Epilogue

To describe the final evening would be an impossibility. Suffice it to say that my thoughts, prior to the final event were, "how do things get any better than this?"

After being picked up from our hotels, we were shuttled to another location. Not knowing the exact destination, other than what was on the itinerary (with no explanation), disembarking we were greeted with loud drums & a dancing animal (video is below). The whole thing was surreal!

This was our final evening together - teachers from 60 nations gathered in a place reserved for diplomats. It is open to the public, which you will see in some of the photos attached, but the Jumbo Floating Restaurant is a step into the sublime. It is what one pictures when they think of a trip to "the orient." The architecture, the ornateness - mosaics & dragons lining each entry.

Entering the main hall where we gathered were aligned on each side with booths. They were to provide us, the foreigners, with some of the hospitality that we imagine China to be. There were booths that wrote each person's name in the Chinese characters, drew characactures, painted names on the back side of fans and told fortunes! We all drew up in a line and patiently waited our turn.

Dinner was another matter altogether. Have you ever eaten a 13 course meal? I can attest to the fact that I have never experienced such opulence! You will see the menu attached, too.

With food and new friends we met during the days we were together, the evening was a wonderful mosaic of nationalities finding commonalities. Our first, we were human beings! Our second, we were all teachers who loved using technology to reach students; third, we LOVED to eat; fourth, we spoke a common language; fifth, we found our nations of origin. I was sitting next to 2 men from Poland...my grandmother was born in the U.S. to Polish immigrants.

I was recently asked about my "philosophy of teaching." My reply is as follows:

Online learning can't help but impact education in the U.S. It is impacting institutions of learning by providing flexibility for instructors and students alike...On a small scale, online learning has begun to connect students and teachers nationally and internationally without ever leaving their classrooms. On a global scale, it has the potential to break down social prejudices and pre-conceived ideas about people and cultures. If our students get that, they have crossed the precipice of something that has taken our country generations to accomplish in this nation.

I experience this first-hand and am convinced we are in the throws of a technological revolution in education!

Teachers ARE Cool

...No, THEY ARE AWESOME!! Let me explain...

To introduce my team - Natrudee from Thailand; Suri from India; Pascal from Belgium; Peter from S. Africa; me from U.S.; and not shown, Eric from France.

Each of these teachers competed in their nation, or continent (as in Europe) to attend this international competition hosted by Microsoft. For example, Suri competed against 60,000 teachers in India. India sent the top 3 teachers to Hong Kong. That is amazing & her project was incredible!! That is not to discount the projects submitted by any of the other team members, because each of them won their national competition to advance to this level.

Here is a press release of from yesterday... http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/081106/3778557en_public.html?.v=1

I have visited with many of these teachers - which you will see in the attached slide show. What is interesting is the realization that they are a small representative of the extremely innovative teachers from their country - and they represent the best their country has to offer in the teaching profession! It is inspiring!!

There are a few more posts to be added to this BLOG, but I am on a limited timeframe as my flight leaves in a few hours. More will be added when I return.

Thank you for following this BLOG! It has been a privilege to communicate this experience with you!!

Enjoy the slideshow! http://mrtuffet.smugmug.com/photos/swfpopup.mg?AlbumID=6478331&AlbumKey=w2r22

A Truly International City

It is so interesting to walk the streets here. In addition to people everywhere, advertising also reflects their international appeal. There is U.S. advertising everywhere - just look at the Estee Lauder ad that is plastered all over their metro system. It is on the inside and outside of the train!

Advertising and instructions are translated in English and Chinese. The universal language is English....when all cultures meet, the common language is English. Everyone we meet works very hard at communicating with us. It is quite humbling. I can attest to the fact that my attempts at Chinese - Cantonese - are very inadequate!

Click this link to see other advertising...it is fun to see!! http://docs.google.com/Presentation?id=dhh9x6pz_122gtc6ssvj

More Modern Than Imagined!

View some images of this amazing city....

Somehow I never imagined that I would have described this city or Asia, for that matter, as modern prior to visiting! But, it is more modern than many cities in the U.S.

The city is built on islands in Victoria Harbor. In order to grow, they build up - not out. Because of restrictions from the Chinese government, they are not allowed to develop without permission. Individual housing projects are only granted by the government - and very few each year are permitted.

What a culture! What a history!!

Preview the link of the Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defense. We have a common history - the U.S. and Hong Kong. This museum was built by the British in the 1800's. Have you ever been to Fort Michilimackinaw, on Mackinac Island?

http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/Museum/Coastal/index.php

Who Are These People??

Is this crazy or what?? Well, meet me - Miss B or Molly Bruzewski - the person on the right in front of the Microsoft sign. The crazy woman to the left has to be one of the most tech-savvy teachers I know, Mrs. Ragatz, from a school district near Lansing, MI.

We were selected, as part of the CareerForward PD team over 1 year ago, and were asked to participate in Microsoft's 4th Annual Worldwide Innovative Teacher's Forum. We are here representing the United States - 2 teachers from little 'ol Michigan (go figure) - among 50 teachers from all over the world.

The purpose of the conference is 2-fold. First, it is to showcase what teachers are doing to include technology in their lessons for students, and it is to demonstrate how teams from different countries and continents can work collaboratively to develop a technology lesson that can be integrated in each person's classroom/school building. I am 1 of a team with members from South Africa, Thailand, Denmark, Belgium and France. While we wait to find out whose national team wins the international prize, we are to begin this international project which will conclude and be judged in May 2009.

To highlight the objectives for this international team collaboration, the projects must include the following:

• Developing a deeper understanding of innovative learning
• Gaining experience using constructivist learning methodologies
• Learning more about collaboration among students and with other teachers
• Gaining insights into the educational value of the ICT children (collaborative learning tools) children use to learn - and must include cell phones, IM, text, social networking, text and video.
• Learning more about Successful Online Learning

Matinga (Ms. Ragatz) and I expect this is going to be an incredible learning experience. She is more adept than I at using many of the tools mentioned above, so I anticipate I am going to be asking LOTS of questions.

I hope you continue with this blog as the chronical continues.

Tomorrow is Election Day. I can guarantee that the eyes of the world are on this election. That seems to be all that the internationals want to talk about. WOW!

How Does One Get Here???

A logical answer to the question above may be "Well the most logical way is by plane," and you wouldn't be off by too much! But, my question comes from the more "pinch me, is this really real?"

There are people as far as the eye can see. This part of the world has always been an area I wanted to visit, but have yet to. And, WHAM!, here I am!!

More pictures are to come. With 2 of us snapping photos it is certain to be rift with a photo story of the experience.

To begin to answer "How does one get here?" it is important to go back a little way. First, a trip to Arizona was already being planned. Reluctantly adjusting and readjusting a very crammed schedule to accommodate a few days in a warm climate should not seem "so difficult," but one cannot imagine! Then a phone call came out of nowhere asking, "would you like to or be able to go to Hong Kong?"

The sarcastic side of me internally said, Does a dog bark or a chicken cluck?, but I think I refrained. With the phone in hand, my reply to the inquirer, was "Uh, um, uh, um..." Without skipping a beat, Jamey Fitzpatrick, president of Michigan Virtual University, the voice on the other end of the line continued, "It will be all expenses paid by the sender and I am not sure of the departure date, but it is likely to be in the first part of November." That was October 16.

Needless to say, I rearranged my schedule - or more appropriately - others rearranged for me. How grateful I am!!! The details that bring me to this point are endless - some of the details so fantastic that it seems nothing less than a miracle that I am here. But, there is more to this dialog. It is meant to journal a week-in-the-life-of teachers who are excited about eduation & about using the best technology available to engage their students in learning!