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For the next few months, get to know your SCFLTA board. Each month we will introduce board members! This month, we begin with Dr. Jason Bagley-Cooler, SCFLTA Executive Director and Xiaolin (Rebecca) Feng, the SCFLTA 2022 World Language Teacher of the Year.  Xiaolin (Rebecca) Feng
What level and language/s do/did you teach? I'm a high school Chinese Teacher. I teach all levels of Chinese from regular classes Level 1-5HN to Immersion classes Level 3-5; and AP Chinese. What made you want to be a language teacher? When I was little, I was very good at singing, and was selected to a regional choir group. I sometimes performed as a solo in the group. My choir teacher told me there were usually direct and positive connections for people who sing well and speak beautifully a foreign language. I believed her and became a language teacher without much struggle. What has been the most rewarding part of your job? Having been a language teacher for more than 20 years, the most rewarding part is to see students acquire cultural competence and global view through the language learning process, on top of beautiful pronunciation. What advice would you give to a new teacher? My advice for a new teacher is first love your job and be ready for challenges, second, always learn from experienced teachers and your own experiences. What do you think is the biggest challenge facing world language teachers today? The biggest challenges we face today is the technology and globalization that impact the traditional ways of teaching and learning. Students rely on answers from translation apps. overlooking contexts and cultural nuances. Globalization tries to bring the world together but also creates barriers among countries and industries. How did you get involved with SCFLTA? SCFLTA is the hub linking me with other WL professionals; Empowering and encouraging me when facing challenges. What role do you play in the organization? As 2022 Teacher of the Year, I'm honored and thrilled serving as a board member in the organization. What is one non-teaching related fact about you? I've also been in several other professions at the same time being a teacher, such as I once worked in media stations for years. I'm eager for the opportunity of making my contribution to advocate for SCFLTA.
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For the next few months, get to know your SCFLTA board. Each month we will introduce board members! This month, we begin with Dr. Jason Bagley-Cooler, SCFLTA Executive Director and Xiaolin (Rebecca) Feng, the SCFLTA 2022 World Language Teacher of the Year.  Dr. Jason Bagley-Cooler
What level and language/s do/did you teach? I teach high school French, levels 1-5. What made you want to be a language teacher? Actually, I didn't start out to even teach! Thanks to my high school French teacher, I wanted to do something with French, and I wanted to go to Clemson. I thought I wanted to do international business until I took economics in high school and realized that that was not the field for me. Education was what I decided to try after I gave up on business. What has been the most rewarding part of your job? I think most people would agree that it's super rewarding when you have students who get in touch with you after they've graduated or finished with your class and have had an experience with another culture or have decided to continue studying language. That is always a great feeling! What advice would you give to a new teacher? Take time for self-care. This has become increasingly important over the past few years, and is so important! You can't serve from an empty glass! What do you think is the biggest challenge facing world language teachers today? I think that across the board that a shortage of teachers is a crisis. The teaching profession is not as attractive to many young people these days, and I think it's something that we all have to strive to change. How did you get involved with SCFLTA? My first interaction was actually when I was working on my MA, and part of our course work was to give a presentation session at the annual conference! Then I was asked to be the SCFLTA webmaster and editor of The Crescent newsletter. Here we are 16 years later! What role do you play in the organization? Currently I serve as the Executive Director. What has SCFLTA meant to you over your career? SCFLTA has been wonderful. I actually left the teaching profession for two years because I felt that I was losing my passion and language ability. I didn't know as a young teacher about professional organizations and the connections and friendships that result from participation. SCFLTA helped my return to teaching be much more fulfilling, professionally. What do you see SCFLTA doing for the profession in the future? I'd love to see more participation, of course. We have tried to get some initiatives going for collaboration and community building, but there hasn't always been great participation. What is one non-teaching related fact about you? I got married last year and married life has been great! I also do yoga about 6 days a week. |
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