I arrived in the classroom, ready to share my knowledge and experience with 75 students who would be my English Literature class．Having taught in the US for 17 years, I had no 1 about my ability to hold their attention and to 2 on them my admiration for the literature(文学)of my mother tongue．
I was shocked when the monitor shouted,“ 3 !” and the entire class rose as I entered the room, and I was somewhat 4 about how to get them to sit down again, but once that awkwardness(尴尬)was over, I quickly 5 my calmness and began what I thought was a fact – packed lecture, sure to gain their respect – perhaps 6 their admiration．I went back to my office with the rosy glow which comes from a(n) 7 of achievements．
My students 8 diaries．However, as I read them, the rosy glow was gradually 9 by a strong sense of sadness．The first diary said,“Our literature teacher didn’t teach us anything today． 10 her next lecture will be better．”Greatly surprised, I read diary after diary, each expressing a 11 subject．“Didn’t I teach them anything?I described the entire philosophical framework(哲学体系)of Western thought and laid the historical 12 for all the works we’ll study in class,” I complained．“How 13 they say I didn’t teach them anything?”
It was a long term, and it 14 became clear that my ideas about education were not the same as 15 of my students．I thought a teacher’s job was to raise 16 questions and provide enough background so that students could 17 their own conclusions．My students thought a teacher’s job was to provide 18 information as directly and clearly as possible．What a difference!
19 , I also learned a lot, and my experience with my Chinese students has made me a 20 American teacher, knowing how to teach in a different culture．
I spent the opening day of school this year at DeMatha Catholic High School in much the same way I spent the first day of classes 1 30 years ago; I sat in Dr Charles E．Offutt's British literature class, listening to him 2 what his seniors would learn and get them excited about the journey they would 3 ．I'm the principal(校长)of the school now , but for a few minutes I was back in 1975, 4 what the future held．
I have been learning from Dr Offutt for 30 of the 51 years he had been teaching at DeMatha．He not only taught me to think, he 5 me, as much by example as 6 , that it was my moral duty to do so and to serve 7 ．
Neither of us could know how our 8 would develop over the years．When I first came back to DeMatha to teach English．I worked for Dr Offutt, the then department chair．After several years, I was 9 department chair, and our relationship changed 10 ．I thought that it might be 11 chairing the department, since all of my former English teachers were still there, but Dr Offutt 12 me throughout．He knew when to give me 13 about curriculum, texts and personnel, and when to let me design my own course．
In 1997, I needed his advice about leaving DeMatha to become principal at another school．If he had asked me to stay at DeMatha, I might have． 14 , he encouraged me to seize the new 15 ．
Five years ago, I became the 16 of DeMatha．Once again, Dr Offutt was there for me, letting me know that I could 17 on him as I tried to fill such big shoes．I've learned from him that great teachers have a(n) 18 wealth of lessons to teach． 19 his students don't know it yet, I know how 20 they are; I'm still one of them．
I arrived in the classroom, ready to share my knowledge with my 76 students who would be my English literature class．Having taught in 1 for 17 years, I had no 2 about my ability to hold their attention and to 3 on them my admiration for the literature of my mother tongue．
I was shocked when the monitor shouted,“ 4 !”
The entire class rose as I entered the room, and I was somewhat 5 about how to get them to sit down again, but once that embarrassment was over, I quickly 6 my calmness and began what I thought was a fact packed lecture, sure to gain their respect-perhaps 7 their admiration．I went back to my office with the rosy glow which comes from a sense of achievement．
My students 8 diaries．However, as I read them, the rosy glow was gradually 9 by a strong sense of sadness．The first diary said,“Our literature teacher didn’t teach us anything today． 10 her next lecture will be better．”Greatly surprised, I read diary after diary, each expressing a 11 theme．“Didn’t I teach them anything?I described the entire philosophical framework of Western thought and laid the historical 12 for all the works we’ll study in class,”I complained．“How 13 they say I didn’t teach them anything?”
It was a long term, and it 14 became clear that my ideas about 15 were not the same as those of my students．I thought a teacher’s job was to raise 16 questions and provide enough background so that students could 17 their own conclusions．My students thought a teacher’s job was to provide 18 information as directly and as clearly as possible．What a difference!
19 , I also learned a lot, and my experience with my Chinese students has made me a 20 American teacher, knowing how to teach in a different culture, especially in China．
I spent the opening day of school this year at DeMatha Catholic High School in much the same way I spent the first day of classes 1 30 years ago; I sat in Dr Charles E．Offutt’s British literature class, listening to him 2 what his seniors would learn and get them excited about the journey they would 3 ．I’m the principal(校长)of the school now, but for a few minutes I was back in 1975, 4 what the future held．
I have been learning from Dr Offutt for 30 of the 51 years he had been teaching at DeMatha．He not only taught me to think, he 5 me, as much by example as 6 , that it was my moral duty to do so and to serve 7 ．
Neither of us could know how our 8 would develop over the years．When I first came back to DeMatha to teach English．I worked for Dr Offutt, the then department chair．After several years, I was 9 department chair, and our relationship changed 10 ．I thought that it might be 11 chairing the department, since all of my former English teachers were still there, but Dr Offutt 12 me throughout．He knew when to give me 13 about curriculum, texts and personnel, and when to let me design my own course．
In 1997, I needed his advice about leaving DeMatha to become principal at another school．If he had asked me to stay at DeMatha, I might have． 14 , he encouraged me to seize the new 15 ．
Five years ago, I became the 16 of DeMatha．Once again, Dr Offutt was there for me, letting me know that I could 17 on him as I tried to fill such big shoes．I’ve learned from him that great teachers have a(n) 18 wealth of lessons to teach． 19 his students don’t know it yet, I know how 20 they are; I’m still one of them．
I spent the opening day of school this year at DeMatha Catholic High School in much the same way I spent the first day of classes 1 30 years ago; I sat in Dr Charles E．Offutt's British literature class, listening to him 2 what his seniors would learn and get them excited about the journey they would 3 ．I'm the principal(校长)of the school now, but for a few minutes I was back in 1975, 4 what the future held．
I have been learning from Dr Offutt for 30 of the 51 years he has been teaching at DeMatha．He not only taught me to think, he 5 me, as much by example as 6 , that it was my moral duty to do so and to serve 7 ．
Neither of us could know how our 8 would develop over the years．When I first came back to DeMatha to teach English, I worked for Dr Offutt, the then department chair．After several years, I was 9 department chair, and our relationship changed 10 ．I thought that it might be 11 chairing the department, since all of my former English teachers were still there, but Dr Offutt 12 me throughout．He knew when to give me 13 about curriculum, texts and personnel, and when to let me design my own course．
In 1997, I needed his advice about leaving DeMatha to become principal at another school．If he had asked me to stay at DeMatha, I might have． 14 , he encouraged me to seize the new 15 ．
Five years ago, I became the 16 of DeMatha．Once again, Dr Offutt was there for me, letting me know that I could 17 on him as I tried to fill such big shoes．I've learned from him that great teachers have a(an) 18 wealth of lessons to teach． 19 his students don't know it yet, I know how 20 they are; I'm still one of them．