, Tim allowed students to explore the high-level values behind the theme. There are no fixed answers, so students can collaboratively build new knowledge of those values. Below are the interpersonal skills goal of each module:

• Module 1 – "The Beauty Around Me" – Able to observe, appreciate and cherish the people and things around them and to develop conscientiousness and the habit of careful observation
• Module 2 – "Window of Wisdom" – Through discussing and understanding the articles, learn the right attitude towards life, to be considerate, to stay calm in the face of adversity, and to be responsible
• Module 3 – "A Warm Heart" – Through understanding the love and emotions expressed in the articles, learn to cherish and care about things around us and be grateful
• Module 4 – "Autumn Leaves and Love" – Develop sharp observation skills as well as love for the nature, our motherland and the environment
• Module 5 – "The Movement of Nature" – Learn to appreciate the nature, care about people and things around us, and self-reflect
• Module 6 – "Observation & Discovery" – Learn to revise their own work based on what they have learned and others’ comments
• Module 7 – "The True Wisdom" – Conclude the theme of "What is true wisdom?"

Tim’s design for the modules of the year is very consistent. The highlight of his design is the connection between modules. Below we will introduce his design for Module 2 - "Window of Wisdom".