Why Is There Another Person Sitting In My Chinese Class?

Have you ever wondered why there’s another person sitting in your class before?  They might be doing a low-inference observation. Let’s now find out who they are!

New Hires

We ask every new teacher to observe our veteran teachers’ class before taking on a class of their own. Teachers also need to pass multiple rounds of interviews, teach demo lessons and receive training before officially start working at Sishu Mandarin (formerly Indacube). This process usually takes 1-2 months so you might have already met one of our future teachers.

Grad School/College Students

From time to time, we host graduate and college students and have them shadow or observe our teachers. We volunteer to do this because we want to share our expertise with those who’re passionate about teaching. This February and March, we’ll be hosting two grad school students from the Teachers College at Columbia. Don’t be afraid to say “Nihao”.

School Supervisor

You might have also seen our director Tian coming into your class. To ensure our teaching quality across the board, every Sishu Mandarin teacher will be observed on a regular basis. 

Current Sishu Mandarin Teachers

We always encourage our teachers to visit other classes so that we can all learn from each other. 

Third-Party Opinion

Occasionally, we invite outsiders in to offer us unbiased opinions, such as teaching professionals or selected Chinese language learners (past students, students who have an abundant learning experience, etc). The whole observation process might take anywhere between 10 to 20 minutes. Sometimes, it might stretch to 60 minutes if someone is doing their college observation.

Now when you see a new or unfamiliar face in your class, you will have a better idea of who it is.