Changes

Some people really like change.  Honestly, I don't know if I know myself enough to know whether I like change or not.  I think I like it except for right before it happens.  Now, I haven't been all around the world, but I think China may be one place that change happens faster than anywhere else.  After three years in Wuhan, I want to document some changes in life since my first year here.

1) Suburb--city: I live in the least developed of 3 parts of Wuhan.  Up until this year, the area I live in and the school have been almost in a suburb-like area.  There hasn't been much traffic and I used to be able to look out my window at an open field where people would grow veggies.  I don't have a before and after photo, but I do have this photo of what is used to be like across from my apartment. In fact, my first year I went there to dig up soil to try to grow veggies on my deck (which was an ultimate FAIL, but the way). For the now photo, just imagine huge buildings, probably 20 floors high, in the construction phase, with waving dark green nets on them that make them look like death.
Speaking of death, as traffic increases, it gets more and more difficult to maneuver my way to school on my bike. Sometimes it feels like a video game.

2) Prices:  I know prices have changed all around the world, but for some reason the change seems more dramatic here.  Our favorite milk tea place's price has risen 50% (ok, that just means 2RMB to 3RMB, but nonetheless). Milk has risen probably 20% since my first year.  Crazy!

3) Availability: I now live no more than 20 minutes from a Subway (the restaurant).  In the next year, we will also have a Starbucks. The grocery store now has liquid detergent.

All this to say, I'm starting to feel like I actually live in a big city... Change.  Some of it I like, but some I don't.

Tie Your Laces

In the midst of all the craziness of the end of the school year, there is one thing that helps me remember why I am still in Wuhan.  I truly believe that our students are better than anywhere else.  Here are a couple reasons why:

1) Lock-ish in: Our middle school had a lock-ish in a few weeks ago. It's a lock-ish in because it only goes from 3-10 pm, not all night (which of course I love).  The middle school STUCO, which I facilitate, plans the whole night.  What I most loved about this night was that almost everybody came and everybody participated in everything.  We had a nasty drink game and Wii Dance, but even the most "cool" and the most shy did it all.  I was amazed to see all our guys get up and dance away, no matter how silly they looked.  Even the students who don't say a word in class "shook their tail feathers." :) I wish I could post a video, but I probably shouldn't.  One student, when asked what their favorite part of the lock-in was, answered "definitely the drinking game and dancing."  What are we teaching our students?

2) Community: We recently had an assembly looking back on the year.  Our theme has been "Better Community, Better WYIS" which is based off of the Shanghai Expo theme.  In this assembly, students drew pictures of ways our school has shown this motto.
Here are some of the pictures people drew.  They're quite entertaining.

It's hard to tell, but this is a picture of people playing the drink game in which they had to roll a dice to decide which drinks would be mixed together for them to drink (soy sauce and vinegar, yogurt, and ketchup were all options)

This is a picture of the Wii dancing from the lock-in. It's especially meaningful since it was drawn by one of our quietest Asian students. 

The "fit in together" part so perfectly illustrates how our students have come together despite ethnic and religious differences.

I love this because of the "x alot" part.  We do get a lot of new students throughout any given year and our students do well at welcoming them in.

Ah, the practicalities of living in community.  

My favorite, just because it looks so cool.

Ting Bu Dong

Leo (fake name used to protect identity), my newest Japanese student, is the sweetest kid, super hard working, and very smart, but he sure makes me feel inadequate. Here's a glimpse into a situation that happens at least once a period.

Students are working on their English quizzes.  Leo finished his quickly because it is modified for his language ability (and shorter).  When he is done, he doesn't know what to do.  Now, instead of the usual middle school child, who would, at this point, pull out some random object and transform the desk into a battlefield or something of that sort, Leo wants to make sure he knows what he is supposed to be doing, or at least that's what I think he wants to know.  He comes up to me with his Japanese/English dictionary.  What will the first word in our attempt at communication be? 

"What".  Okay, that gets me started.  He wants to know something. He slowly types in another word, then changes it to English.  "Send."  Now I'm totally thrown off.  Send? I'm quite confused at this point, so I wait for the next word, "something."  And that's it.  What, send, and something, and he points to himself.  From this, I must guess at what he is asking.   Maybe I need to send something to him.  Maybe he wants to know what to send?  I throw the words out to the class, because sometimes the other ESL students have some insight, but today the closest anyone could guess was that Leo wanted to ask if he should send the quiz to the ESL teacher. That didn't really make sense to me.  So, I just gave him something to work on and he seemed fine.  What send something?  Who knows?

 
At least today I learned one thing about Leo through my periodic attempts at communication. He is writing using sentence patterns like "I like" " I don't like", etc.  One sentence I just could not figure out, though. "Horizontal bar is bad for me."  So I asked him to draw it.  What do ya' know? It's a gymnastic bar, that is, of course, horizontal.  And apparently Leo thinks it is bad for him, though I'm pretty sure he thinks "bad for me" means "I dislike it." Oh, the adventures of ESL...keeps me on my toes.

By the way, in case you didn't know, "ting bu dong" means "I hear, but I don't understand" in Chinese. I don't know it in Japanese. Maybe I should learn.

Smile!

7 things that made me smile today:

1) I slept like I was drugged, but I wasn't.  This is a miracle considering my allergies have kept me up every other night this week (while I was drugged).

Prince

2) This guy, my Prince.  Apparently if I kiss him enough he will be transformed into a real prince. Thanks Jenny (she made him by hand)!  I love him and will kiss him until he is transformed (I'm hoping soon).

3) Poetry with my students.  We read "In a Station of the Metro" by Ezra Pound and they got into it and understood (love it when that happens).  It's only two lines; enjoy it here: http://www.bartleby.com/104/106.html

4) The smell of freshly cut grass. It only occurs twice a year: at the end of winter and at the end of summer (and they do the whole area with a weed whacker).

5) Music night tonight. It hasn't happened yet, but live music never fails to make me smile.

6) Wind.  Never underestimate the delight brought by wind in a humid and hot city... and if I close my eyes, I can almost pretend I'm in an open field with wildflowers surrounding me.

7) Writing a vocabulary quiz in Japanese. In an effort to somehow help my new student (whose English vocabulary consists of "homework, yes, no, good, ok", and the days of the week), I created a vocabulary quiz in which he connects the Japanese words to the English.  I was quite proud of myself.  Thanks Google Translate, and I hope you know what you're doing.
Okay, the truth is that, in reality, I was merely procrastinating checking some essays (which is my absolute least favorite teaching activity), but at least it was a beneficial procrastination time.

As a dear friend would say: "Ah, life's pleasantries."

This is it.

So this is it.  I started this blog for my Technology Course and now it’s almost over.  Thus, we all know that it is the duty of the last post to look back and review.

What have I learned?

1)      I learned how little I know.  There’s a vast amount of fun, educational technology tools out there.  I can’t use all of them at this point, but with unlimited accessibility, the sky is the limit. Did you know there are actually little boxes hidden throughout the world that you can find using the location coordinates and a GPS.  There’s even one in Wuhan somewhere.  How fun!

2)      Technology doesn’t have to be difficult.  Even with what is easily available at WYIS, we can use technology to encourage creativity in the students and excite them about learning.

3)      My PLN is invaluable.  A PLN is a Personal Learning Network.  I have connected to several useful blogs and the information and ideas I receive from them are so helpful and fun.  I know there is hope for me to keep caught up with changes by following these blogs.  By the way, if you have a blog that I don't know about, please comment. I want to follow you:)

What has changed?

1)      I want to use technology in unique and fun ways in my class.

2)      I regularly use Google Reader to stay connected with my PLN (and of course, family and friend blogs).

3)      I’m a little less reluctant to be creative with technology.

Goodbye to this course is not goodbye to technology...or this blog, so keep reading :)

Strength of a Buffalo

We've all seen one of the many motivational sports movies: a coach pushes a team to greatness, lives are changed, and the team wins.  I experienced my own story, now tritely titled "Strength of the Buffalo," this weekend at the iSC soccer tournament.

Setting and Characters: The high school girls' team consists of two 6th graders, two 7th graders, and one 8th (gaolie).  Then we have five 9th graders and one 10th grader (injured), meaning our oldest high school player is in 9th grade and our youngest in 6th.  There are 11 girls altogether, and 7 on the field at a time, meaning 3 subs are available.
And here's the schedule: First game starts at 8 am.  After each 45 minutes of a game (5 minute half), the girls have a 50 minute break, and then play again...times 5.  The first day includes a total of 200 minutes of playing time.

The plot: One character, "Boot," is the impenetrable defense force on the team.  Nothing can get past her.  Her backup, the newbie, is a blonde French 9th grader who shocks all with her skill and determination.  The force of forwards consists of one Ball of Determination with 0% body fat, Lightning Bolt "K," and a new-to-offense 7th grader, Screaming "P".  Together, the team (meaning all of them, not one sitting on the sidelines for long) persevere through extreme difficult: Lightning Bolt "K" gets sick on day 1 after the 3rd game, 10th grader injures leg, 7th grade goalie gets a bloody nose, etc.  All go to sleep at 8:30 on the night of day 1.  On day 2 of the tournament, the team fights their way to the semi-finals, with the help of 6th grader "5 foot Dynamite" and her compadre Defense "D".  All are amazed at the perseverance and stamina of the young players.


And in the final scene, the team is playing their last game (game 3 of day 2, game 8 of the weekend).  They give their all as their opponent frequently sends in subs to replace the entire team.  The middle schoolers hold their own against juniors and seniors on the opposition.  The high schoolers push themselves to heights unknown.  They give it all.  The score is tied.  They go into a 10 minute overtime, running on shere determination and character.  There is a shoot out.  They lose by one.

As the girls fell to the ground of pure exhaustion and disappointment, a coach was glad for the sunglasses that hid the formation of tears.  They were not tears of disappointment, but of pride: for a team that gave everything and deserved more than they got.  For character in perseverance and determination beyond what she herself knew she had.  For a world in which one's best is simply not always enough to win.  But in her heart, they were winners...and she was proud.

I know, sounds a bit corny, but people seem to have a thing for that.

The middle school high school team

Girls, I couldn't be prouder and more amazed at your awesomeness.

The Goal-Driven Life

Ever since beginning my "professional" life, I've struggled with the idea of living by goals.  Every year, we are asked to make several goals for ourselves.  The direction of these goals is never clearly stated.  For example, in my first year of teaching, I didn't really know what to say for a goal (survive?), so as my third one I wrote something along the lines of "trusting in God's strength to use me and change me."  Now, if you've ever done some serious goal writing, you'll know that they are supposed to be SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely).   I think my goal was only 2 of those, probably, but my supervisor didn't really know what to say.  How can you measure that, make it more specific, know that you've attained it, or even make it timely? And yet, of all my goals, I wanted nothing more than that.  In the big picture of things, that was far more important than including standards with every lesson or being sure to assess learning every day.

But I'm still torn.  I know that it is important to have direction and continue to push ourselves to excel.  At the same time, a part of me says "trust God, ask Him to work, and even if you don't know what He's doing, He'll do more than you could ever 'goal' for yourself."  That first year, my supervisor admitted, later on, that he was somewhat worried about me because of my aversion to goals or rather that I perhaps thought we couldn't know what direction God wanted us to take.  He brought up the point that we can ask God to show us what goals He wants for us.  I liked that idea, but still... do we have to know what God is doing in order to go along with His plan?

Just so you know, I do realize the roots of my "fear" of goals.  It's a long story, not for this post, but in short, it came from a series of goals I had planned out for myself which I could not achieve for reasons beyond my control (and the goals were even SMART).  I had "goaled" out my life only to realize that what I thought I wanted was not what God wanted.  And yet, what He had for me was far better than all the things I had planned out and worked to accomplish.  As a result, I decided that, if I just waited on Him, He would bring about His good in time.  I don't really need to know what that is in order to achieve it.

Some of you may be thinking that I'm quite pathetic now.  One series of goal unreached and I've completely given up. But that's not it.  There is a greater goal, living with purpose (No, I never read the book, maybe I'm a heathen) and a single goal "to glorify God and enjoy Him forever." But then you could say "that's a spiritual goal, what about the practical every-day stuff, like include standards on all my lesson plan, or study Chinese two hours a week."  And those are the types of goals I hypocritically set for myself despite my dislike of goals. Maybe I agree that goals do have their place.

In summary, goals are written to give us direction.  Plans are made so we don't go crazy, but if we give our plans to the Lord (and plans based on goals), then He will guide us.  And even if we don't reach our goals and our plans are unaccomplished, it is okay because we can always trust that God is working beyond our sight.

But my "goal" for this post was to get some feedback.  What does the Bible say about living by goals? What do you think?

Here's a start:
Psalm 19:21 "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails."
Hebrews 12:2 "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith..."
James 4:13-14 "Now listen, you who say 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this city or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.'  Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while then vanishes."
Proverbs 16:13 "Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed"

There are many more, and I would even say you could make a case for both sides using Scripture, but is there a perspective I'm missing?