When A History Teacher 和 a Language Teacher Decided to Collaborate, 他们激励着学生，也激励着彼此—

**Chinese Teacher Lee Kerk encourages Upper School students as they discuss international law 和 human rights**

On a recent afternoon, a group gathered at round tables to examine the pressing issues of the world.

“He censors everything that’s against him,” one person could be overheard saying.

“China’s behavior appears globalist,” someone else noted nearby. “他们优先考虑的是权力.”

一些线索——某人笔记本电脑上的泰勒·斯威夫特贴纸, 一盒吃了一半的巧克力点心, 和 a Squishmallow on the table—gave away the fact that this was not a conversation between delegates at a UN Assembly. These were high school juniors 和 seniors from two different Upper School classes, 高级中文专题:中文研讨会 和 International Relations: Global Politics 和 Contemporary Issues，谈论国际法和人权. 一学期会面六次, 他们的议程还包括中国的国际势力, 俄罗斯, 和印度, as well as China’s environmental progress 和 UN Sustainable Development Goals.

This collaboration is the first year that M和arin Teacher Lee Kerk 和 History Teacher 和 Freshman Dean Christy 故事^HA联合起来. The partnership between their classes is designed to not only expose students to global topics, but to also cultivate their active listening 和 expert teaching skills, 比如展示, 批判性思维, 研究, 和 assessing sources in multiple languages from multiple perspectives. 在每次演讲结束时, students use rubrics to evaluate their own performance 和 that of their peers.

“You never know what you know until you try to teach it to someone else,” explained Dr. 故事. “他们超出了我的预期.”

**演讲可能结束了，但课程还没有. 这是反射时间! 历史教师博士. Christy 故事 helps a student evaluate herself 和 her classmates, 作为专家教师和积极的听众.**

Ms. Kerk has also noticed that her Chinese language students have become more fluent 和 confident. 通常, they are not ready to participate in abstract conversations in M和arin until the following semester. “But because of this collaboration, this year I see it happening,” said Ms. Kerk. Even the quieter students are speaking up, she added, proudly. 她的学生这学期学中文也更快了, leaving her more time to devote to Chinese literature 和 other topics.

在上个学年结束的时候. 科克和博士. 故事 were looking into professional development opportunities. That’s when they both realized they had a lot to learn from one another 和 their curricula had some similarities. So, with the assistance of a Castilleja summer teaching grant, the two decided to work together. As a result, not only did they infuse new energy into their classrooms, but into their own work, too.

“我想[博士]. 她会是一个很好的导师。. Kerk, who has a Master’s degree in Education 和 has been teaching for 28 years. “I wish I could have had her as my history teacher when I was in high school. 信不信由你. Kerk, her voice turning to a whisper, “history was my least favorite subject. 但现在我喜欢上了! 我成长了很多. 我现在看到历史了-就像哇，砰!” Ms. 科克用她的双手做了一个爆炸性的手势.

“For me, it was exciting because I believe in experiential collaboration,” said Dr. 故事, who has a PhD in Modern European History 和 has been teaching at Castilleja for over 21 years. “[Ms. Kerk带着这些教学工具来了. 她知道教案的设计. 她有很多有见地的想法. It sparked our own process of learning 和 reinvigorated our practice,” Dr. 故事说.

“这就是它的作用!”她补充道。. Kerk,点头.

两人隔着桌子热情地碰了一下拳头.

Dr. 故事仍然记得Ms. Kerk brought her a steamed sweet potato during their summer meeting. “太有营养了，太美妙了. 你只是觉得自己被照顾得很好.”

Their joint class convened in mid-December for one last round of presentations. 学生, 早上穿着毛衣和连帽衫, discussed China’s environmental policies 和 their impact on Kazakhstan 和 beyond.

“你.S. is a really good example that has an effect on emissions 和 isn’t doing a very good job,一个学生对她的小组说. “气候变化将影响所有国家.”

“在COVID期间，美国.S. 又借了一万亿美元, 就这么凭空捏造出来的,邻桌的一个学生说, 她不以为然地摇着头.

“Although the article that we read is measuring the impact in China,另一个人说, “实际上对其他国家也有影响.”

“这正是我担心的，”她的同学补充道.

这堂课在李小姐的陪同下结束了. Kerk leading students in a Chinese cheer, clapping the beat with her h和s. 然后她邀请大家一起享受新做的锅贴, 面包, 还有红豆沙芝麻丸子.

“Your learning happens best when you’re in charge of it,” announced Dr. 讲故事，喜气洋洋，祝贺同学们. “我给了你主题, but you are the ones who did this because of the amazing Casti students that you are,她补充道。, as the students munched on their treats 和 prepared to head off into the last full week of the calendar year.