A prospective graduate student decides to teach
"Do the right thing, do the small thing, and do the warm thing." 24-year-old Yu Meng liked this sentence very much, and wrote it on the cover of Bilibili, Weibo homepage and circle of friends.
In June 2021, Yu Meng graduated from the School of Artificial Intelligence and Automation of Huazhong University of Science and Technology.
After taking the postgraduate entrance examination in March of this year, he did not choose to study step by step, but changed the course of his life-applied to retain his student status and went to the western mountainous area to support teaching.
This was not an easy decision.
The Yanhe Complete Elementary School he teaches is located in Chengkou County, Chongqing City. It takes more than five hours to drive from downtown Chongqing to the school.
In recent years, thanks to the support of party committees at all levels, governments and enthusiastic enterprises, the school has renovated the playground and offices, and introduced multimedia teaching equipment into the classrooms.
This is a complete elementary school, with a total of 74 students from kindergarten to sixth grade, 9 permanent teachers, and 2 supporting teachers.
When the school started last fall, two supporting teachers applied to be transferred to other elementary schools due to difficult conditions and inconvenient transportation.
The majority of those who come here to teach for a year are the majority, and those who decide to come here for another year like Yu Meng are a minority.
In addition to knowledge, more companionship
In the just-concluded semester, 80% of the sophomores led by Yu Meng got all A's in Chinese, Mathematics, and Morality and Rule of Law, the highest among the same grades in the township.
There are more smiles on the faces of the students in the class, and they are more confident in their speech.
The students have some small thoughts and little secrets, and they are willing to tell Yu Meng quietly.
This was not the case when he first arrived at the school.
There are only 10 students in Yu Meng's class, many of whom are left-behind children or come from single-parent families. "These children are very sensitive, but not good at expressing themselves."
Yu Meng thought of a way to distribute papers to the students regularly, asking the students to write down their happy things or wishes that they want to realize.
During the passing of the paper, the relationship between Yu Meng and his classmates changed from unfamiliarity to familiarity.
"Because compared to the colorful confetti in the store, the real inner world of the children is the real color." This event was called the "Confetti Project" by Yu Meng.
"Grandma comes home very late every day, I have nothing to eat, I'm very hungry." This is what a classmate wrote on a note.
The old man is busy with farm work and often comes home very late.
Seeing the note, Yu Meng decided to invite this classmate to stay for dinner on the weekend.
"I made a bowl of fried rice with a bottle of milk and a bowl of sausage."
The girl who wrote the note never thought, "So I can go to Teacher Yu's house for dinner." The news of going to Teacher Yu's house for dinner quickly spread in the class, and after that, two or three students would visit his house every week.
Yu Meng said: "Compared with the taste of food, the teacher's company is more important to the students." Through the "Color Paper Project" to collect students' preferences and wishes, Yu Meng found that some students wanted to eat egg tarts, so they bought them Learn to make semi-finished products.
After coming and going, the food on the table is also enriched. Pizza, hot pot, braised pork ribs, braised beef, and fried rice noodles will appear from time to time.
The longer the time of supporting teaching, the more Yu Meng felt that supporting teaching is not only about imparting knowledge, but also "work hard outside the classroom".
Yu Meng bought a skipping rope at his own expense, and insisted on jumping with his students every day.
At first, he hoped that the students would increase their physical exercise and gain something from their persistence in small things.
But after actually implementing it, he found that this was "the hardest thing" in his teaching experience.
"Many children can learn to skip rope very quickly, but there is a boy in the class who can't jump up. Even if he shakes the rope to his feet, he won't jump over." For the boy who can't skip rope, Yu Meng decided to teach him patiently without affecting other students.
Immediately afterwards, Yu Meng took him for a run, chatted with him, and gave him extra attention in class.
Two months later, the boy finally learned how to skip rope, and ran to the playground after class to experience the "joy of keeping up with the big team".
Education is for training, not screening.
With Yu Meng's personal companionship, the children can find what they like to be good at and feel the joy in it.
Beyond school, into the countryside
"After the postgraduate entrance examination, one year of teaching support; when the service period expires, another year of teaching support, is it worth it?"
When the students who went ashore for postgraduate entrance examination at the same time were preparing their graduation thesis and planning to find a job, Yu Meng was struggling with this problem repeatedly in a rural elementary school in Chongqing.
He wrote on social media: "Family, friends, and teachers around me, almost everyone does not recommend that I continue to support teaching..." "The academy does not object to your continuing to support teaching, but young people must be responsible for their own choices." When Meng made up his mind to suspend school for another year, the teacher of the admission college told Yu Meng.
Yu Meng said frankly that what made him make up his mind was the joy of his classmates seeing him every day, the tacit understanding that they knew that the teacher was leaving but avoided talking to each other, and the memories that came to mind after seeing the classroom photo wall.
At this moment, sensibility overcomes the rational calculation of more and less.
When he first arrived at this elementary school, Yu Meng posted a note on his desk saying "God rewards hard work", which was replaced by "extremely hard work" the next year.
In addition to continuing to serve as a general subject teacher and class teacher, he decided to go out of the campus on weekends to do some practical things for the elderly in the village.
During chats and home visits, Yu Meng discovered that many elderly people in the village did not have a photo until their death.
"Although smartphone photography is developing rapidly, the elderly in the village seldom take the initiative to take pictures, and some don't know how to operate them." Using the income from self-media, Yu Meng bought a camera to take pictures of the elderly in the village.
A camera, four background boards, several bouquets of flowers, a suit, and sometimes some snacks and fruits, these are all the belongings of Yumeng's "Supporting Education Photo Studio".
In order to gain the trust of the elderly, Yu Meng took the initiative to introduce himself as a teacher who came to the elementary school to teach, and reiterated again and again that he would take pictures for free.
"Some old people picked up flowers and smiled in front of the camera, some old people asked me to wait, saying that they would go home and change clothes before taking pictures, some old people put their hands on the shoulders of their wives, leaving behind their happy and beautiful memories. Memories." Yu Meng said, "But there are also old people who couldn't take photos because they were busy with farm work or had limited mobility."
Therefore, he planned to open the supporting education photo studio to "the place closest to the elderly", and the shooting scene was changed from a solid color background board to a field, in front of the house and behind the house.
In less than three months, Yu Meng took his camera and traveled to three villages near the supporting education school.
A film and television worker in Wuhan saw Yu Meng taking photos of rural elderly people on social media, and contacted him, offering to print and frame the photos for free and send them back to the elderly.
"Thank you very much for the help of this stranger. Many people who follow me are people who are passionate about education and teaching support. I hope that the small things I do can pass on the goodwill to more people and let them join public welfare undertakings." Yu Meng Say.
The supporting education photo studio is not only a simple way to take photos, but also a medium for Yu Meng to understand the local rural life.
Sometimes when he goes to the village to shoot, his classmates will also come to help, "If there are villagers or classmates who need help, I will also help them."
Beyond the books, the world is vast
Recently, the China Rural Education Development Research Institute of Northeast Normal University released the "China Rural Education Development Report 2020-2022".
It mentioned that the task of narrowing the gap between urban and rural education is still arduous, there are still challenges in improving the quality of rural education, and it is still difficult to stimulate the innovation vitality of rural schools.
This report made Yu Meng, who is rooted in grassroots education, deeply feel the same.
Two years of supporting teaching life made Yumeng realize that rural education urgently needs to be innovated. "In addition to top-down requirements for guidance, young teachers are also an important force." Yumeng will regularly hold "knowledge breakthrough" activities for students. Word memorization, simple calculation questions, common sense of life, etc. are set in order from easy to difficult, and a track is arranged in the classroom. After completing the questions, you can get small prizes.
Jiang Yunxing, the former vice-principal of Yanhe Elementary School, said: "This literacy competition is well organized. One competition is more useful than repeated efforts. It stimulates children's interest and allows them to learn happily. Our old teacher wants Learn from you young people."
Some people think that the behavior of going ashore for the postgraduate entrance examination and suspending school to support teaching is self-marketing, but those who are familiar with him know that this is not the case.
During his undergraduate studies, he served as the monitor of the "Hu Jiwei Class" of Huazhong University of Science and Technology (Hu Jiwei is a 2000 student of Huazhong University of Science and Technology. He died in his hometown to save children who fell into the water, and was posthumously awarded the honorary title of "National Excellent Communist Youth League Member". The school is willing to contribute to the inheritance , the spirit of sacrificing oneself to save others, set up the "Hu Jiwei Class" - reporter's note), and regularly organize the class students to carry out various public welfare activities.
He used his summer vacation to teach in Jiangxi, and he couldn't forget the children there. After the teaching, the children often took the initiative to chat with him on video, share their joy, and express their miss.
For him, "Choosing to support education is a simple and pure thing. Without this experience, I would not be so determined to support education."
The experience of supporting education during this period of youth also affected his outlook on career choice.
Yu Meng also often thinks about and even worries about his future, worrying that the two-year gap will affect the continuity of his studies and even become a disadvantage in career development.
"The countryside is a big stage for the future development of the country, and young people are needed to participate in it. I think it is worthwhile to integrate personal dreams into the revitalization of the countryside." This is Yu Meng's answer after repeated thinking.
Two years ago, Academician Li Yuanyuan, then president of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, wrote an inscription to Yu Meng's college: "Artificial intelligence, infinite possibilities." Later, Yu Meng felt strongly, "What is more infinite than majors is our youth." .
He is not a professional normal student, nor has he ever studied educational theory, but he believes that "first of all, one must be a person who accompanies, cares, and cares for children, and then becomes a teacher. Not only pay attention to the three-foot platform, but also pay attention to the fields and villages. wild".
The students have always wanted to learn Rubik's Cube and eat Snowflake Cakes, so Yu Meng's New Year's wish is so simple and unpretentious, "I hope I can teach you how to play Rubik's Cube and make Snowflake Cakes together, and I also hope that students will really love learning, know how to persevere, and be good at thinking. "
Yu Meng firmly believes that finding the direction you love and going all out for it must be happiness.
At the end of this semester, he wrote the following passage in his work summary: Two years of teaching support, written on paper, is a light resume; carried on his shoulders, it is a heavy responsibility.
No matter how many students there are, no matter how long we support teaching, we must never forget why we support teaching and for whom we support teaching.
In June this year, Yu Meng, a supporting teacher, will leave Yanhe Complete Primary School to complete his postgraduate studies.
All the students in the class hope to have a photo of Mr. Yu, and take a group photo as a souvenir.
China Youth Daily·China Youth Net trainee reporter Wang Junli Source: China Youth Daily