上海诺科学校优秀教师访谈

　　上海诺科学校优秀教师Brenton，美国北卡罗莱纳州立大学工商管理学士，多年英语教学经验，自2014年起，先后在上海交通大学、华东师范大学担任英语教师。倡导培养学生的创造性思维和批判性思维，以及英语语言应用能力。

　　自我介绍

　　My name is Brenton Reid, and I'm from a small town of around 10,000 people called Kings Mountain, North Carolina. I come from large family with two younger brothers and one older sister, and over a dozen cousins. I can truly say there was never a dull moment in our family. My siblings and cousins and I were often outside exploring and trying out as many new and different things as we could. This curiosity led to a lot of unique experiences and life lessons. This curiosity has also fueled me well beyond my youth.

　　我是Brenton Reid，来自North Carolina一个约有10000人的小镇Kings Mountain。我有一个大家庭，两个弟弟和一个姐姐，还有十几个堂兄弟姐妹。真的可以说，我们家从来没有过无聊的时刻。我和我的兄弟姐妹、堂兄弟姐妹经常在外面探索和尝试尽可能多的新鲜事物。这种好奇心导致了我们收获了许多独特的经历和人生教训。这种好奇心也激励着我，使我远远超越了我年轻时代的小伙伴们。

　　After high school, I moved to Raleigh, NC to go to school at North Carolina State University. At university I uncovered a new world, there were so many new people, ideas, opportunities, and experiences. My time in university was a large part of what shaped me into the man I am today. I learned the importance of self-control, responsibility, self-sustainability, money management, time management, and many other skills that have helped me in my personal and professional adult life.

　　高中毕业后，我搬到North Carolina的Raleigh，前往North Carolina State University上学。在大学里，我开启了人生中的新世界——有很多新的人、新的想法、新的机会和新的经历。大学的时光，是塑造我成为今天这个人的重要因素。我学会并认识到自我控制、责任担当、自我维持、金钱管理、时间管理以及其他许多在我的个人和职业生涯中对我有帮助的技能的重要性。

　　Following graduating in finance, I worked in corporate America for around 2 years before realizing that it wasn't for me. I found myself seeking a new direction and after about a month of praying and looking around, I came across an opportunity to teach in China for one year. I figured a year abroad would be nice, that was 6 years ago. Now, I have found a second home in China and I've expanded my family – marrying a lovely young woman and adding a son to our ever-growing family. I've learned and grown a lot since the boy running around outside with his cousins. I hope to pass on many of the life lessons I've learned to the students who pass through Northcross School Shanghai.

　　大学毕业后，我在美企工作了大概2年，才意识到这并不适合我。我发现自己正在寻找新的方向，经过一个月的祈祷和环顾四周后，我遇到了一个可以在中国任教一年的机会。我想在国外呆一年也不错的，那是6年前的事情了。现在，我在中国找到了第二个家，我也发展了我的家庭——娶了一个可爱又年轻的女子，并给我们不断扩大的家庭添了一个儿子。自从那个男孩和他的堂兄弟们在外面跑来跑去，我学到了很多，也成长了很多。我希望能把我学到的许多人生经验传授给诺科的学生。

　　Q1：结合您丰富的一线教育教学经验，请问您是如何看待教师这一职业的?请分享你的经验，如何从一名新手教师迅速成长为一名优秀教师?

　　Teachers are possible the most important influence in the lives of our children. From the age of 3 or 4 until 18, children spend hundreds of hours in the presence of teachers. Teachers are responsible for not only teaching young people things that will be tested, but also for teaching young people how to be good people. It's more important for a teacher to teach a child how to be a good person than it is for the teacher to teach the child how to pass a test. I'm not sure I can comment on how to grow rapidly from a new teacher to an excellent teacher, I don't believe I would qualify as an excellent teacher. If I could comment on how a teacher can be better, I would say to constantly try and learn from others-other teachers, parents, administrators, and students. Over the past 6 years in education, I've learned that you can never learn enough about being a better teacher.

　　老师可能是我们孩子生活中较重要的影响因素之一。从3、4岁到18岁，孩子们要在老师面前待上几百个小时。老师不仅要教年轻人要考试的东西，还要教年轻人如何做好人。对老师来说，教孩子如何做一个好人比教孩子如何通过考试更重要。我不确定我能否评论“如何从一名新手教师迅速成长为一名优秀教师”这个问题，我不认为我现在就有资格成为一名优秀的教师。如果是对“一名教师如何才能变得更好”这一问题发表评论，我想说的是，要不断地尝试并向其他人学习——其他老师、家长、管理者和学生。在过去6年的教育生涯中，我明白了要做一名好老师，永远学无止境。

　　Q2：您认为一名合格的教师在教学过程中应如何体现出责任心与爱心?请举例说明

　　A teacher can show responsibility and love in the teaching process by ALWAYS teaching, not just teaching in the classroom. This includes teaching appropriate etiquette for the appropriate situation and disciplining students who misbehave. I'm still trying to figure out the right method to deal with individual differences among students and establishing good rapport. I tried to do this by simply talking to students about things that aren't related to classes-their hobbies, weekend plans, family life, friends, etc. I also enjoy sharing my own personal life with students, I hope this allows them to see me as a human and not just a teacher. I like to share photos from my life - family, travel, events, etc. Generally, students have been much more receptive of talking to me after I share personal things with them.

　　一名教师在教学过程中，通过不断的教学，可以表现出他的责任心和爱心，而不仅仅是在课堂上。这包括针对适当的场合教授适当的礼仪，以及惩戒行为不端的学生。现在，我仍在努力寻找正确的方法来处理学生之间的个体差异并与之建立良好的关系。我试着通过简单地和学生谈论与课堂无关的事情来做到这一点——他们的爱好、周末计划、家庭生活、朋友等等。我也喜欢与学生分享我自己的个人生活，我希望这能让他们看到我是一个人，而不仅仅是一名老师。我喜欢分享我生活中的照片——家庭，旅行，重大事件等等。一般来说，学生们在我和他们分享了个人的事情之后，更愿意和我交谈。

　　Q3：在国际化学校的教育教学生涯中，您个人有什么不一样的体验和感悟?令您较动容或是较自豪的一件事情是?

　　This is the first international school I've worked at, and what really surprises me is the need for emotional support. Before coming to Northcross, I taught at East China Normal University and Shanghai Jiaotong University, so the students were all adults. The moment that most moved me was during my first year at Northcross. I was sitting at my desk when a homeroom teacher came over to me and asked me if I could talk to a student who was crying. I asked the other teacher why me, and she responded that the student felt closest to me out of all teachers. I was nearly brought to tears while I listened to her tell me about the pressure she faced from her mom to be the top student. She cried for half an hour about how she wasn't allowed to do much of anything she was interested in. She was forced to study constantly, every hour of every day was scheduled with some class or tutor. I did all I could to help her, but wasn't sure it was enough. After about an hour of talking, she was laughing and smiling – though still quite sad. It made me realize that as teachers, we have the power to influence students' outlook on their circumstances.

　　这是我工作的第一所国际学校，真正令我称奇的是，情感上的支撑。来诺科之前，我在华东师范大学和上海交通大学任教，所以学生都是成年人。较让我感动的时刻是在诺科的第一年。当时，我正坐在办公桌旁，一名班主任走过来询问我是否可以和一名哭泣的学生谈谈。我问另一位老师“为什么是我”，她回答说，在所有的老师中，这名学生觉得和我较亲近。当我听她讲述她妈妈为了让她成为优等生所施加的压力时，我几乎要哭了。她哭了半个小时，说她不被允许做任何她感兴趣的事。她被迫不停地学习，每天的每一个小时都安排了一些课程或导师。我尽我所能帮助她，但不确定这是否足够。我们聊了大约一个小时后，她笑了，虽然还是很伤心。但这让我意识到，作为教师，我们有能力影响学生对他们所处环境的看法。

　　Q4：在多年的教学工作中，您有过个人专业发展的低谷期吗?如何克服的?

　　I hit rock bottom in my first year as a high school teacher. I was teaching senior students, and I wasn't aware of how little seniors care about high school. Out of a class of 25 students, only 5 of them pass our midterm, and I was infuriated. The 5 students who passed received a score of at least an 80%, which showed me that the exam wasn't too difficult, the 20 who failed simply didn't study or try. I lost my temper and yelled at the class for being so careless in their studies. After that class, I had no idea what to do next because we only had half a semester left and the class hadn't learned the first half of the semester's material. I overcame this by relying on experienced teachers. I sought advice from five or six different teachers, and their advice helped guide me the rest of the semester. The students' motivation improved significantly, and I modified my teaching style to suit senior high school students. Every student passed my class and was able to graduate, I was very proud of them.

　　作为一名高中教师，我在第一年就跌到了谷底。当时，我在教高中生，我不知道高中生对高中的学业是有多关心。班上有25名学生，其中只有5名同学通过了期中考试，我很生气。通过考试的5名学生得到了至少80%的分数，这表明考试并不难，20名不及格的学生根本不学习也不努力。当时，我大发脾气，对着班上那些糊弄学习的学生大喊大叫。上完那堂课后，我都不知道接下来该怎么办，因为我们只剩下半个学期了，全班还没学完上半学期的材料。于是，我向经验丰富的老师们取经才克服了这一困难。当时，我向五六位不同的老师寻求了建议，他们的建议有效地指导了我的下学期的教学工作。学生的学习动力有了很大的提高，我也改变了自己的教学方式，使之更适合高中生。较后，每一位学生都通过了我的班级考试，并且顺利毕业，我为他们感到骄傲。

　　Q5：您较欣赏当代学生身上的特质是什么?您认为诺科学子应该具备哪些核心技能才能有利于未来的发展与生活?

　　The thing I appreciate most about contemporary students is their willingness to help teachers. A core skill in life is the willingness to help others. I firmly believe that you get out of this world what you put into it. If you're willing to go out of your way to help others, others will be willing to go out of their way to help you. One example is from one of my favorite students. He is always asking me and other teachers if we need help carrying books, class material, cleaning a whiteboard, etc. I often see him in the teachers' office helping a teacher with something. He doesn't always get an A in class, but because of his attitude and willingness to help, he gets an A+ as a person.

　　我对当代学生较欣赏的是他们愿意帮助老师。生活中的一项核心技能是乐于助人。我坚信你付出的一切都能让你走出这个世界。如果你愿意不遗余力地帮助别人，别人也会愿意不遗余力地帮助你。比如，有一位我很喜欢的学生，他总是问我和其他老师需不需要帮忙，拿书、拿课堂材料、擦白板等等。我经常看到他在老师办公室帮老师做一些事情。也许，他在课堂上并不是总能得“A”，但由于他的态度和乐于助人的精神，作为一个人，他可以得到“A+”。

　　Q6：您认为诺科这个平台如何?您认为师生们在这里较应该努力收获的是什么?

　　NCSH is a place that allows teachers and students to grow. Our students have every opportunity to make themselves better, but it's up to them to seize the opportunity. The school is often willing to try something new introduced by a teacher – and it's nice to see a school that not only encourages teachers to do things differently, but openly supports this. I think someone (teacher or student) should choose NCSH because it's a place that's open to change and improvement.

　　诺科是一个能让老师和学生共同成长的地方。我们的学生有各种机会来促使自己变得更好，但这取决于他们如何抓住机会。诺科非常愿意尝试老师介绍的新鲜事物，我很高兴能看到这样一所学校，它不仅鼓励老师们以不同的方式做事，而且还公开支持这种做法。我认为大家(老师或学生)应该选择诺科，因为它是一个开放的平台，可以改变，可以提升。

　　Q7：身为诺科优秀师资队伍中的一员，请问您是如何平衡个人、家庭与学生之间的关系?

　　I balance personal, family, and student relationships on WeChat (haha). Seriously, I'm not quite sure. I guess it comes down to priorities and clear communication. I do my best to prioritize my family over all other relationships, but at the same time commit specific time to different relationships. When I'm at work, my relationships with my colleagues and students are my main priority. I make it clear to my students that they can find me at anytime during the school day, and email me after school. I also make it clear that after a certain time at night, my time is committed to my family, so I may not reply to non-emergency messages. When I'm at home, my familial relationships are my main priority. I also make it clear to my family that when I'm at work, I may not reply to a message or phone call because my priority is work.

　　我在微信上平衡个人、家庭和学生之间的关系(哈哈)。说真的，我也不太确定。我想这要归结于事情的优先级和良好的沟通。我尽我较大的努力把我的家庭放在其他关系之上，但同时也要为不同的关系投入特定的时间。比如，当我在工作的时候，处理好与同事和学生的关系是我的首要任务。我告诉我的学生们，他们可以在学校的任何时候找到我，放学后还可以给我发邮件。我还向他们明确表示，晚上的某一段特定时间，我是留给我家人的，所以，如果不是非常紧急的事情，我可能就不会立即回复消息了。当我在家的时候，处理好家庭关系是我的首要任务。我也会向我的家人表明，当我在工作的时候，我可能不会立即回复他们的短信或电话，因为那时候我的首要任务就是工作。

　　Q8：对于未来想要入读诺科的学生，您有什么想要对孩子们说的话吗?

　　If I could say one thing to my own child and future NCSH students, it'd be to learn from your mistakes and failures. As human beings, we're doomed to make countless mistakes and to fail again and again over the course of our lives – and that's okay. It's not okay, however, to make the same mistake or failure over and over again. We must do our best to learn from our shortcomings, as to not repeat them. One quote I love is attributed to Thomas Edison, he says, "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." This is how we must look at life. No one can be perfect, but anyone can give up. Don't be one of those people.

　　我想对我的孩子和未来的诺科学子说，要学会从你的错误和失败中吸取教训。作为人类，我们注定要犯无数的错误，在我们的一生中遭遇一次又一次地失败——这很正常。但是，我们一次又一次地犯同样的错误或失败，这就不行了。我们必须尽力从我们的缺点中吸取经验，以免重蹈覆辙。托马斯·爱迪生有句名言我很喜欢，他说：“我并没有失败。我只是发现了一万种行不通的方法。“这才是我们看待生活的方式。没有人可以做到十全十美，但任何人都可以选择放弃。所以，别跟那些人一样。