Bullis Series: Faculty Presents
By Wendy Wheeler and Stacey Roshan
Preamble
This article is part of an ongoing series that highlights recent presentations delivered by Bullis faculty at conferences and workshops throughout the DMV region. Speaking engagements like these allow our teachers to showcase the innovative ways they are connecting with our students and inspiring deep learning.
Xueying Clarke | Chinese Teacher; Matt Zilger | BITlab Coordinator
Chinese Language Teachers Association of the National Capital Region
About This Speaking Opportunity
Bullis faculty, Ms. Xueying Clarke and Mr. Matt Zigler, were invited by the Chinese Language Teacher Association - National Capital Region (CLTA-NCR) to host a workshop titled "IT Integration in Chinese Classroom - Let's Build a Board Game." The workshop was for local Chinese teachers and was held at Bullis in the BITlab on December 4, 2022.
Ms. Clarke and Mr. Zigler shared different concepts of IT integration in Chinese classes and showed the teachers how to use circuits to build electronic board games. It was quite a success! After the workshop, they received lots of positive feedback from the participants, and one of the teachers in attendance would like to bring her students to Bullis for a field trip.
Inspired by Colleagues in the Spirit of Collaboration
Ms. Clarke is a firm believer in integrating technology into the classroom to create engaging and meaningful learning experiences for students. She feels a passion for innovation and creativity with her colleagues, which fuels her desire to design exciting new projects.
Ms. Clarke was particularly inspired by a Bullis Middle School Tech Show organized by Middle School tech coordinator Ms. Rita Gerharz, which showcased students using Scratch Coding combined with circuits to create interactive board games across various subjects. Impressed by the creativity and engagement of the students, Ms. Clarke wanted to bring this concept to her own Chinese class. With the help of Mr. Zigler and Upper School Computer Science Teacher Mr. Everette Lum, the class designed a vocabulary matching game using built-in circuits on cardboard. When students made a correct match between a vocabulary word and its meaning, a light bulb would flash on.
Ms. Clarke's innovative teaching methods caught the attention of the Head of the Chinese Language Teacher Association-National Capital Region, Ms. Jing Dai, who invited her to host a workshop to share the interactive board-game-building process with local DMV Chinese teachers. Alongside Mr. Zigler, Ms. Clarke shared the IT integration projects her students created over the past six years, which ranged from stop-motion animation to board games with built-in circuits. They then guided the workshop participants in a hands-on board-game-building activity, culminating in a "gallery walk" where teachers played each other's games and left feedback and comments. The participants praised the workshop for being fun, innovative, engaging, productive, hands-on, and relaxing.
Bullis provides rich and innovative technology resources. I am very lucky to be able to work with experienced and inspiring co-workers to create cross-curriculur projects on campus. Ms. Xueying Clarke, Upper School Chinese Teacher
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