rural teacher's diary | chen xiuyin: holding up the light of reading, illuminating the way forward for rural children
2024-09-13
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【figure】
chen xiuyin, female, born in 1983, is a teacher at yueshan central school in xiangxiang city. she has been working in the countryside for more than 20 years, dedicated to reading guidance and promotion, and was named a special teacher in hunan province this year.
【log】
september 10th, sunny.
on a warm and bright afternoon, the sun shines through the classroom windows and onto little faces full of curiosity and expectation.
i gently pushed open the door of the classroom. suddenly, a crisp voice broke the silence of the classroom: "teacher chen, happy teacher's day!"
the sound was like the chirping of birds in early autumn, clear and melodious, and instantly spread to every corner of the classroom. then, as if there was some kind of tacit understanding quietly passed between the children, they all put down their books and stood up from their seats.
all the fatigue and hard work disappeared at this moment.
after meeting at the classroom festival celebration held at the school, i hurried back to the classroom. this was the time for the "picture book reading micro classroom" that i had agreed with the children. today is the 88th session.
the new semester had just started and the temperature was high. the children were still in the period of adaptation to learning, so i chose the picture book story "grinding an iron rod into a needle".
the children were instantly attracted by the video playing on the screen. at the right moment, i pressed the pause button and asked, "students, do you think the old lady can succeed? can this heavy iron pestle really be turned into a thin needle?"
i also asked myself, can i have the courage and faith of the old lady and stay in the countryside for my whole life? can i shine brightly with my children?
i think i can do it.
today is my 23rd teachers' day. from an ordinary rural teacher to a provincial special-grade teacher, i have never left yueshan town, the place where i was born and raised.
the primary school where i teach now was rebuilt from my junior high school alma mater. only 3 kilometers away is lishan primary school, where my father taught for his entire life and i also worked as a teacher for 8 years.
the remote xiaoshanchong is more than 30 kilometers away from xiangxiang city. when i was a child, i rarely had the opportunity to go out of the mountains.
under the dim light, my father took me through old books. from then on, i could travel across thousands of mountains and rivers, follow the little mermaid in andersen's fairy tales, and experience the profoundness of love and sacrifice; in the fantasy journey of journey to the west, i experienced hardships with the four masters and apprentices, and learned persistence and courage.
i want to be like a father and take my children across mountains and seas.
in september 2016, lishan primary school had a library reading room, so i "hid" the reading class into the curriculum and decided to hold a reading meeting during the new year's day for parents, teachers, and children to participate.
on new year's day 2017, as the simple stage built at one's own expense was gradually completed, the reading session was held as planned, and xiaoshanchong became lively.
chen li, a close friend who was working in guangdong, was also invited back by her daughter to recite "be the best you" at the reading session. later, she told me, "xiu yin, you know, i have been timid since i was a child. i never participated in activities when i was in school. i was trembling when i went on stage today."
the wind of reading penetrates the silent valley.
every year, the new year's day reading meeting has become the "spring festival gala" of xiaoshanchong. the children and i read and chanted under the big tree at the entrance of the village and in front of the old ancestral hall in the village.
picture books are the children's favorite reading material, but they are a bit expensive. i worked with the teachers in the county to collect picture book videos on the internet and categorized them into fairy tales, fables, popular science, growth and other series. when it comes to picture book reading classes, the classroom will become a small cinema, where there are high-rise buildings, busy traffic, the vast universe, wonderful science, and countless mysteries waiting for children to explore.
8 years are enough to change the habits of a group of children and make them firmly believe that as long as they have a dream in their hearts, there will be a way at the foot of the mountain.
student minmin is a typical example. she has a pair of twin sisters, and her mother is a gentle and tough foreign woman who has built a warm nest for her three daughters with love. but under the gaze of the outside world, the family always unconsciously reveals a lack of confidence.
this lack of confidence was broken by reading. whenever she came home from school, minmin couldn't wait to share the joys and sorrows in books with her mother. she often begged her mother to pick books for her sisters. when night fell, she turned into a storyteller and wove dreamy bedtime stories for her sisters.
in april 2021, a grand national picture book reading festival was held in xiangtan city. minmin's twin sister walked out of the mountains for the first time and bravely embarked on the journey to participate in the competition.
when the sisters came back home with their certificates in their hands, the spring sunshine just shone on their pigtails. minmin's mother stood at the door, feeling extremely relieved.
i dare not say that reading can definitely change the fate of these rural children, but i think that reading can definitely enrich their hearts.
perhaps, many years later, the children will not remember all the teachers, including me. i just hope that they can remember that they once had a beautiful library, many books, and a colorful childhood immersed in reading, just like the children in the city.
and i want to be like the lamp in the mountains, warm but not dazzling, lighting the way forward for the rural children, witnessing their every growth and transformation. this is already full of happiness!
(compiled by hunan daily omnimedia reporter wang mingjun)
