The 2025 Summer Teacher Training Camp organized by the Northern California Chinese School Association is set to take place from July 16th to July 20th. The theme of the camp is “Comprehensive Chinese Teaching and Heroes from Various Fields Collaborating,” bringing together top educators from home and abroad to cover a wide range of topics including culture, technology, special education, and mainstream education, creating a Mandarin teaching feast with both depth and breadth.
The teacher camp is divided into two days of online courses (7/16-7/17) and three days of in-person courses (7/18-7/20) at the South Bay Overseas Chinese Cultural and Educational Center. On the evening of July 19th, the 47th Annual Meeting Banquet of the Association will be held at the Sonesta Hotel, inviting teachers to join the event alongside their professional development. The deadline for registration is July 12th (Saturday).
This year’s curriculum is rich and diverse, covering:
Interactivity and gamified teaching: Designing language board games, mission-oriented activities, and team-building games to help students learn Chinese in a fun way.
Differentiation and special education practices: Analyzing special education regulations and real case studies to enhance teachers’ ability to address students of different ages and linguistic backgrounds.
Cultural integration and storytelling: Using picture books, drama, AI, and visual memory to make language teaching culturally enriching.
Integration of technology and AI implementation: Making good use of digital tools and immersive VR teaching to transform traditional classrooms.
Cross-cultural and educational perspective expansion: Understanding the mainstream education system and certification system in the United States to help teachers integrate into local school districts.
This summer training camp has invited several heavyweight speakers from the academic field:
Ms. Wang Manqing and Principal Chen Shiyi: In-depth analysis of special education regulations and practices, sharing personal experiences of handling legal cases involving special education students, providing legal knowledge and coping strategies for teachers and administrative teams.
Ms. Wen Shuling and Ms. Huang Qingfen: Sharing their journey from Chinese schools to the mainstream education system in the United States, teaching how to teach Chinese in public schools, and inspiring student interest.
Mr. Lian Yuren: Proposing the “third revolution in Chinese teaching,” discussing the fundamental changes in contemporary Mandarin classrooms, offering rich and inspiring courses.
Ms. Yang Xiaoqing and Ms. You Jingyi: Teaching from Taiwan, specializing in curriculum design and AI applications, bringing practical teaching and creative implementation.
Director Zhuang Yashu of the Overseas Chinese Education Center stated that this training camp is the most important annual teacher training event in Northern California, with the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office specially dispatching professional lecturers to support it, aiming to inject new energy into Mandarin education in the Bay Area through the collaboration between the teacher team and the Association’s education department.
President Li Naya of the Association emphasized that this year’s curriculum is not only exciting but also includes the long-demanded topic of “special education legal practice,” assisting teachers in Chinese schools to establish correct concepts and coping abilities.
The organizer of the teacher camp, Ms. Hong Liangyu, added that this year’s curriculum is flexible, offering six course combinations, and recommended visiting the Association’s website for more information: https://www.anccs.org/.