Kindergarten Teachers

My approach to teaching has been heavily influenced by my own experiences learning Chinese as a child.  I, like many other Chinese Americans, attended a very traditional Saturday Chinese school where there was an emphasis on rote memorization towards learning.  I hated every minute of it.  I believe that learning should be fun, engaging, and most importantly of all, meaningful.  I am excited to be here at CIS; this is the type of school my mother would have wanted me to attend growing up.

Prior to teaching at CIS, I taught English in Guangzhou, China, as well as Vocational ESL to displaced Chinese garment workers.  I have a Bachelor’s degree in History with a minor in Asian American Studies from UC Berkeley as well as a Master’s in English with an emphasis on Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages from San Francisco State University.  In my spare time, I am on the constant lookout for new reading material and travel destinations!

I am a native Chinese speaker born in Hong Kong. In 1982, I immigrated to the United States with my family and began attending the public schools in San Francisco Unified School District. In addition to learning English as a Second Language, I continue the development of my Chinese by attending St. Mary’s Chinese School in San Francisco’s Chinatown.

After receiving my teaching credential from San Francisco State University, I have been teaching in the primary grades in the SFUSD since 1996. During my first 13 years, I taught K-3rd Grade English learners in both Chinese Bilingual and English Language Development programs Cesar Chavez School in the Mission District. In 2009, I became a National Board certified teacher. In that same year, I joined Chinese Immersion School at DeAvila and have since taught grades K-2nd.

In my spare time, I enjoy reading, traveling, and playing a Chinese musical instrument called the Guzheng. I find that these activities help to rejuvenate and energize me. I also love spending time with my girls, doing activities with them and watching them learn and grow.

I look forward to working collaboratively with the CIS community in building a successful immersion program so our students will become bilingual individuals.

I believe in immersion! Being educators themselves, my parents were adamant about using only Mandarin and Cantonese at home after immigrating here when I was eight. Even though they are able to communicate in English, they refused to respond unless spoken to in either Mandarin or Cantonese. I still remember how frustrating it was for me sometimes, having to be aware of which language to use and with whom. Now that I am an adult and am fluent in Cantonese, Mandarin, and English; I can fully understand and appreciate how being immersed in these languages helped me achieve fluency.

I have been using my language skills to serve the immersion community for more than twelve years. I have had the honor of being the first Mandarin immersion teacher at Jose Ortega Elementary and watch our program grow. Being a believer of immersion, I also enrolled two of my daughters in CIS in the hope of helping them achieve fluency in both Cantonese and English.  I want to offer them, as well as my student, the world I got to experience because of knowing another language. I want to share with them the culture, the song, the arts, and the whole nine yards! I look forward to being part of the CIS team and hold your child in hand on their learning journey.