Photo Phive

This morning Frank Guttler introduced the Flat Classroom student participants to some important photography guidelines. He spoke eloquently about telling a story with pictures. I was very inspired and tried to take pictures that went beyond the usual touristy shots while we were at the Great Wall today.

Sadly, I don't have time to work with my photos in order to share my story of people visiting the Great Wall and taking pictures because we spent time at the Great Wall, had a wonderful lunch, used a brief moment of unplanned time to visit the Olympic Water Cube, and then wrapped up the day with presentation preparations. I suppose I could have forgone the trip to the Water Cube, but I wanted to swim at a historic site where world records were broken and history was made. Alas, the new water park was closed. Brandi and I had a wonderful time though, and I wouldn't trade it for all the time in the world!

Wednesday at WAB

Today we visited Western Academy of Beijing (WAB), and many of us came away thinking "I want my school to be more like WAB." At the left you see a picture of the WAB campus model. It's not a great picture, but you can see the elementary school (top left), middle school (central), and high school (bottom left). They also have an early childhood and kindergarten building and a hub where middle school and high school students study the arts, science and technology. You can also see the new sports fields, which are used to support student learning in several ways.

Of course everyone wants well-designed, visually pleasing, comfortable, and new buildings, but that wasn't our main source of admiration. The open, innovative, enthusiastic, and progressive attitudes from faculty, staff and students alike inspired admiration. Last year they implemented one-to-one laptops. Sutdents brought their laptops from home, and fiasco might not be the right word, but they learned some lessons. This year, students were required to bring a MacBook, a specific MacBook, with specific software so that consistency would head off a lot of the problems encountered in the first year. This attitude of trying new things and dealing with the problems, embracing technology and experimenting is missing in most US schools.

Also missing from US schools is student ownership. Most US students are content to be spoon fed information and take a test. We had the opportunity to see 5th grade students working with new broadcast equipment. One student was the director who controlled which camera was on screen, slo mo and instant replay feeds, while two other students operated the cameras. As our tour group crossed the field, they focused on individuals and did an instant replay of the action. Students recently contributed their skills to an international live broadcast of the "regional" basketball game viewed in over 22 countries. What a great way to demonstrate skill and responsibility!

Students at WAB are also taking charge to help Jiashan Primary School rebuild after the 2008 earthquake. Jeff Holte, the director of technology and our tourguide today, told us about how five students are leading committees in charge of Education, Sports and Recreation, Technology, Fine Arts and Facilities at the school. According to Jeff, these students aren't shy about taking charge, asking questions, and demanding responses. This is how future leaders and thinkers are born. How can we integrate these fun, innovative, and scary ways to learn into our schools back home? Well, one thing we can do is implement Flat Classroom Projects, which I'm sure I'll be writing about soon!

Visiting Schools in China

I took this picture today at Tsinghua International School (THIS) while the director, Martha Ortiz showed us around. These students were discussing phases of the moon with their teacher, but you can also see that at least one class studies simple machines (what is the IMA of this pulley system?). THIS prides itself on a constructivist atmosphere with a lot of hands-on learning. We also saw students playing keyboards, guitars, saxophone, and clarinet in a creative music class, many examples of student artwork, and analysis of natural disasters worldwide. I wanted to find the students who created the timelines and maps of the Mississippi floods of 1993 and talk to them about the more recent Iowa floods. I felt like I would be able to have a meaningful conversation with them about the causes and effects.

On the same campus, Tsinghua High School has a very different feel. In its second year, THIS meets the needs of students holding foreign passports residing in Beijing. Tsinghua High School is for Chinese Nationals and has ninety years of history. Located on the campus of Tsinghua University, these students are among China's best and brightest. It's no wonder though, when they attend school for almost 49 weeks per year from 8 am to 4:30 pm. Class sizes are much larger, about 40 compared to 14 at THIS. Students wear uniforms and stand to answer questions, but they giggle and joke just like teenagers everywhere. What a fun and educational day!