Ancient City, New Friends

Today was our first full day in Beijing. We visited Beijing Royal School (BRS), a school that NCSU has had connections with for almost a decade. BRS is the only AP accredited school in China and is known for its innovation in mobile and distance learning programs.

In front of Beijing Royal School

Our group was given a tour of the large campus and paired up with NCSU alumni to observe classes and further explore the campus. I observed with Maggie, an alumna of the New Literacies and Global Learning program. Her tenth grade International Baccalaureate (IB) class was introduced to a new theme titled “Life on Mars.”  The students were active in the discussion and using critical thinking skills to engage with the topic. I was able to debrief with Maggie after the class and receive feedback on my lesson plans for the following day when I would be teaching
this class.

I was expecting the teaching style to be different from what I was used to and assumed that it would be difficult, encouraging the students to participate in discussion. However, I was pleasantly surprised when Maggie used techniques that I’m familiar with to engage students.

Maggie and I at Beijing Royal School.

BRS does not shy away from innovation and is continually growing and learning new techniques in order to best prepare students for universities in the United States and abroad. Our group was able to watch as a satellite class from a rural region of China learned new English language skills about the importance of body language.

Posing in front of Confucius at BRS

This is just a small glimpse of the new technologies being implemented at BRS and I feel fortunate to have met so many excellent teachers throughout this process.

XOXO,

Gossip Girl