Zheng Danna: a mother-like teacher
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E-mail China.org.cn, November 28, 2014
Zheng Danna, born in 1973, teaches Chinese in Chuiyangliu Primary School in Chaoyang District of Beijing. For over two decades, as the inventor of the unique teaching practices like the "Whisper Notebook" and the "Mood Barometer", she has won many awards during her career.
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Zheng Danna |
To her students, Zheng Danna is more like a mother or a friend than a teacher. However, at the beginning she just treated education too simply, having thought that playing cool and strict rules would increase her prestige among the students. After a while, though her class was in the leading position both in discipline and study, she just found it hard to get into the inner world of the students. Struggling, she decided to make a change, trying to be a friend for her students and create a special communication system.
The first thing she did was to prepare a notebook for every student, which was called the "Whisper Notebook." The students could write anything that they wanted to tell her in the notebook, and she would reply to them one by one. From the Whisper Notes, Zheng Danna learnt much more about her students, such as their curiosity for new things, their getting upset after fighting with friends, their depression about their parents' misunderstandings and even little complaints about her. In this way, Zheng Danna built an emotional bridge with her students.
One day, little Jianbo told Zheng Danna in his "Whisper Note" that his mother had been suffering from cancer. The child's helplessness filled her mind and she visited his mother in hospital, telling her that she would treat Jianbo like her own child. Due to the disease, Jianbo's mother could not talk, but she held Zheng's hands tightly, crying. After that, Zheng gave Jianbo more attention and concern, and he felt better and performed really well in school.
Since 1998, Zheng Danna has taught lots of students, sticking to her "Whisper Note" practice with over 4,000,000 words. Inpsired by this, Zheng Danna created another teaching practice called the "Mood Barometer." She hangs it on the wall of the classroom, and every student has their own blank. Every morning, the children fill the blanks with the happy or sad faces, representing their mood on that day. Depending on what they write in the blank, Zheng Danna can tell who needs more attention.
Once, a shy girl put a sad face on the barometer, because another girl had taken away her teddy bear, and she could do nothing but cry. When she found out, Zheng Danna wrote a "whisper message" to the other girl:"Dear sister, I'm teddy bear. I just lost my way and came to your seat. I am missing my owner so much, please send me home". This kind of silent education made the other girl realize her mistake and she eventually returned the teddy bear.
Zheng Danna also cares much about communication with parents, through phone calls, text messages and blogs. She provides professional advice on family education and the children's problems. For years, she has spent hours every Friday night talking to on the Internet. They agree with her idea of "completely accepting and slowly directing.". To share her educational experiences, Zheng Danna has published two books: "Helpful Educational Principles for Chinese Children" and "The Education of the Heart: Completely Accepting and Slowly Directing."
As a nominee model Beijing citizen, Zheng Danna is now using her influence to help more teachers and students, with her serious attitude, unique practice and proper communication methods.
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