Post Oak Elementary

2320 Post Oak LaneLansing, MI 48912-3540

By Mallorie Hsieh

The Main Goal of the School:Post Oak Elementary is a Chinese immersion school. This means that half of their lesson time is taught in English and the other half is taught in Chinese. The goal of Chinese immersion is to create a emphasis on diversity and to push ethnic and cultural understandings. Languages learned at a young age stay in a person’s mind and immersion is a very effective way of learning. The learning of world languages is an agenda that is pushed by immersion schools.

The Atmosphere:The school’s hallways features children’s artwork and a lot of in-class work. There are many posters related to diversity and the promotion of different ethnicities, cultures and languages. There is seating on the side of the halls and a few desks along the walls in several places. The school has a comfortable and safe feel to it. The decoration is bright and welcoming.

Support Services:Guidance counselors are mainly for correcting or dealing with behavioral issues in the students, due to the young age of most of the students in the school. When students misbehave, that’s when they see the school counselor.

The Student Body:The students are about 50%

Caucasian and about 25% African American, and 25% other

ethnicities including Mexican American, Korean American and

Indian American

Economically, the students are also very diverse. It was said that Post

Oak contains students from the lowest socioeconomic backgrounds

to the highest socioeconomic backgrounds.

Qiu Lao Shi’s Classroom:Qiu Lao Shi is my mentor teacher. The setting of her classroom is very comfortable and warm. She has five tables set up with at most six seats to each table. There is a pencil, glue stick and scissors holder at the center of each table for convenience. There is also a comfortable lounging area at the corner with many American books written in Chinese. The lounging area has pillows and a fuzzy carpet to create the sense of a getaway spot. The walls have reminder posters about numbers and words to practice and learn. The classroom decoration is colorful and engaging.

Qiu Lao Shi – My Mentor Teacher:At first, Qiu Lao Shi knew she wanted to be a teacher, but she didn’t know what to teach. She finds being a teacher very meaningful. She decided to teach Chinese because she believes in the education of languages. She has taught in both England and Australia before teaching in Lansing, Michigan.

She says that her teaching style has changed more towards American teaching style, but she is a native Chinese. Her style has integrated both cultures’ teaching styles, but it continues to trend towards American styles. Chinese styles and American styles are different because American styles (at least at Post Oak) are more inquiry-based.

Note: All pictures from this presentation were taken from this online news article featuring Post Oak Elementary:

http://www.capitalgainsmedia.com/features/post0207.aspx