Nathan Morris & Sonia Zhang: We share the THIS standards and strive for a common goal

在清华附中国际部稻香湖校区，有这样一位精力充沛、履历丰富的班主任。他曾担任青少年篮球教练，随球队走遍加拿大，因而发掘了自己热爱教育并愿意以教师为终生职业的追求；他也曾为特殊学生做志愿教育工作，持有加拿大青少年保育员资格证，感受到了教育的无私价值。自从来到中国，他一直担任小学班主任的工作，在英语教学方面经验十足。他就是G4-Lavender班主任Mr. Nathan Morris，负责整体管理班级，并教授数学、英语写作、英语阅读、社会研究课。

In THIS DL campus, there is an energetic and experienced homeroom teacher. He began his journey in education through his love of sport. From sport, he learned that he had a love of passing on knowledge and working with young people. Coaching has allowed him to travel all over Canada and work with athletes of all ages from primary to university. While he still love s coaching, he has also worked as a Child and Youth Care Worker (CYCW) in the provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador. In this position, he worked with special needs students to help them integrate into the society. He gained much valuable education and experience, and learned how to use therapeutic intervention for students in need. While he loved his job as a CYCW, he also yearned for adventure. This is when he started his formal education career. Since then, he has been in China working as an English language teacher, early years educator, physical education teacher, and a homeroom teacher for elementary age students. Now, He teaches math, English writing, English reading and social studies for the G4-Lavender class.

清华附中国际部稻香湖校区 THIS DL campus
G4-Lavender 班主任 Homeroom teacher
Mr. Nathan Morris

G4-Lavender班也有着这样一位助教，她热爱教育事业，曾在美国，英国以及肯尼亚等地担任孔子学院教师，有着丰富的海外工作经历，对待学生富有爱心和耐心。她就是Ms. Sonia Zhang。

The teaching assistant for G4-Lavender is also enthusiastic about education, and has had various working experiences in different countries including the U.S., the U.K., and Kenya working as teacher in local Confucius Institutes. She is very patient and loving with her students. She is Ms. Sonia Zhang.

清华附中国际部稻香湖校区 THIS DL campus
G4-Lavender  Homeroom teacher
Ms. Sonia Zhang

一位来自加拿大的班主任和一位来自中国的助教，在日常工作中，他们有着不同的角色分工，有着不同的文化和语言背景，但在短短几个月中就培养起了良好的合作机制，形成了通畅的家校沟通桥梁。他们在跨文化环境中，用理解和包容形成了1+1大于2的效果。下面让我们走进G4-Lavender班，通过采访来认识班主任Mr. Nathan Morris和助教 Ms. Sonia Zhang。

Having a homeroom teacher from Canada and a teaching assistant from China in one class, they have different roles and different cultural and language backgrounds. However, they have cultivated a strong cooperative relationship in just a few months, forming an effective communication channel between parents and the school. In a cross-cultural environment, their mutual-understanding and tolerance has helped them create an atmosphere of “one plus one is greater than two”. Now let us meet the homeroom teacher Mr. Nathan Morris and the teaching assistant Ms. Sonia Zhang from THIS DL campus G4-Lavender.

Q: How do you collaborate with each other when you have different roles as homeroom teacher & teaching assistant?

作为主班老师和助教，你们是如何合作的呢？

Mr. Nathan:

“我们班的助教Sonia和我都非常理解我们在课堂上的角色，并且明确学校对教学的期许，我们在课前课后经常共同讨论教学的计划、难点。我们私下也是很好的朋友，这使我们更有默契，工作开展得更顺利。如果她需要什么帮助，我会尽力帮她，反之亦然，我们之间有一种互通有无的关系。”
“Thankfully, having such a great teaching assistant as Ms. Sonia makes things easy. Both Ms. Sonia and myself understand our roles for the classroom and do a decent job of abiding by school expectations. We both understand proper techniques of supporting each other during class, as well as preparation. We also do a fantastic job of communicating with one another. This is one of the main reasons we have such a positive working relationship. Ms. Sonia and myself collaborate mostly through face-to-face interaction to solve issues. If Ms. Sonia needs something, I will do my best to help her, and vice versa. There is a give-and-take relationship that works well with us. ”

“建立一个温暖又十分具备学术气息的班级是一件既快乐又不容易的事。我们希望学生在学校里过得丰富有趣，挖掘他们的专长，但同时，他们必须要养成自律的能力，培养出自己的领导力。在一个相对轻松的氛围里去培养学生自律的性格需要做出很多平衡和努力，我可以很自豪地说，我们做到了。”

“To build a loving, welcoming and organized learning environment in our classroom is the common goal at THIS. Like Mr. Nathan said, building such an engaging classroom is never an easy thing. We want our students to enjoy their time at school and learn, while developing their strengths and valuing their individuality. At the same time, we want them to learn to be a team player and discipline themselves. This is a hard-to-keep balance which requires a lot of skills and a strong team of teachers, teaching assistants and parents. Fortunately, at G4L, we can proudly say that we are close to what we are striving for. ”

“Nathan精业敬业，有着活泼的教学风格和幽默的个性，学生们很喜欢他，家长们也很满意他的教学成果。”

“To the surprise of us all, Nathan managed to transition so well and smoothly with his professionalism, active teaching style, and humorous personality. You can see how much the kids like him in their eyes, and the feedback from parents is also very positive and welcoming.”

Q: How you notice the difference between cultures? How do you deal with it?
你如何面对合作中的文化差异呢？

Mr. Nathan:

“当然，Sonia、学生、学生的家长和我之间存在文化差异。我会正视文化差异并从彼此身上学习。当然会遇到因为文化差异而产生的问题，我选择用清晰有力的面对面沟通来解决问题。”

“Of course, there are cultural differences between Ms. Sonia, the students, their family, and myself. We accept each other’s differences and learn from them. Of course, there will be problems that arise when diverse cultures interact but again, the most important aspect in overcoming this is communication. Having a strong and clear dialogue between colleagues and students really helps resolve any issues. ”

Ms. Sonia:

“在我们学校，学生和教职员工来自世界各地，有着不同的文化背景，当然也会有分歧和困难，但沟通、信任和相互尊重是我们能成功合作的关键。无论何时，我们都遵从以学生为先的原则来处理问题。”

“I believe that respecting diversity is a very important mindset that everyone needs nowadays. Just like in our school, students and staff come from all around the world and with different cultural backgrounds. There were differences and difficulties of course, but communication, trust and mutual respect are the keys for our successful collaboration. Whenever there is an issue, there is a discussion between us, and we make decisions based on the principle of what we believe is the best for the children. ”

Q: How do you provide parent-school communication?
在家校沟通方面，你们是如何做的呢？

Mr. Nathan:

“我与家长们保持联系，在沟通中我会保证我的信息简洁而专业；另外，通过学校的一个专用平台，我定时把家庭作业发给学生；当然，家校沟通最正式的方式还是通过家长会和成绩单。如果家长希望与我面对面交流，他们可以随时与我联系并预约。”

“Most of the parent-school communication is done through three main platforms. When I deliver the administrative information and informal information, I try my best to keep messages succinct and professional. The second platform is through Seesaw. This platform is used to send homework and assignments home to the students. The third platform is through parent-teacher meetings and report cards. This communication is far less frequent but also especially important. This will be the most formal way we try to handle parent-school communication. Of course, if a parent would like to meet me face-to-face outside of these platforms, they can always contact me and set up an appointment. ”

“我很幸运拥有这么一班快乐而上进的学生。每个学生都有自己的独特之处，当他们取得进步时我和家长都特别为他们感到骄傲。孩子们在学校里一起学习新知识，长久相处在一起，他们都把班级当作他们的第二个家。”

“Finally, the last aspect that helps to make a positive classroom climate is the students and family members. I am lucky to have such a pleasant group of grade 4 students. Each student is special in their own way and they display personality traits that would make any parent proud. This group is eager to learn new information and they devour content with zeal. With such a caring group it can seem easy to consider our classroom a second home. Furthermore, the parents have been absolutely supportive of the classroom adjustments and expectations. It’s not easy for students and parents to accept a new teacher midway through the school year, but these parents have been more than encouraging to say the least. ”

Ms. Sonia:

“Nathan每周都会发一封详细的家长信，说明我们在过去一周的教学进展。我也经常会拍一些课堂照片和视频发给家长。家长们在群里很积极，尤其是我们班的家委代表总是会分享很多有价值的信息。”

“Parent-school communication are done in a timely and effective manner in G4L, and we feel so lucky to have such a supportive group of parents. Mr Nathan is very keen on communication with parents on students’ academic progress. Every week he will send a detailed newsletter stating what we have learned during the past week. And homework is sent out to students every day in hardcopy or on seesaw. I usually send announcements, pictures and videos about different classes or student’s daily life. Parents are very involved in the communication and the parent committee is also very helpful. Our class’ representative is always very responsive and resourceful, she would also share useful informations with me from time to time. ”

国际部最鲜明的办学特色是中西融合，对于这一理念的实践，外方班主任和中国助教老师的配合是最完美的解答。

We provide education that combines the best part of Eastern and Western education, creating global citizens that are bicultural and bilingual. With our teachers and teaching assistants’ strong leadership and wonderful personalities, their collaboration has been very smooth because they share the THIS value and strive towards a common goal.

文字 Writing | Nathan Morris, Sonia Zhang, Erxin Kang
排版 Editing | Mercy Xu
图片 Pictures | Erxin Kang, Sonia Zhang
审核 Auditing | Shiny Wang, Donald Holder, Wenping Li