Public health measures are now being relaxed in the ‘Jing, meaning more events and more fun for you and your family! Kick back and enjoy as we present this week’s Family Friendly Events. As always, click the link in the event title for further details and ticketing info. 

Friday, Jul 24

The Fifth Art Book Fair 2020
Since 2015, abC (art book in China) has been running book fairs across China in 2015. They are very happy to announce that after postponements and cancellations due to COVID-19, the 5th 2020 abC Art Book Fair Beijing will still be held in-person, in the city. abC will be welcoming 86 local exhibitors and 17 international publishing houses. More than 300 excellent art publications from Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland will be showcased, along with 10 short animation films directed by independent animation directions and curated by Feynage Animation Group for this event. On the occasion of the fifth anniversary of abC, the first ever “abC Art Book Award” will also be presented during the fair. Lectures, dialogues and workshops on art books will be held as well. RMB 70. 12.30 pm – 8.30 pm. Beijing Times Art Museum. 

Saturday, Jul 25

Mommy’s Bootcamp
Fitness by Diva is hosting a yoga and networking session just for moms and their young ones. Bring your yoga mat and some of your favorite snacks and spend some quality time exercising and meeting up with like-minded moms. The session will begin with some cardio functional training and will be followed up with a picnic, a playdate for the kids, and other fun activities. RMB 100. 10am-12pm. Chaoyang Park.

DIY Fresh Flowers Diadem in Chaoyang Park
Join Studio Flowers for a workshop on making DIY flower diadems (flower crowns). This activity is best suited to older kids, and fresh flowers and all craft materials will be provided, along with beverages, snacks and refreshments. Enjoy the summer vibes and friendly atmosphere on offer! RMB 238. 5pm – 6pm. Chaoyang Park. 

Sunday, Jul 26

A Very British Dumpling Party
Still not satisfied with the events and activities on offer this weekend? Worry not, because The British Chamber has got you covered! In partnership with The Hutong, BritCham has got a great Sunday activity planned, perfect for families and kids. Get ready to learn how to mix, make, and fold dumplings, filling them with typical British fillings to make your very own UK-China fusion dumplings! RMB 260 for adults, RMB 120 for kids. 3pm – 7pm. The Hutong. 

Can’t see your event on this list? Here’s how to post and promote your event on beijingkids for free!

Images: freestocks (via Unsplash), William Christen (via Unsplash), Kristina Paparo (via Unsplash), Becca Tapert (via Unsplash)

Principal Amanda Micossi from House of Knowledge International School and Kindergarten has had quite an adventurous career in education so far. Having worked as both a lead teacher at a Chinese kindergarten as well as at HoK, the US native also taught ESOL in South Korea prior to her arrival in Beijing three years ago, volunteered as a classroom assistant in a struggling Virginia middle school, and even taught survival English for Sudanese asylum seekers in Israel. Interestingly, Micossi says she and her boyfriend decided to move to Beijing after an elaborate rock-paper-scissors tournament! Miscossi shares more about herself in our Meet the Principal blog series.

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Depending on the day, I either wanted to be a vet or a doctor. Then I realized I’d have to be in school for another few decades, so I abandoned that idea. Even so, look where I ended up; in a school!

What kind of student were you as a child?
Definitely a bit of a nerd! I think the only thing I ever got in trouble for in school was reading—reading under the desk during class, reading too far ahead in our assigned books, reading extra materials assigned to another group.

What was your image of the school principal when you were a student?
I’ve been lucky to have had great principals growing up—friendly, accessible, and involved. In elementary school, our principal would give any student whose name he couldn’t remember a jellybean and made a point to invite every child to lunch in his office during the year. We’re lucky to have a small, intimate campus, so I’m able to get to know each and every student quite well. Hopefully, my image now is that I’m always around, always interested, and always willing to help!

What kind of jobs did you have before becoming a principal?
I had a few odd jobs before college, including working in an online airshow memorabilia merchandise shop run out of my neighbor’s garage and building micro-current electric therapy machines—circuits, switches, the works! Since college, everything has been about teaching. Working in such a wide variety of educational environments has really influenced how I view my job now and how fortunate we are to have so many resources, dedicated teachers, actively involved parents, and an educational approach the whole team believes in.

How do most people respond when they find out you are a school principal?
The most common response I get is, “Really? You’re so young!” When I get a chance to really talk to people about my experience and the work I do now, any questions about age disappear. To be a principal, you need to be extremely organized, manage your time well, and be able to communicate effectively, whether it’s addressing parents’ concerns or in a meeting with teachers. Parents at our kindergarten haven’t asked about my age since my first weeks as principal, and I believe it’s because they are able to see the quality of my work and are happy with how the kindergarten is running. For the skills needed to be an effective principal, there’s no age requirement.

What are you currently reading?
I just bought A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian by Marina Lewycka from Roundabout at our St. Martin’s Day Lantern Walk. It came very highly recommended by the volunteers.

In all your time as an educator, what is the most important lesson you’ve learned?
Flexibility! Even the best-laid plans of teachers and administrators go awry! It really pays off to be flexible—working in another country with a multicultural team and small children means that anything can (and will!) happen. For example, we spent weeks planning a picnic at the park only to have the pollution too high to go out on the day of the event. It was stressful, but we put the old plan behind us and had a great time at our sports room picnic. Learning to go with the flow is essential to peace of mind when each and every day can have a new wrench thrown into your plans. Plus, the unexpected moments, the surprise adventures, and the spontaneity that have the potential to be so frustrating often turn out to be the most memorable experiences, both for the students and myself.
 

Meet the Principal/Headmaster is a new beijingkids blog series designed to give the Beijing community a better understanding of who our education leaders are in our city. If your school is interested in being featured in our Meet the Principal/Headmaster blog series, please contact the School Editor, yvetteferrari@truerun.com

Haley Clark (Brazil/US) is the director of music at The British School of Beijing (BSB Shunyi campus). Clark studied in Asia when she was 20 and was on the lookout for open positions in China and Southeast Asia when she came across an opening at the BSB campus. Now in Beijing for about six months, Clark tells beijingkids more about herself in our Meet the Teacher series, including the sentence she hears most from adults.

What was your favorite subject when you were a student?
Obviously I really enjoyed music, but I also really did well in math. We competed in math quiz bowls against other schools.

What did you want to be when you were a kid? What other career options did you explore before teaching?
I always wanted to be a teacher. I started tutoring my classmates when I was in junior high school and never stopped teaching.

How would you describe your teaching style?
As a music teacher, my lessons are full of opportunities to be creative and have fun, but I also am strict about respecting others and using time wisely. Basically, if you are working hard, we have a great time!

What was your favorite book growing up? What are you currently reading?
I read so much as a child – probably five books or so per week. I suppose one that stands out is A Wrinkle in Time. Right now, my reading list is a bit boring – textbooks and articles for my doctorate. When I finish the course, I can go back to choosing what I want to read!

How do you like to relax on the weekends?
I enjoy cooking or going out to eat. I love trying new foods and eating my favorite ones over and over again.

Where do you like to go on holiday?
That’s easy – beaches! I love being in the sun and near the ocean.

What’s something most people don’t know about you?
I wake up very early every single day without an alarm. Even on weekends. I have given up trying to sleep in.

What’s currently on your playlist?
Well, a little bit of everything. Just today I listened to the Brahms Requiem, some Brazilian music, and some pop rock.

What do you find most rewarding about teaching?
I love seeing students that struggle in other subjects excel in music and drama. You can see it in their eyes that they finally feel that they can do something well and work so hard.

Is there anything else you would like to share?
What is the sentence I hear the most from adults? Can you guess?
“I used to play the (insert instrument here), but I quit after a few years and really regret it to this day.” So, my advice: learn instruments and participate in choir, orchestra, and plays when you’re a child – you have the time!
 

Meet the Teacher is a beijingkids blog series designed to help the Beijing community learn more about its international school teachers.  If your school would like to participate in the series, please email the school editor at yvetteferrari@beijing-kids.com

Augusta Harison-Denby is head of drama at Dulwich College Beijing (DCB). A UK native, Harison Denby taught at a small international school in a town in Malasian Borneo for three years.  “Although the year-round sun and beautiful white sand beaches were fabulous – and who doesn’t love an Orangutan? – my husband and I are city people and realized we missed living in a big, vibrant capital city,” she says. Professionally, Harison-Denby was seeking the challenge of working in a bigger school, and was drawn toward DCB’s drama department, which offers drama through to the IB level. “It was a fantastic career opportunity for me, and I couldn’t wait to live in a place again where live theater was actually a thing that happened,” she shares. Harison-Denby has now lived in Beijing over a year and tells beijingkids more about herself in our Meet the teacher blog series.

What was your favorite subject when you were a student?
Math. Gotta love trig. Ha! No. Not really. It was drama. (I’m nothing if not consistent). I also loved English. Essentially I loved stories, telling stories, characters, and exploring ideas and themes through performance. I felt like drama also included so many other subjects within it: English, history, sociology, PSHE, psychology, anthropology. Drama is also the study of people and our history and our changing beliefs, and can also teach us so much more about other cultures around the world. (I sound like I’m giving the GCSE talk on Year 9 Options Evening.)

What did you want to be when you were a kid? What other career options did you explore before teaching?
Before the age of about 13,  I wanted to be something different every week. Usually based upon whatever film I had seen at the time. Jurassic Park? Paleontologist. Twister? Storm Chaser. The Mighty Ducks? Ice-hockey player. (Although female ice-hockey is non-contact. Lame.) Then I decided I wanted to be actress, and that was the plan until I was twenty-one and realized I hated auditions and wanted to actually own a house one day. I had been helping out at my old youth theater and absolutely loved working with the kids there. Teacher training came next, and here I am.

How would you (or your students) describe your teaching style?
Depends on the class!  Probably something like, “energetic” or “lively” or “tries to tell jokes but isn’t funny.” I did once have a class that said I made it “easy to learn” which was pretty nice. I did it through telling jokes that weren’t funny.

What was your favorite book growing up? What are you currently reading?
I loved the book Goodnight Mister Tom. I wanted to live in 1942 and be evacuated to a small village and run around in long grey socks and buckle shoes shouting “whizzo!” and “yippee!” and eating homegrown vegetables. Possibly not the most accurate representation of evacuee life.

Currently I am reading Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. It’s about a dystopian future in which life has become so bleak we all spend most of our time inside a huge virtual reality called the OASIS.  The premise of the novel is that the multi-billionaireowner of the OASIS has died, and will leave his fortune and the company to anyone who can find the three keys and gates that he has hidden inside the virtual worlds. It’s a bit nerdy but I do love a good adventure story. Plus it keeps mentioning things from my childhood like Atari computers and John Hughes movies.

How do you like to relax on the weekends?
I’d like to say something cool like ”discovering new indie bands in bars downtown while I sip locally brewed beers,” but unfortunately I am, essentially, a hermit. I like to spend weekends watching a lot of Netflix and reading a lot of Buzzfeed. Occasionally I can be tempted out the house by theatre tickets or a good film at the cinema, or the promise of cake (usually the latter). I used to do more running in Kota Kinabalu than I do now; I foolishly signed up to the Great Wall Half Marathon back in May. Five kilometres of feeling great. Sixteen kilometres of utter regret. I think I’ll stick with Netflix.

Where do you like to go on holiday?
Anywhere I can get a flight! (Air Asia I miss you.) I’ve travelled extensively round South East Asia with my husband since we’ve been abroad and we would love to see South America as it’s somewhere neither of us have been. I like to go to a range of different places, combinations of relaxing beach resort holidays, city breaks, and alsothings more adventurous. (I’ve abseiled down waterfalls in Vietnam, don’tchaknow. #supercool)

What’s something most people don’t know about you?
I am a pretty competent drummer. I don’t really tell people because then they try and make me play in bands. And that would mean I’d have to stay up past ten.

What’s currently on your playlist?
I have the most embarrassing music taste…I almost don’t want to share it. I am a thirty-one year old woman and I can’t stop listening to Taylor Swift. Shake it Off  is my jam. I used to lie in public about my shameful love of pop but now I embrace it. If Buzzfeed says it’s ‘ironically cool’, then that’s good enough for me. Although, I have recently been enjoying some NWA which has given me a little more credibility.

What do you find most rewarding about teaching?
It’s such a cliché, but I love it when I see students do things or achieve things that they didn’t think they could. I remember a Year 7 boy from a few years back winning a ‘mini-saga’ competition I’d set up with the English class I was teaching. As I read out third place, and then second place, you could see on all of the boys’ faces (it was a boys’ school) that they were convinced the winner would be the same boy who won everything. Not little Zac who struggled with reading and writing and would find it hard to get above a level 3 in English. When I read out his name as the winner (and he was deservedly so), the shock on his face and the cheers by the rest of the class was a moment I won’t forget. He won a book token and sought me out the next week to tell me what books he’d bought with his voucher.

When considering extracurricular activities for a child, the game of chess is vastly under appreciated, especially if you consider the potential cognitive impact it can have on your child’s development. Many parents, instead, opt for their children to take up more commonplace activities like organized sports, music lessons, or art classes. And although these activities all have their merits, few activities, if any, come close to what chess can provide.

What makes chess such a beneficial game for children? Well, it’s one of the few activities that encourages children to utilize both their logical reasoning skills and spatial visualization ability. According to Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences, both logical and visual intelligence are key “modalities” that compose a child’s overall intelligence. Moreover, the game of chess provides many other auxiliary benefits for children; such as fostering patience, improving one’s concentration-ability, and instilling a sense of sportsmanship.

I believe, however, that the strongest case for chess lies in empirical research that shows a positive correlation between children who play chess and higher levels of academic achievement. For example, one important study, carried out by Dr. Stuart Margulies, showed that elementary students who played chess scored significantly higher than their peers in reading comprehension tests. Another study, conducted by Dr. Yee Wang Fung at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, concluded that chess players showed a 15 percent improvement in math and science related tests.

Chess, simply put, is a constructive game that will definitely have a positive impact on your child’s overall development. The real question is: how can I get my child involved? Below are three uniquely Beijing options for getting your child to learn the game of chess:

Chinese Chess Academy (Chess Ivy):
There’s a reason why China’s National Chess teams dominate in international competitions, and that’s in no small part due to dedicated chess schools across China. Chess Ivy is one such school, and it has strong ties to the Chinese Chess Association. In fact, the last amateur tournament in Beijing, held less than two weeks ago, was co-sponsored by the Chess Ivy, and saw competitors as young as 8 years-old. One of the most beautiful aspects of the game is that there really is no age limit – players both young and old can compete at a very high-level.

Chess Ivy has five distinct locations in Beijing, with classes available for children as young as 3 years-old. Classes are taught in both Mandarin and English. For more information visit: www.chessivy.org
 

Russian Cultural Center (RCC):
Another great venue for getting your child to learn chess is at the Russian Cultural Center (located in Dongzhimen). The RCC holds weekend classes for children (with ages ranging from 8-14), its current medium of instruction is in Russian, however its instructors are willing to take on English-speaking kids as well. The RCC also plays host to several chess-centric events throughout the year; earlier this year it held a simultaneous exhibition with Chinese Grandmaster Yu Yangyi. To inquire about chess lessons at the RCC contact: kongmingrui@sina.com
 

Private Tutors:
Another method for getting your child to learn chess is through individual instruction, which gives a child the freedom to learn at his/her own pace much like any other form of private tutoring. Individual lessons, however, tend to be less rigid than group-based chess classes, which in turn provides more leeway for children to explore the nuances of the game such as more elaborate openings. The best place to find a suitable English-speaking chess instructor is through the only expat chess club in Beijing. Many members of the group, including myself, have had prior experience teaching children the game of chess, and are probably eager to find some extra work. For private tutors contact: email@chessbeijing.com or scottsu89@gmail.com
 

Photos: Ksenia Koroleva and the Kazakhstan Students Association in China

Yew Chung International School of Beijing (YCIS Beijing) design technology and ICT teacher Thomas Burns has lived in Beijing more than five years. The UK native says he has always been interested in China, however he chose YCIS Beijing over positions in Shanghai and Hong Kong because of Beijing’s political climate as well as YCIS Beijing’s education philosophy, friendliness of staff, and reputation for academic excellence. Though learning Chinese was part of the initial draw to moving to the capital Burns jokes that his language progression has hit a brick wall. “Five years later I am still in Beijing and my Chinese vocabulary contains fewer words than my 1 year old son’s!” Burns tells more about himself in our Meet the Teacher series.

What was your favorite subject when you were a student?
Probably German, math, and technical drawing. I remember enjoying speaking German with my teacher and learning about German history and current affairs. I really enjoyed math and technical drawing – I’m quite technically minded and I enjoyed learning about a lot of mathematical concepts, especially when they were related to the career path that I wanted to follow. 

What did you want to be when you were a kid? As a young child all I wanted to do was become a pilot. I used to live in a high rise apartment complex which was on the flight path into the Glasgow (the city that I’m from) airport. I would spend hours at my window watching the flights come in and check Teletext (British readers will know what this is) to find out where it was coming from. At age 12 I took my first flying lesson in a Cessna 150 and flew around the coast of Southern Scotland towards Ailsa Craig, a tiny island with an incredible history, and on to the east coast of Ireland before heading back to Prestwick airport. I planned on joining the Royal Air Force (RAF) but decided to go to university instead. By the time I finished university I was offered a job as a teacher, which paid more than the RAF and also gave me a better standard of living. I also flirted with the idea of joining the police force. I would eventually like to go into politics.

How would your students describe your teaching style?
I would hope that my students enjoy my teaching style and find my lessons challenging, engaging, and easy to follow. I like students to collaborate with each other, ask each other questions, and show each other pieces of their own work. This encourages them to take pride in their work and fosters a culture of accountability – students try harder when they know their work will be on public display.
 
What was your favorite book growing up? What are you currently reading?
Growing up, [it]was probably The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. It has been a very long time since I read it but I will pass a copy down to my own son as soon as he is able to read it.

I am just about to finish The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell, recommended to me by my brother. The book investigates the inequality experienced by large sections of the working class population and highlights the way in which some members of society remove their critical thinking capacities and blindly follow those whom they deem to be better than them. Both my brother and I are very politically minded, but at opposite ends of the spectrum.

How do you like to relax on the weekends?
It has been a long time since I had a full weekend to myself. I have a 1 year-old son and I’m currently working on a MSC so I don’t have a huge amount of spare time. My wife and I like to take our son to the park or one of the child-friendly restaurants in Beijing, such as Pete’s Tex Mex. I like to cycle, run, swim, and go to the gym. Just before my son was born, I cycled from Beijing to the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall and back. It was a tough ride but a lot of fun.

Where do you like to go on holiday?
Anywhere near the ocean or somewhere with a lot of history, culture, or activities is usually a good choice. I would love to travel to Borneo and trek through the jungle or climb Mount Kilimanjaro and then spend a week on safari. 

What’s something most people don’t know about you?
When I worked for Siemens in India, I won an award for being the best Tamil speaker. The competition was fixed; I won the award despite being surrounded by 50+ native Tamil speakers.

What do you find most rewarding about teaching?
One of the most rewarding things about teaching is being able to share in the life experiences of young people and held them develop into considerate, intelligent, and hard-working young adults.  It’s great to watch students grow and to see their personalities develop.

I have worked with a number of students who have struggled with various elements of school due to a variety of factors, such as general disaffection with education, personality conflicts with other students, conflicts with their parents and/or teachers, inability to relate to the subject content, etc. I have seen, and hopefully played a part in, students overcoming these obstacles and watched as they slowly began to enjoy learning. Sadly, I have watched students go in the reverse as well.

Meet the Teacher is a beijingkids blog series designed to help the Beijing community learn more about international school teachers.  If your school would like to participate in the series, please email the school editor at yvetteferrari@beijing-kids.com

Photo: Courtesy of YCIS

From an early age, Louisiana native Linda Nguyen had a burning passion to travel the world. As a young girl, she found it intriguing to learn about different ethnic backgrounds and cultures. It comes as no surprise then, that when her search for teaching positions abroad began Nguyen came across House of Knowledge International School and Kindergarten (HoK Quanfa Campus). The Year 1 teacher has now been in Beijing for two months and says she found HoK’s philosophy and core values similar to her own personality and teaching style. “I thought it was a perfect fit for me,” she says. Nguyen shares more about herself  with beijingkids.

What’s was your favorite subject when you were a student?
Reading, writing, math, and science were my favorite subjects in school.  My mind was full of curiosity. I had a very vivid imagination. My train of thought was always outside of the box. I could not get enough of exploring the unknown. It was so exciting to discover and learn new things.

What did you want to be when you were a kid? What other career options did you explore before teaching?
As a child growing up and having to respond to ‘what do I want to be when I grow up’ was a very difficult question for me to answer.  It was so fascinating to gain insight about everything and everyone. I would ask infinite amount of questions.  I thrive on challenges. Being spontaneous and coming up with innovative ideas, leading my friends on “Linda’s Adventures!”; it was all about what new findings will we gather this time. When I turned 14, I finally could sum up everything in one word what I wanted to be when I grew up. It was to be a teacher. Ever since, I have built my career to become a well-rounded teacher.

How would you describe your teaching style?
I believe every student has a sense of curiosity, imagination, and creativity within themselves.  I am determined to keep that alive in every child. I always take into consideration that every student has their own learning style and aptitude. I incorporate a variety of instructional strategies when I teach a lesson. I believe learning should be fun.  One of my main goals is for the student to build a connection from what they are learning in class to themselves and the real world. There is a lot of critical, creative, and bold thinking through exploration, questioning, and problem solving. The students express themselves via small and/or whole group discussions. I serve as mentor and a facilitator in the classroom. I think it is equally important they learn responsibility, accountability, and are able to reflect on their own work.

What was your favorite book growing up? What are you currently reading?
I absolutely loved reading Amelia Bedelia and The Baby-Sitters Club series’. I just finished reading Eat, Pray, Love written by Elizabeth Gilbert. I am about to start reading The Future of the Mind by Michio Kaku.

How do you like to relax on the weekends?
I really love playing soccer! I enjoy playing high impact sports. It is always fun to go out with my friends to different social places. Shopping and spa days are also included on the list of things I like to do on the weekends. Those are just to name a few among all of the active leisurely things I do on my own time.

Where do you like to go on holiday?
You can find my anywhere on this Earth where they have soft, sandy beaches with clear blue water. 

What’s something most people don’t know about you?
I collect quotes.

What’s currently on your playlist?
Colbie Caillat is on repeat on my IPod.

What’s do you find most rewarding about teaching?
My loyalty, caring heart, and positive attitude shine through when I am at work. The students sense this aura of mine. I get the impression my students know I will do anything to help them succeed.

Is there anything else you would like to share?
“The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery.”- Mark Van Doren
“It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.”- Albert Einstein
 

Hailing from South Africa, Helen Bramley is the new art teacher at the British School of Beijing (Shunyi campus). Bramley says she came to Beijing to join the dynamic art department at BSB, and to get involved in the community as well as to explore Eastern cultures and traditions. The first year teachers tells us about her childhood dream job and what she finds most rewarding about teaching.

What’s was your favorite subject when you were a student?
I had two, the visual arts because it is dynamic, creative and expressive, you learn so much about yourself and the way you view the world. My second favourite was biology, I am fascinated by growth and change, the way living things adapt and the systems that are involved in each living organism.

What did you want to be when you were a kid? What other career options did you explore before teaching?
I wanted to be an opera singer, I gave my mum a debut of my skills as an 8 year-old and she strongly encouraged me to explore alternate careers! I explored graphic design and auctioneering before setting my heart on teaching.

How would your students describe your teaching style?
I would hope they would say: approachable, encouraging, creative, challenging and fun.

What was your favorite book growing up? What are you currently reading? Roald Dahl’s The Big Friendly Giant was a classic growing up, along with Enid Blytons’ The Famous Five. As an adult my favorite is Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief and I am currently reading Jo Nesbo’s Police.

What do you like to do on the weekends?
I enjoy cycling through Shunyi and exploring the city of Beijing, we have done two trips to the Great Wall and a couple expeditions down town on the metro.

Where do you like to go on holiday?
I definitely want to see the Chinese tourist spots, Xian’s terracotta soldiers, the Chengdu Giant Panda research centre, the Giant Buddha in Leshan and the underwater city in Qiandaolake, Lion City that I would love to go and dive.

What’s something most people don’t know about you?
I am a PADI Dive master.

What’s currently on your playlist?
I love instrumental musical scores from movies, my learners will tell you that The Hobbit, Pirates of the Caribbean, Forrest Gump and Beauty and the Beast are all on my playlist.

What’s do you find most rewarding about teaching? I love spending quality time with young artists who are unrestricted in their ideas and just bursting with creativity.

Tim Murphy is a global citizen. Having lived in Beijing just over two months, The Canada native comes to our city after teaching in both South Korea and the United Arab Emirates. Murphy is now a Grade 4 homeroom teacher at the Canadian International School of Beijing (CISB) where his wife is also a teacher. “I wanted to experience another adventurous home and have always been intrigued by the size and depth of Chinese culture. I arrived at CISB after hearing very great things about the staff and policies of the school from my wife,” he shares. We sit down with Murphy to learn more about the Beijing newbie.

What’s was your favorite subject when you were a student?
My favorite subject was science as an elementary student. I really enjoyed learning about the world around me and how it worked. The science fair was the highlight of my year in every grade.

What did you want to be when you were a kid?
I wanted to be a fireman for a long time as a youngster. I always liked the idea of rescuing people and their homes from fire.

How would you describe your teaching style?
I give my students the tools to explore the grade’s content through modeling and guide them as they try to master the content working at their own individual pace.

What was your favorite book growing up? What are you currently reading? My favorite book as a young adult was The Alchemist. I’m currently reading a science fiction book by Isac Asimov called Foundation and Empire.

How do you like to relax on the weekends?
I like to go exploring in the new parts of cities or get out into nature when the weather is cooperating.

Where do you go on holiday?
I like to visit places that are very different from Canada and generally lean towards places where the weather is warmer. When on vacation I like to see off the beaten track type cultural sights.

Tell us something most people don’t know about you.  
Most people don’t know that I played rugby for five years in Canada before I went to university.

What’s currently on your playlist?
I’m currently listening to Trampled by Turtles, a bluegrass band.

What do you find most rewarding about teaching?
The part about teaching that constantly warms my heart is the human interaction with all of the great students I’ve come across. No matter the country, the race or the language, the people that have been in my class have always surprised me with their energy and enthusiasm to learn from me. I really feel lucky to have been able to teach such a diverse and wide range of people from around the world. It’s something the vast majority of teachers cannot say.