Feel the excellence of an astronomy teacher

As mentioned in the previous article "The Starry Sky Shines Because of You", Mr. Li Chunyu, a self-proclaimed "ordinary" astronomy educator, has been working on the front line of education for several years, combining his youth and passion. , thrown into the day-to-day but tireless astronomy education in public schools, and then received strong commendation from the school district for its "extraordinary" achievements and contributions.

The following is part of Mr. Li’s report at the education commendation meeting, briefly describing two or three things, including his experiences, thoughts, summary and prospects along the way.

The author was fortunate enough to have written relevant activity reports on the public account of the "Haomiao Star" astronomy club, the cradle of children's astronomy dreams, and had many interactions with Teacher Li. I hereby help everyone get the first I share the information first-hand, hoping to spread it to more friends, or have the opportunity to inspire colleagues in the education industry.

As soon as he graduated, he became a teacher and an information technology teacher for children. From then on, he started a different teaching career.

Mr. Li, who majored in computer science, at that time held astronomy activities in the corridor and the telescope was stored in the corner of the school warehouse.

Opening a few wooden boxes, there are two astronomical telescopes inside, and a stack of old astronomy magazines and books, quietly piled in the corner of the table... These are all the astronomy in the school. Possessions.

The title picture of this article was taken during astronomy teacher training in Beijing. It records a major event that affected Teacher Li’s professional development - yes! It was published on the front page of Beijing Evening News on September 30, 2011.

That astronomy training coincided with the launch of my country’s Tiangong-1. Teacher Kou Wen from the Beijing Planetarium mentioned during class that in Huailai, Hebei, where the class is held, you might be able to see #Tiangong-1 flying overhead.

After hearing this, Teacher Li, who is very interested in photography, hurriedly asked Teacher Kou about the shooting details and precautions. The reply I got was: The Tiangong transit is predicted based on experience. There is no official exact data, and I don’t know whether the observation can be successful.

It was almost time for the launch, and most people chose to watch the live news broadcast, leaving only a few teachers who still insisted on filming. However, no one knows where it comes from, how high it is, how fast it is, and how bright it is, so everyone is always on guard.

"Launch!" Among the teachers who stayed in the square, hearing the cheers, two more ran back to watch the live broadcast, but Teacher Li still stayed where he was, hoping to take a photo of Tiangong One with his own hands. Number.

Time passed by minute by minute, and I felt so nervous that I could hear my own heartbeat. Suddenly, a small dot pushed by flames appeared in the southwest of the sky. Teacher Li quickly pointed the camera in the predetermined direction and pressed the shutter. As the sound of continuous shooting sounded, the small side of the digital camera displayed On the screen, the flight trajectory of Tiangong-1 was clearly displayed.

Yes! That's it! Success!

This experience ignited Teacher Li’s passion for astronomical exploration. He is willing to pass this passion on to his students, leading them to explore the sky, witness the vastness of space, and uncover the secrets of the universe.

The astronomy club came into being. At the beginning of its establishment, the society had only more than 20 members. After more than 10 years of development, it now has 4 professional astronomy teachers, nearly 100 key members, and has exported 50 astronomy students.

In 2011, the genius twins Cheng Sihao and Cheng Simiao, as superstars in the National Astronomy Olympiad, were called the "Twin Stars" that year and made many contributions to the cause of astronomy. The classmates of the astronomy club at that time took them as their goals and took the name of their own club, hoping to follow in the footsteps of their role models and achieve higher achievements.

After more than ten years of training, the "Haomiao Star Astronomy Club" has emerged as the top astronomy learning and research team in the school and even in Beijing, and is well-known in the astronomy education community.

During the winter vacation of 2018, Teacher Li led a group of students on a Nordic astronomy trip and arrived in Finland for auroral photography.

The final observation site was chosen on a frozen lake. There was nearly 2 meters of snow on the lake, and there was a possibility of sinking in at any time.

Late at night, with a temperature of minus 30 degrees, the observation conditions became very harsh. The battery power was consumed rapidly, and the hands were frozen. If small parts accidentally fell into the snow, it would be difficult to retrieve them... …

Waiting for three nights to no avail. But as we were sincere, on the last night before our return trip, the belated aurora finally appeared faintly behind the clouds.

He quickly led the students to compose a test shot. In the next half hour, the sky opened and the clouds dispersed, and the beautiful aurora lived up to expectations and fully revealed itself, creating an unforgettable aurora feast.

While waiting for the aurora, students also truly understood what is the spirit of "perseverance and perseverance" required for astronomical observation. And this spirit will be far more profound and important in the children's future lives than successfully photographing an aurora event now.

The practice of astronomy education and teaching is changing with each passing day and constantly upgrading and iterating.

Beijing’s primary and secondary schools have achieved good results in competitions, reaching new highs every year.

Think of it as just a primary school in Haidian District. There are 1,700 students in the school, and the total number of astronomy awards it has won in a year accounts for more than half of the total number of students in the school.

Looking at the many astronomical events in 2021, the schedule is in full swing. Looking back on 2020, the number of astronomy winners accounted for 49% in Haidian District and 33% in Beijing.

At the end of the report, the original words from Teacher Li’s report——

To sum up, starting from a box of telescopes lying in the corner and a pile of astronomy books that no one cares about, computers Teacher Li, who graduated with a major, started out as an information technology teacher and continues to explore and practice in the field of astronomy education.

With or without conditions, it cannot become a bottleneck of restrictions and constraints. Instead, it is the best opportunity to overcome difficulties and find good ways to overcome them.

This spirit of diligent study, continuous exploration, active practice, courage to enterprising, and selfless dedication is not only the reason why Mr. Li continues to achieve success, but also his daily routine of leading by example and serving as a model.

From this perspective, our teacher Li Chunyu is not only the source of the "star light" in the astronomy education world, with the ability of a craftsman and the diligence of a gardener, but also the vast world inside and outside. He is an interstellar navigator who "plants grass, stars and dreams" in the hearts of countless children.

I am Shui Mu. I am grateful to have met such an excellent teacher. I am grateful to have had Teacher Li’s enlightenment, companionship and guidance in the children’s lives. Invite us to accompany you.

See you tomorrow!