JESIE foreign teachers began gathering well before the afternoon start of the 2017 Professional Development Session (WPDS). The mood was cheerful and relaxed. The session began at 1:30 pm. President Liu opened the session with a few remarks, praising the Gala performances by JESIE teachers and staff, summing up some of the successes of the previous term, and mentioning upcoming high points for this spring. He finished with the hope that the WPDS would be a positive and worthwhile learning experience for the foreign teachers, and a vehicle to help JESIE to continue to grow. Assistant President Suo Ping also added a few words of encouragement and ensured that participants understood the format of the session.

The teachers were asked to give a brief outline of some of the highs and lows of their past term, what they had learned from their experiences, and what their goals for the new term were. It was an excellent chance for all the teachers to share, something we rarely have the chance to do since we are divided between Wuxi and Nanjing.   Some memorable quotes were: "Treat every lesson like an Open Day", "All our teachers are resources", and "My biggest problem was classroom management…"

Lara Tozzi gave a superb presentation on lesson planning and preparation that was informative, professional, organized and witty. Val Gagas followed with an engaging tutorial on how to teach sentences, particularly to primary and middle school students, addressing a topic that many of our teachers struggle with in their lessons. This was a topic that was high on the list of requested tutorial subjects, and Val provided a comprehensive set of guidelines and strategies.

The first day of the WPDS finished with the assignment of demo lesson times, instructions for Day 2 events and session topics, and a reminder about one-on-one meetings scheduled for the rest of the week. The session broke up with teachers in a positive mood and looking forward to the week!