Saturday, November 24, 2012 – Innovation. Creativity. Critical Thinking.
It was a full day! Presentations focused on ideas of innovation, creativity and critical thinking. Our keynote was given by two educators from Hawai’i who recently left the classroom to start a business on promoting critical thinking. Their presentation on developing schema maps to promote higher levels of thinking in math was a good refresher on the importance of making connections when learning.
Mrs. Nae’ole-Wong and I attended a session called Digital Storytelling and Documentary Making as a Vehicle for Higher Order Thinking. Ian Flude, our presenter from Beijing City International School, talked about the documentary process as a way to differentiate learning and offer wider access for all students of varying backgrounds. An added bonus to the session was hearing helpful documentary making tips from an industry person like Mr. Flude. Tips like camera positioning, images and background music can enhance the overall quality of the documentary and impact the way a viewer receives the messages being conveyed.
Friday, November 23, 2012 – Exploration. Excitement. Engagement. Empowerment.
Today was day one of the 4 E summit here at RDFZ Xishan school. It was an exciting day filled with ideas of exploration, engagement, empowerment and excitement.
Opening messages from Principal Zhou and other prominent educational leaders in Singapore focused on developing world citizens! Xishan’s mission of developing global citizens with a Chinese heart is alive!
Following the opening keynote presentations, international guests were treated to feast fit for an emperor…seriously, our hosts took us to a very famous Beijing restaurant called Najia Palace Dining. We were served traditional dishes once served in the palace.
See below for picture gallery.
Thursday, November 22, 2012 – Hau’oli La Ha’omaika’i to everyone back home!
Today, we had the opportunity to visit four very special places in Beijing. The first was the Great Wall which was about 50 km from downtown Beijing. In total, the Great Wall spans a distance of 5,600 kilometers from east to west. The section of the wall we visited was at Juyong Pass in Changping County. It isn’t until you’re standing at this magnificent structure that you realize what an amazing accomplishment the wall is. The Great Wall stands as a historical monument of a time period when the leaders of China committed to such a task to protect their people.
Our second stop was to a factory where we watched the process for making these very intricate vases, jars, bowls, ornaments, etc. Here, we ate lunch and picked up a few gifts for family and friends at home.
Next on the list was the Ming Tombs which are at the foot of the Tianshou Mountains. The Ming Tombs is the cemetery of the 13 emperors of the Ming Dynasty. The tomb we visited is located near the Dayu Mountains and is the joint burial tomb of the 13th Ming Emporer Zhu Yijun and his two empresses. It took over 200 years to build the tombs.
Our last stop was to a tea house in Beijing where we participated in a traditional tea ceremony. We were treated to jasmine, oolong, pu’er and sweet lover tea. Each tea has a very distinct taste. My favorite are oolang and sweet lover (fruit tea).
Tomorrow…is day one of our technology summit at RDFZ Xishan school! We are excited to get started.
Take a look at some pictures below (trying to figure out this new WordPress app I downloaded..having trouble imbedding the pics in the text).
Monday, November 19, 2012
Mrs. Nae’ole-Wong and I have been invited to attend a technology summit at RDFZ Xishan school in Beijing, China.
RDFZ Xishan is an experimental secondary school focused on promoting creativity and innovation through technology in a traditional Chinese learning environment. RDFZ Xishan was named an Apple Distinguished School for their efforts to enhance learning through technology (iPads & laptops) while at the same time increasing their levels of student achievement. Here is a link to a video and information about the school on the Apple website: http://www.apple.com/education/profiles/rdfz/#video-rdfz
Our trip to china will be quick! We leave on Tuesday, 11/20 and return on Monday, 11/26. We will spend several days at RDFZ Xishan learning from their students, teachers and administrators and other educators from around the world!
Check back throughout the week for updates on our learning experience!
