Happy New Year BCISers!|二零一九，欢迎回来，乐成人!

　　Welcome to 2019! I hope that you had quality time with your children over the Winter break. I enjoyed spending time with my family in Beijing and taking advantage of our beautiful city.

　　On the first day of the new semester, I saw many of our students truly excited to return to school. It gives me great joy to know how happy our students are to see their friends, their teachers, and how they feel comfortable and secure in their school environment. We enjoy seeing them return for more learning in this semester.

　　As we begin our second semester, we as a staff and faculty have been reflecting back on the first semester and how to learn from our experiences. As quoted by John Dewey (philosopher, educational reformer, psychologist), “We do not learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience.” Reflection is something that we model, teach, and reinforce with our students from a very young age. We ask them questions that lead them to think about what they are doing and why and, if appropriate, how they could change things for the better next time or further build upon their experiences. As adults, including parents, it is important that we do use our past experiences to understand our successes in order to continue to enjoy that success, as well as to understand where we could improve and perhaps where we made mistakes so that we avoid those in the future. As you talk to your own child, remember that they are well used to reflecting openly and honestly, especially when they know that they are communicating with others who are open to the reflections and place no judgement on them. Try to have some of these reflective conversations with your child!

　　We have a four-week period of learning before our Chinese New Year holiday, which is of course a significant time in China and one of my favorite celebrations. I hope to see you around the campus, and please feel free to reach out to me anytime.

　　二零一九年伊始，欢迎回家!我诚挚地期望您们与孩子度过了一段美好的寒假。我和我的家人这次选择了在这座美丽，熟悉的城市-北京，“乐享”了一个难忘与欢乐的假期。

　　开学日，我看到学生们踏进校门，他们的脸上洋溢着无法言表的喜悦。我深深地知道，对于孩子们来说，没有比见到校园中的老友与良师，在新年中“启成”一次崭新的求学之旅更令人愉悦的事了。看到他们坐回课堂，在充满安全感且如“家”的学习环境中探索与成长，我深感欣喜!

　　新学期开启之际，我们与教师团队一同回顾过去的半个学年，反思我们如何从那些经历中得以成长。就像著名的哲学家，教育改革家与心理学家John Dewey先生所说的，“过往经历不会让我们进步，对它们的反思方能促我们前行”- 这似乎与我们《论语》中的“温故而知新”不谋而合吧。反思是我们在为人师者，授业传道，答疑解惑，以身作则，身体力行等方面中重要的一环。因此，我们给学生提出问题，启发他们思考如何解决问题，并适时点拨他们如何根据经历与经验在下次的尝试与行动中做得更好。作为成人，我们亦应如此， 即：从往昔中，总结我们取得成功的经验，发现不足，扬长避短，以便今后获得更大的成就。当您们和孩子谈天时，请切记他们的大脑里已被写入了主动反思的“命令代码”。若他察觉到您愿意聆听与接纳他的想法，不妄自判定其对与错，他会更乐意与您一起反思过去，聊起那些有意思的经历。

　　距离中国农历新年还有四周的时间，春节是中国人最重要的节日之一，业已成了我格外期待的时刻。在此，我真心地欢迎您走进校园，共同回顾过往，并为新的一年祈福!