My Story

Xiaofei LiDCLT

11/7/2014

Saturday, November 8, 14

I was

- a student from ECNU and NYU

I am

- a Chinese teacher at ECFS since 2010

- the chair of FM Language Department

Saturday, November 8, 14

Ethical  Culture  Fieldston  School

is  a  large  school  with  an  even  larger  community

1700 students

Saturday, November 8, 14

Two Language Departments

Upper School - 16 language teachers

Middle School - 10 language teachers

Ethical Culture - 1 Spanish teacher

Fieldston Lower - 1 Spanish teacher

Saturday, November 8, 14

After serving in the role for four years,

my predecessor decided to resign...

Am I equipped to be a chair?

Am I not?

Just Apply!

Saturday, November 8, 14

Career progression often depends upon taking risks and advocating for oneself --- traits that girls are discouraged from exhibiting. “

---- Sheryl Sandberg

Saturday, November 8, 14

Process

Express Interest

Informal Conversation

Statement

Interview

Saturday, November 8, 14

Who Is She?

She seems to teach well.

Kids seem to like her.

She is Asian Asian. - Culture? Language?

She’s pretty quiet. - a huge deficit in a world of extroverts

Who am I ?

I teach well indeed.

Kids like me indeed.

I am an Asian Asian who adapts and writes well.

I have the power of Introvert

Saturday, November 8, 14

Statement

Vision

How will I incorporate the school mission

What can I bring to the department in the capacity of Chair

My Leadership Style

Saturday, November 8, 14

Why I believe language learning will make a change

How

Advance language proficiency

Promote global competency and intercultural awareness

Enhance Communication with the larger community

What

Encourage new practices; Focus on language

Incorporate ethics and service learning;

Support and stand up for the department

Advertise the program

Saturday, November 8, 14

Two Months into the Role...

Communicationwith

Probationary Teacher Evaluation

AdministrationFamiliesUpper SchoolOwn dept

Coach and Support teachersInformal obsFormal obs

Saturday, November 8, 14

Maintenance Energizing the Program

Department MeetingsRemindersSigning requests

......

Curricular workBenchmarksSpecial eventsProposalsResearch

Two Months into the Role...

Saturday, November 8, 14

Steps to move forward,

Advance use of technology

Strengthen the connection to the larger community

Seek ways to incorporate multicultural education in an organic manner.

Saturday, November 8, 14

Acknowledgements

My colleagues

My school

My husband

NYU

Saturday, November 8, 14