Research Report
AI-Based Music to Dance Synthesis and Rendering
2024 S.T. Yau High School Science
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PPT: Hu Shulan
Lesson Plan: Xue Qingyang
Since the fall semester of 2021, E-Classroom has launched a remote Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) support program at Zhaozhuang Primary School in Longtan County, Chongqing. Through a dual-teacher teaching model (one online live teacher, one offline class teacher, and one online teaching assistant), the program helps children better understand themselves, recognize their emotions, and learn to express them.
E-Classroom 2023 Fall School Visit Record
Since the fall semester of 2021, E-Jian Academy has been carrying out a Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) distance learning support program at Zhaozhuang Primary School in Longtan County, Chongqing. Through a dual-teacher teaching model (one online live teacher, one on-site homeroom teacher, and one online teaching assistant), the program helps children better understand themselves, recognize their emotions, and learn to express themselves.
After two years of working hand in hand, how have the partner schools at the other end of the network experienced the courses? How has SEL helped teachers and students grow in their actual learning and life? Have our courses been adjusted appropriately according to local conditions? To gather more first-hand information, at the invitation of Principal Liu of Zhao Zhuang Primary School, the E-Jian Academy team set off for Chongqing in October 2023 to conduct the first after-school school visit. Follow us to see what we gained from this journey!
Offline visits and training
After the school visit team arrived at Zhaozhuang Primary School, they toured the campus under the guidance of Principal Liu and Director Tian, the Dean of Instruction, and observed local teachers conducting main subject classes. For us, who have been consistently focused on developing online teaching, this experience allowed us to more directly perceive the differences in how teachers guide students and manage classroom atmosphere in an offline setting, inspiring us with more directions to explore in the future development of the ‘dual-teacher model’.
During the school visit, we conducted a 120-minute related training session with 18 offline teachers who participated in the social-emotional learning (SEL) courses. In class, the teachers also took on the role of ‘students’ and, under the guidance of Teacher Zhiwen, gained a deeper understanding of social-emotional learning. While supporting student growth, they also had the opportunity to pay more attention to the development of their own SEL skills.
Face-to-face communication
In addition to understanding the states of students and teachers in the classroom, the school visit itinerary also included interviews with them, directly facing the growth brought about by the courses through in-depth conversations.
Dialogue with Teachers (2nd Grade & 4th Grade Teachers)
Second-grade teacher Zhang shared with us her insights from participating in the training. Through the SEL course training, she realized that the emotions that naturally exist in daily life can be better managed and enjoyed through professional learning. She also expressed that in her future classroom teaching, she will convey this professional knowledge to her students.
In Grade 4, the head teacher Ms. Jian has a ‘special student’ in her class. He lost his left arm in an accident during his early childhood. When he first entered primary school, he was a ‘troublemaker’ in the class, often getting into conflicts with his classmates. His sensitive nature also made it difficult for him to manage his emotions properly, which ultimately resulted in him expressing his feelings through his fists, shattering the possibility of harmonious relationships with his peers.
After two years of SEL learning, upon entering the fourth grade, the homeroom teacher was pleasantly surprised to find that he was no longer a ‘troublemaker’ and had harmoniously integrated into daily class life, with conflicts with classmates becoming increasingly rare. Observations revealed that it was the ‘identifying and understanding emotions’ lessons and the ‘Three Commitments’ (taking care of yourself, taking care of those around you, taking care of your environment) taught in the SEL curriculum that he had firmly remembered. Not only him, but his classmates also actively practiced these principles. When this student became emotionally upset, the surrounding students would proactively ask about his feelings, guide him to take deep breaths, and use ‘I’ statements to express their emotions, resolving conflicts through this back-and-forth communication.
Teacher Jian also believes that the content of the SEL curriculum has played an auxiliary role in his classroom management. In daily management, he often uses questions like ‘What are the agreements between the live-stream teacher and us?’ or ‘What is our class motto?’ to trigger students’ recollection of the SEL course content and put what they have learned in online classes into practice. In rural primary schools, due to students’ family structures and income situations, many children are left-behind children and as a result tend to be introverted and quiet. When facing conflicts or grievances, they often cannot take the initiative to seek help. In our classes, they are encouraged to express themselves through ‘writing letters’ or ‘leaving notes,’ which allows Teacher Jian to promptly detect many ‘hidden currents’ in the class. His rich experience in managing classes enables these minor conflicts to disappear quietly at an early stage.
Dialogue with students (fourth-grade students)
“Sometimes I can’t tell whether I am angry or sad, but through the lesson ‘The Traffic Light of Emotions,’ I better understood the emotions in my heart and learned how to calm myself down.”
“What I want to say is thank you to the live streaming teacher, who has helped me better understand myself and others, and also taught me how to comfort myself and others.”
(The school visiting teacher inquires whether there have been any conflicts with friends, and what the specific nature of the conflicts is)
“Can I not say? I want to keep my little secret.”
—— From the SEL course knowledge point:
“Pay attention to social boundaries when interacting with others”
“If I get bullied, I will tell my mom and dad. I think they will help me.”
—— From the SEL course
“Building Your Own Support Network”
Gains from the school visit
Based on the actual situation of students in local schools and centered on the daily lives of the local student population, provide course content that can be more practically applied in everyday life, and help students absorb knowledge more effectively through targeted interactions, role-playing, and other activities.
Focus on collaborating and coordinating with offline teachers, relying more on them in the classroom to engage and manage the class, which also allows for a better understanding of each student.
Social-emotional learning plays a significant role in the growth of elementary school students, greatly enhancing their self-awareness, emotional regulation, and social skills. What we need to continue improving is adjusting the course difficulty and richness according to the developmental levels of teachers and students in different grades, so that the courses can be more effective.
The live courses of E School Hall for the Spring 2024 semester are coming to an end. In preparing lessons this year, the course research team adjusted the course content and enriched the classroom experience based on insights gained from this school visit. We will share more course case studies in the future. Additionally, in May this year, we conducted another on-site visit, including home visits, to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the course teaching situation. These will be compiled into illustrated articles for sharing. Friends who are interested are welcome to stay tuned!
