Letter for parents 

致家长的一封信

Dear Parents of UCIS students.

We are well into our 2nd month of online classes and I just want to take this opportunity to update you on how it is going. 

译文：

亲爱的北美学校的学生和家长们:

到目前为止，我们的在线课程已经进行了两个月了，我想借此机会向大家介绍一下我们最新的教学进展情况。

As with schools across China that were required to make a sudden transition to online classes during the COVID19 outbreak, we encountered some minor problems in the first weeks, and these were mainly due to poor connectivity and system overload; matters largely beyond our control. 

译文：在新型冠状病毒爆发期间，我们和中国各地的学校都已转向网络教学。不过在最初几周，我们遇到了一些小问题，这些问题主要是由于网络拥堵和系统承载能力不足造成的，当时确实感到有些出人意料。

When sourcing for platforms to use in early February, we had settled on Alibaba’s DingTalk after extensive testing of multiple platforms. Nobody, even at Alibaba headquarters, could have predicted the surge in DingTalk usage as schools went live. But DingTalk was quick to react, deploying more than 100,000 servers in the Alibaba cloud to cope with demand. 

译文：2月初，我们接到通知后立刻开始寻找合适的平台。通过对多个平台的广泛测试，最终确定采用阿里巴巴的DingTalk。即便是在阿里巴巴总部，他们也没人能预料到，随着学校开学，“DingTalk”的使用量会如此之大。但他们很快做出了反应，在阿里巴巴云上部署了超过10万台服务器，以应对需求。

Just last month, DingTalk gained global recognition when the platform was included in the UNESCO list of “distance learning” platforms, further confirming that, ultimately, we made the right choice. 

译文：就在上个月，DingTalk被联合国教科文组织列入“远程教育”平台名单，获得了全球认可，进一步证实了我们最终做出的正确的选择。

The platform is running smoothly now, and this has given us teachers an opportunity to enhance our online teaching skills by focusing on mastering all the different tools that are available. 

译文：这个平台现在运行得很顺利，我们的老师也掌握了各种教学工具用以提高在线教学的技能。

The biggest challenges with online teaching are keeping content engaging, academic quality of the highest standard, and monitoring class engagement to ensure participation and understanding.  We take it upon ourselves to observe other teacher’s classes and learn each other’s techniques. We are quick to share newly discovered functionality that enhances our teaching abilities through regular discussions on best teaching practices.  It has been challenging, especially for the foreign teachers who often have to master a new tool in Chinese. But I am glad to report we have made tremendous progress and I am personally in awe of the creativity of my colleagues in discovering and mastering new techniques for online teaching. 

译文：在线教学面临的最大挑战是保持内容的参与性、最高标准的学术质量，以及监控课堂，从而确保学生的参与和理解。我们在授课的过程中，会相互切磋，也会通过定期的讨论提高教学水平，这是很有挑战性的（尤其是对于需要掌握中文新工具的外籍教师来说）。目前为止我们已经取得了巨大的进步，同事们在研究和掌握在线教学新技术方面的创造力值得欣慰。

The students have adapted well to distance learning given the unprecedented circumstances. Attendance is high, and we have been able to focus on the delivering the curriculum to prepare students for exams. Whilst other schools explore their creativity in delivering fun through such events as online karaoke competitions.

we choose to concentrate on the core academics, but keep it engaging and fun through the strong use of visuals and engagement activities. The goal was always to maintain the same standard of academic excellence as live teaching, and in many ways, I think we have exceeded our, and hopefully your, expectations. 

译文：学生们已经很好地适应了这种远程学习，出勤率很高。我们已经能够专注于教学，为学生准备相应的考试。而其他学校常常不得不透过网上卡拉ok比赛等活动，发挥创意，吸引学生参与，而我们则是专注于核心课程，并透过视觉效果及互动活动，令课程更富趣味性。我们的目标一直是保持和现场教学一样的学术水平，在很多方面，我认为我们已经远远超出了预期。

Online classes may not be as good as the real thing, but they can be an excellent complimentary tool to aid learning when finally we can return to campus. The skills, we as teachers, are learning now, will continue to be invaluable to the future. 

译文：在线课程的效果可能比不上现场课程，但当我们最终重返校园的时候，它们可能成为一个帮助我们学习的极好工具。作为老师，我们现在正在学习的技能对未来的我们，也是非常宝贵的。

I would like to thank all parents of UCIS students for their continued support through this challenging time. We continue to strive for academic excellence, and commit to maintaining the highest standards whether online or not. 

译文：我要感谢所有北美学校的学生和家长们，感谢你们在这段充满挑战的时间里对我们的支持。我们继续追求学术上的卓越，并致力于保持最高的标准，无论在线与否。

Stay safe. 保持安全

                          Dean Ashley Owen

                                   教学总监

上海北美学校

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