Recently, part of the new seventh-graders have started to learn “English in Mind” (EIM). It’s part of the English Forward-looking Project of our school. Ms Cao is responsible for the project execution. Ms Xu and Ms Ke are in charge of the teaching for Grade 7. Here are their ideas about this on-going project.

近期，部分七年级学生开始学习名为English in Mind的二套教材，这是我校英语前瞻性项目在七年级的实施。曹志娟老师是项目实施人，徐楠老师和柯美玲老师负责授课。以下是这三位老师的一些观点：

01

Regarding the different challenges:

First, I would like to congratulate these students, because a door of great opportunity has opened for them. And of course, it is at the same time a tough job and a great challenge for both teachers and students.

The challenges lie in the following three facts. The first is that they don’t have any extra hours. In other words, they have to finish the two sets of English books within the same period of time as their counterparts of the same grade.

The second is for the teachers. When teaching EIM, they need to set up the whole system from scratch as they have no resources such as prepared database, teaching plans, PowerPoint or after-school exercises. 

The third challenge is for the students, they have to think, read and practice more. As it is said "No pain, No gain". If they persist in working hard, their English will definitely improve and enhance. The school authorities and our project group believe that both students and teachers will entirely benefit from this reform.

From Ms Cao

是机遇也是挑战

首先，恭喜这些同学，机遇的大门已经为她们打开。然而同时，这个项目对于师生们而言，是颇具难度与挑战性的。

挑战主要来源于以下三个方面：

第一，本套教材的教授是没有额外课时的。换言之，学生们需要在同等时间内完成两套教材的学习，而他们的同伴只要学习一套。

第二，老师们教授EIM时，是没有现成教学资源的。她们需要白手起家，自己制定教学计划，制作课件，设计配套练习和检测等等。

第三，学生们需要更多地思考，阅读和练习。正所谓没有付出怎会有收获，而只要他们能持之以恒，他们的英语一定会有巨大的进步。校方和项目组坚信：不论是学生还是老师都可以从这项改革中获益匪浅。

--曹志娟老师

02

Regarding our purposes：

Since the students are the excellent ones according to their overall performances in their study, the teaching material Fun with English cannot meet their needs. By learning English in Mind, we hope to enable the students to broaden their perspectives as well as to expand their vocabulary.

The teaching contents in English in Mind are mainly about the British life and culture, so it is also conducive to students’ interpersonal communication, independence abilities and critical thinking skills, which can expand students’ international perspective.

We sincerely hope the students will have fun learning English, and shine on the world stage with confidence in the future.

From Ms Xu

教学目标方面

学习二套教材的这部分学生都是综合学习能力较强的孩子，牛津教材已经无法满足他们的求知欲了。我们希望通过学习English in Mind，能拓展他们的词汇量和视野。

English in Mind教学内容包含了英国当地的生活和文化等，学生们通过学习可以增强人际交往能力、自主学习能力以及批判性思考能力。

我们衷心地希望学生们享受英语学习的快乐，将来自信而闪耀地登上国际舞台展现自我。

--徐楠老师

03

For preparation:

Last term, our team prepared the first 4 unit's lessons of Book 1. We prepared lessons collectively and finished the teaching design for all of the 4 units. In addition, we made up a list of new words and phrases of each lesson, as well as exercise worksheet.

With an entire preparatory work, our tasks this year are different. We aim to improve and update all of our the teaching materials. At the beginning of this term, Ms Cao, our project leader, discussed with us and assigned tasks.

Ms Xu is mainly in charge of developing teaching design while I focus on all the paper work, updating exercises. To make sure that all the tasks are organized and in order, we hold a regular meeting every two weeks and communicate with each other.

So far, we have finished the teaching preparation for this term. We will soon start getting all the materials ready for next term. Well begun is half done. With all the effort, I do believe our project will achieve a great result and all students will benefit from it.

From Ms Ke