如果您见过我们的 Daniel Christopher Von Ess 老师，一定会对他印象深刻。他总是带着阳光般的笑容，活力满满。在他的眼里，每个孩子都是那么的与众不同、无可替代。教育则是帮助孩子认识自我、找到自我、获得自信的道路。
Mr Daniel Christopher Von Ess is an energetic teacher who knows every student is different. He believes teaching is about understanding your strengths and weaknesses to develop into a person who you can be proud of. No one is perfect, but everyone is special.
Mr. Daniel Christopher Von Ess
青浦协和小学英语教师
SUIS QP Primary English Teacher
近期，我们采访了Daniel Christopher Von Ess老师，带大家一起去认识这位深受孩子喜爱的老师。
We had an interview with Mr. Daniel Christopher Von Ess. Let’s get to know him!
Q1：您在中国多久了，是什么原因让您来到了上海？
How long have you been teaching in China? What made you move to Shanghai?
今年是我在上海的第二年，之前两年在浙江平湖工作。那是我第一次出国工作，在平湖的生活超出了我的预期。我交到了许多朋友，我们之间的友谊仍然保持着。我参加他们的婚礼，也曾一起游览我的家乡南非，我们在生活中相互支持。
说起我为什么来上海，因为我特别喜欢看超级英雄的电影，有不少是以上海为舞台的。当我还在浙江工作的时候，每个月都会来一次上海，感受这座城市的新潮与活力。于是，当我结束上一份工作后，决定到上海生活。与朋友和学生告别总是伤感的，但这份距离，也让我时时刻刻思念他们，思念平湖。
I have been teaching in Shanghai for just over a year. Previously, I worked in Pinghu City in Zhejiang Province for two years. My stay in Pinghu was the first time I had worked abroad and it exceeded my expectations. The friends I made there are still my friends today and we have experienced so much together; they visited my home in South Africa, I have attended their weddings and we have supported one another during many changes. I wanted to move to Shanghai because it is a major city that is in many of my favourite superhero movies. When I was working in Zhejiang Province I would visit Shanghai once every month to experience the magic and wonder that this city has to offer. The people are so fashionable and the city is truly international. That is why at the end of my contract at my previous school, I decided to search for opportunities to live and work in Shanghai. It was difficult to leave my friends and my students, but the distance has only made my heart grow fonder of all the experiences and individuals in Pinghu City.
Q2：与您之前工作的地方相比，在青浦协和有什么特别的感受吗？
Compared with your previous working places, do you have any different feeling?
协和的工作让我有了许多新经历。首先我有机会和一位“搭档 (co-teacher)”一起授课，彼此分享好主意。我的“搭档们”都致力于上好每一堂课，从不害怕辛劳。
我们的学生也很特别，充满能量，不惧挑战。每每听到孩子们说听懂了，知道该如何做了，那是我最幸福的时刻。我在南非的时候，是在公立学校教书，学生和老师也都来自不同的文化背景。有南非人、科萨族人，也有来自邻国的外国人。在这样多元的文化环境里，我学会了尊重，相互关爱。作为在上海生活的“外国人”，我常常体会到这座城市的善意与友好，与此同时，更想把这份温暖传递给每一位同事和学生。
Absolutely! Compared to my previous place of work, Xiehe is an incredible change. To have the opportunity to work with a co-teacher has changed my experience in teaching and I enjoy sharing ideas with my co-teachers. I am so impressed by the effort and time that all my co-teachers put into their lessons and how eager each of them gives of their best in our lessons together. No one is afraid to work hard! The students that the school attracts are also a group of special children; full of excitement and eager for a challenge. I love to hear my students tell me that they understand what they have to do and think that it is easy to do; many of them have progressed very quickly! Reflecting on my feelings while working in South Africa: I worked in a government school with students and teachers from many different cultures; Afrikaans, isiXhosa and expats from neighbouring countries around South Africa. School was a place that would help us all to learn about things that we hadn’t experienced before and taught us that despite these differences we are all equal and cared for. Being an expat I feel that same sense of difference while living in Shanghai, but I also feel the care that many people I have met have for me and I hope to give that to each of my co-teachers, colleagues and students.
Q3：作为2020青浦协和协励师德奖获得者，能谈谈平时和学生的相处之道吗？
You are awarded 2020 Xieli Outstanding Teacher. Could you please share the experience about how you get along well with your students?
这份奖项不是关乎我个人的，其实是孩子们的想法。正是因为这些可爱的学生，我才获得殊荣。也正是这些孩子，让我成为一名快乐的教师，在每一天的教学互动中，分享感动。同时，也离不开家长们。记得，颁奖典礼彩排当天，家长们给予了热情支持。我想我永远也不会忘记这份宝贵的记忆。
在提倡终生学习的今天，老师不仅仅局限于传授信息、制作精美的PPT。知识会过时，我们也会忘记一页页的幻灯片，但是我们不会忘记他人曾给予我们的感受。老师和学生，其实是一同踏上了一趟旅程。在这旅程中，每个人的情况不同。有的孩子“走”得快一些，有的孩子则慢一些。我希望每位学生都能在课堂上获得满满的“参与感”。每堂课开始之前，我会在黑板上写下本节课的重要环节，让学生提前知道接下来会发生什么。我鼓励学生通过当小老师发展领导才能。学生应当获得学习的主动性，了解自己需要做什么。
This award is not really about me; it is about the students and what they think. It was an amazing experience to share with them, because they are the reason I was selected in the first place. The students are also the reason why I am a happy teacher; they help fill my day with laughter and joy as we learn and teach together. I also acknowledge that this award was due to the enthusiasm of parents. In rehearsals and on the day, I was so moved by how energized and enthusiastic the parents were. It was an event that will be forever remembered in my life.
As a student myself, because we are all students of life, I know that it is important to not just teach information or plan fancy PowerPoint presentations. Information will always change and people will likely forget the PowerPoint presentations that take up so much time to create. What people don’t forget is how you make them feel. When I am teaching my students, we are continuing a journey together in the classroom, but we are all experiencing it differently. Some students may understand ideas very quickly and can share their own, while other students need some time to make sense of the idea to help share their own. What I try to do in my teaching is help every student feel like a welcomed participant in my lesson. I usually write an agenda to help the students see what activities they may be doing in the lesson. I encourage different students to develop their skills as a leader by allotting positions of responsibility to Little Teachers. I’m not trying to trick or hide information from students during the lesson; the more they know about what they will be doing and learning, the better for their learning journey.
Q4：您在青浦协和有什么难忘的记忆和故事吗？
During the time in SUIS Qingpu, do you have any unforgettable memory or stories?
那真是太多了！许多孩子一开始很害羞，课堂上都不敢讲话。有些是不太自信，有些的确是没明白老师的提问。但是一学年下来孩子们的自信心提高了，对于课堂提问敢于大声回答。即使对于自己不怎么确定的答案，也愿意试着表达。有时孩子们的回答会引起同学们的讨论，大家你一言我一语的，一起把问题探讨个明白。这些互动，不是老师可以提前设计的，也不能强求，通过营造轻松活泼的课堂氛围，鼓励孩子成长，真是奇妙的体验。
我还是选修课的舞蹈老师。看着孩子们记动作、排练，发现了孩子平时在英语课堂上不一样的方面。当他们在舞台上顺利完成表演，获得掌声时，就是闪耀的明星。
There are so many! At the beginning of the year I remember how many students were too shy to speak and share their ideas; maybe some were lacking confidence while others did not understand what was going on. But, by the end of the year many students had increased their confidence in the classroom and did more than say the answer; they shouted the answer! Students were also more relaxed and tried to answer more questions, even when they were less sure of themselves. Some of the best memories were made while observing students try to answer questions and then have their answers be critiqued by their peers in the class and hear the laughing while figuring it out. That is not something you can plan, nor is it something you can force, it is a magical memory because it just happens.
I also really loved teaching my dance class as a CCA; to watch the students who were committed to learning a choreographed dance on stage was very special because it showed a different side to these students that I had not seen before. For a moment, they were all superstars receiving applause for the hard work that they had made.
Q5：教学上，接下来有什么新计划？
What kind of new plans do you have?
青浦协和是一个不断发展的地方，总有新鲜事物等着我们去发现。我从同事身上学到许多新东西，从而能更好地帮助孩子。作为一名外教，能够体验中国的风土人情我感到很幸运，与此同时，我也准备向孩子们展示世界各地的文化、生活方式。唯有当我们看到更广的世界，才能真正体会每个地方与众不同的魅力。孩子的性格培养亦是如此，希望每个孩子都能发现自己的特别之处，自信、开朗地成长。
As a campus, we have grown enormously so there is a lot of new and exciting things to be developed and shared amongst the group of talented people I work with. My main plan is to listen and learn from my colleagues to improve things that I have already made to benefit the students. As a person from South Africa who has been lucky enough to experience the difference of life in Shanghai, China I also hope to share the difference of other lifestyles with my students more intentionally. We are all so lucky to be in a thriving and successful city like Shanghai, and can only appreciate that more when we explore other parts of the world to see how unique and special every place is. I hope that will also help the students to feel confident about being the unique and special individuals they are, too.