TravelStream™ news feed for member aszliross on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/aszliross en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Fri, 28 Aug 2009 02:39:25 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aszliross/8/1251439210/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aszliross/8/1251439210/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aszliross/8/1251439210/tpod.html Fri, 28 Aug 2009 02:39:25 -0400 To Teach: China

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Wanli, Liaoning Province, China

We have all been volunteered to help the school put on an English Festival. I was very reluctant to get too involved in something I had no interest in, because there is a lot of other activities the school does that is more up my alley... but we had no choice.

The most Chinese thing about the whole event was that the slogan was incorrect grammar, for a festival celebrating English. Classic. We will, we will English You! Good lord.

So, when given a chance to look over all the 'opportunities' I was looking for something that would be small, and over quick—the festival itself was three weeks long.

One of the roles was to assist with the Opening Ceremony... which totally fit the bill. Small setup and only scheduled to last ten minutes. Well, I was kind of right.

The students who were responsible for this part were sweet, but extremely indecisive, which meant that we kept having meeting, after meeting, after meeting, and not really accomplishing much. The faculty member assigned to ‘supervise’ was nearly useless, and completely unhelpful other than hosting the meetings in her classroom.

We finally got to the point that they wanted T-shirts for all the English Ambassadors, banners that fell from the building, and the song "We will Rock you" playing, as it was already chosen by the larger group as the anthem.

OK, now we are getting somewhere. One student was in charge of the banners, one in charge of the t-shirts and one in charge of the music. By the next meeting we have 30 t-shirts for 45 volunteers, and no design. My first complaint was how did they think 45 people were going to fit in to 30 t-shirts? Daniella and I were volunteered to try to track down some extra black t-shirts in a market near our house with the instructions of not spending more than Y5 per t-shirt.

As for the design, I felt more at home. So I tried to encourage them to think about design, what they want the t-shirt to say, or represent... I drew an example on the board of a simple combination of ‘E’ and ‘A’ and that was it, they were sold. I would have changed things around and been a little more creative if I knew I was suggesting ideas rather than suggesting examples... Oh well. Next challenge, teach the students how to use InDesign from scratch in one hour, so they can create the logo themselves.

There are sometimes when doing something yourself is SO much easier than teaching it, or watching someone else do it, but I persevered, and didn’t change or overcorrect their work.

After school, Daniella and I went on the hunt for t-shirts, using the supervisor’s terrible directions, and the student’s rough estimates of the stall we should look for. Our last piece of advice was not to be ripped off like foreigners always are... bargain hard.

Finding the ‘mall’ itself wasn’t too hard, but once we went through the doors—it was like entering a giant, six storey flea market. We wandered, and wandered, and finally came across some stalls that offered clothing, but none had plain t-shirts. After what felt like hours, but was probably closer to one, we found a place that had a few options... We explained we wanted 15 black shirts and got the price down to Y60. So we agreed, and the shop keeper started running around to gather them all up.

All the places around us were closing, so we felt relieved and accomplished that we were getting the shirts. We had to open each one individually, because many of the first ones he gave us were navy blue, not black, so we had to keep a close eye on him.

Once all fifteen were amassed, we handed over the money—and he started yelling.

He picked up his calculator and typed in 60 x 15... he wanted Y60 PER shirt, not total. The Y900 was more than our entire t-shirt and printing budget, the other student had gotten the first 30 shirts for less than Y180, I was mad. We tried our best to argue that we had agreed to Y60 we were even willing to pay a little more, but to absolutely no avail, and we ended up walking away empty handed. Here I thought I was good at negotiating.

~Ashley


]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aszliross/8/1251058984/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aszliross/8/1251058984/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aszliross/8/1251058984/tpod.html Fri, 28 Aug 2009 02:38:33 -0400 To Teach: China

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Wanli, Liaoning Province, China

Today is the last day of Adrian's unit, he ends with a test, and Heidi and I start our unit tomorrow. We are doing the Interwar years, and have divided it up thematically, she is taking economics and Women's movement, I've got autonomy, politics and labour movement.

Through the first block, we just watch... nothing much to do. But during the second block, we start marking the tests from the first block. The multiple choice is easy enough. However, Adrian makes three versions of the test, all the same questions, but with the answers in very different orders. It is his way to prevent cheating-- makes sense to me.

What we struggle with the marking the essays. They have the same 6 point scale that is used in BC, but it can be very vague, and it is hard to balance English proficiency with concept attainment. What we do for practise, is we all mark a third of the papers, writing it in pencil, then they get passed around until we have all marked all the papers. When there are any large decrepencies, we talk about it and come to a decision. Once we feel we are all on the same page, we are left to mark the rest.

I don't mind marking, I have a hard time imaginging that it will be something I become resentful of. My only other goal is to return the work to the students as soon as possible. I think if there is a huge delay between the activity and the return of it, you miss out on the opportunity for students to understand what they have done wrong. I use to hate when teachers hung on to things forever, and you had forgotten about it by the time you got it back.... no, not me. I will give it back the next day, or maybe the next class, but never weeks...

Heidi will be doing her mini unit first, so I will have a lot of extra time on my hands. It sucks, I wish I could teach the whole time.

~Ashley
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aszliross/8/1251440569/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aszliross/8/1251440569/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aszliross/8/1251440569/tpod.html Fri, 28 Aug 2009 02:23:42 -0400 To Teach: China

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Wanli, Liaoning Province, China

I gave in to two vices today... melted cheese and a massage.

Kirsty organized for us to go to this little place in Jinshitan for a message, and I was really excited. For Y80, we would get pampered for nearly an hour—one of the strongest motivations to moving to China.

We walked there after school, and I wasn't totally sure what to expect. The lady led us to this backroom that was decorated... I am trying to come up with the most accurate adjectives... like a little kids room, meets misprinted fabrics, meets dim lighting and an attempt at cozy. We stepped in and I howled with laughter.

On the two little cots that were side by side, lay little cotton pjs, which we changed into and waited for our masseuse. When the gentlemen came in, they introduced themselves and started by placing warm pillows on our stomachs and rubbing our faces, necks and shoulders. It was heaven.

It wasn’t until he started moving to my arms, that I realized that my masseuse may be blind, as he had to 'look’ around with his fingers to find the part of my arm he was looking for. At one other point, when he started to massage my arm, he let my hand fall in his lap—and I instantly tensed—not because I was in an inappropriate place, but more because I was caught off guard. All he said was "relax, you must relax." I almost laughed, but did manage to relax.

Without a doubt, it was one of the most amazing massages I have ever had, head to toe.

Unbeknownst to me, Kirsty had called ahead and specifically requested one of the fellows who is particularly well skilled at targeting troubled areas, and is also blind. I felt guilty after when she told me, and she didn’t fess up right at the beginning. She was happy with her massage, but after some comparisons I definitely think I got the more skilled masseuse.

To top off the evening, we headed to Susan’s, one of the only true western restaurants in this part of China. I went all out and ordered an orange Julius and a poutine. It is not quite the same, but a pretty darn close replica, especially for China. The husband of the owner, who is also the school’s librarian, told us how long it took him to teach the local bakery to make real hamburger buns, both in shape and taste—they couldn’t understand why he didn’t want sugar in the recipe like their sweet buns.

It is amazing what kind of impact ‘comfort’ food can have when you are travelling, or away from home.

Yum... cheese.

~Ashley
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aszliross/8/1251437629/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aszliross/8/1251437629/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aszliross/8/1251437629/tpod.html Fri, 28 Aug 2009 01:35:55 -0400 To Teach: China

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Wanli, Liaoning Province, China

It is Heidi first full day of teaching, and we are launching our Stock Market Game. The premise is simple, randomly handout six cards to every student that is either $100 or a stock (A,B,C,D) explain to them the goal of the game is to amass the most wealth that they can. It works best with two people, because one person can be in charge of randomly changing the price of stocks (all going up) and the other can be the bank, loaning out $1000 for every $100 of insurance.

Before we arrived in China, the one thing we were told was that it was really hard to get the students actively involved in the class—that they remained stoic, sombre, and serious. That was NOT our experience. With very little prompting, students were up, out of their seats and rapidly trading, wheeling and dealing.

One student I watched kept making deals right before whatever stock he sold went up by hundreds of dollars, groaning at his misfortune each time.

But, to accurately demonstrate the era we were teaching—The Stock Market Crash of '29—suddenly the stocks started to drop, and of course the banker recalls all the loans... Still more frantic trading and the prices keep falling. The game ends when stocks are worthless, people have been cleaned out by the bank, and thus the discussion begins.

Who says that there is no capitalism in China? The students’ awareness of the emotions people would have felt was bang on. One student said: "If this had been real life I would have jumped from the building." The dejected way he said it was pretty funny, but under the circumstances, that is exactly what some people did.

Certainly some of the students did make money, but there was enough variety that it better demonstrated the result across the nation, rather than for a few individuals. One of the best parts was the first and only person to go bankrupt in that first class was the super smart student who always has all the right answers in class. He was so dejected by not having all the rules, and not succeeding like some of the other students, but it was fun to tease and use him as an example of the many proud people who were left to fend for their lives in any way they could.

I think it was a great lesson. And we successfully repeated it many more times throughout the day, and in other classes...

Ashley
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aszliross/8/1251058778/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aszliross/8/1251058778/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aszliross/8/1251058778/tpod.html Sun, 23 Aug 2009 16:22:24 -0400 To Teach: China

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Wanli, Liaoning Province, China

Today, I woke up still angry about the money. My sweet roomie brought me breakfast to try to cheer me up, I definitely have the best roommate.

I spent the day working on unit plans, lesson plans, worksheets and timing. The day flew by.


Still distracted by the missing cash, I went over the whole day again, this time, writing everything down. What I bought, what I spent, and checked all the receipts. I couldn't find the bank machine receipt. All of a sudden I remembered...

Everyone else had taken out cash, but my card was having problems. The transaction got all the way to the end, and then said "The machine has insufficient funds." I checked my online banking, and sure enough, there was no withdrawal for the day before. I hadn’t lost the money because I had never taken it out! Ha ha ha... What a relief.

To celebrate, we went to the bank next door, I took out the cash and we went to the market to buy DVDs and fruit for the week ahead. It is hard not to buy out the store when DVDs are Y10... I bought the second season of the Tudors for Y30. I’ll have to keep my eye out for the Planet Earth DVDs.

Back to school tomorrow...

~Ashley


]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aszliross/8/1251058627/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aszliross/8/1251058627/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aszliross/8/1251058627/tpod.html Sun, 23 Aug 2009 16:18:46 -0400 To Teach: China

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Dalian, Liaoning, China

Today we went back to the market to pick up our clothing orders... My gray pin-striped suit is perfect, but the black one needs a little work. I've also decided that since I have to come back anyway, I might as well get a few more things; I have ordered three blouses to be made. I also got my coat, a beautiful teal cashmere coat. I can’t wait to wear it on Monday for the formal flag rising.

Not wanting to hang around in the chaos that is the market, a few of us decide to head to Russia St. and check out the buildings and shopping there. I did buy a cute hat on my way out though, a cream coloured knit hat with a small brim.

Before we head down, we all decide to get some food to eat at a great little tapas place. It was much more expensive than what we have been spending on food... but it was SO good. We make sure to make the most of it, sharing a few desserts as well.

We make out way to Russia St. but notice a bank machine on our way... We have been having trouble getting cash at some machines, and since we are about to go shopping decide to try it out. All the girls have success, and then it is my turn. It doesn’t work at first, but eventually I get Y1000.

Russia Street is really intriguing, there is definitely a Russian influence throughout the town, but it is really the focal point here... Russia use to control Dalian, as it is the most northern port that is free of ice all year long, so it has tremendous strategic value.

The street itself is covered in little tables and stores selling goods that remind me of a dollar store. We did find a few treats; some of the nicer things were incredibly expensive. I finally found a scarf I liked, and bargained hard before getting it for around Y30. I pulled out some cash, and felt bad when I had to get the shop keeper to break Y100 to pay for it.

We wandered around some more; the girls bought some scarves, some compacts and other little treasures. One man was selling these rubber pigs (and rats) that you threw against a hard surface that splattered, but then reformed before your eyes. They were hilarious! Ashley, a kindergarten teacher, bought one for her class.

When we got the then end of the street, we noticed that the beautiful building we had been heading towards was actually old and decrepit. Windows were broken, paint was peeling, but it wasn’t hard to imagine how it would have appeared in days past. There was also a dried out fountain with broken tiles that kids were playing in.

We stopped in a shop with some edible goods, and bought some chocolate and vodka. Neither turned out to be very good... but I guess the price should have been an indication.

When it was time to leave, I was trying to get a photo of the girls in front of the entrance sign, and they were almost hit by a passing truck. They resulting picture is pretty funny, Heidi, the closest to the truck looks panicked, but Daniella looks like she is laughing at her.

It was a long day, but very enjoyable. When we got back to the hotel, and we were taking stock of all we had bought, I was definitely out shopped by the others, but when I counted what money I had left, versus what I had spent, I was short Y800! What a drag. The only thing I could think of was when I bought the scarf, I had pulled out Y100 and might have dropped the other money that was folded together that I had gotten out of the bank machine. The revelation of missing money totally ruined the day. It wasn’t that it was SO much, but that in a country like China, Y800 goes a long way—I could have bought two more tailored cashmere coats with that kind of cash.

I went to bed angry with myself for being so irresponsible.

~Ashley
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aszliross/8/1249884163/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aszliross/8/1249884163/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aszliross/8/1249884163/tpod.html Mon, 10 Aug 2009 02:15:27 -0400 To Teach: China

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Wanli, Liaoning Province, China

I was banished to the hotel all day, by myself. The worst part was that the medicine was magic and I was feeling better within the hour. I should have thought to bring back some of that cheap magic with me...

I spent the day waiting for everyone else to get back to school so I could expand my entertainment circle beyond my laptop.

When everyone did get back, they were awfully concerned, but it didn't take them long to realize that I had made a miraculous recovery, that I was famished, and totally up for anything that happened outside the hotel.

Luckily, that evening was the first night of competition in our bowling league. We had joined the other teachers in a multi-team league that would pit us one against the other over the series of weeks we would be in China. The best part was that we were right around the corner from the bowling alley.

After dinner, we walked there, and met our other teammates. Justin, Kathryn, and I would be joined by Patrick and Peter and a few other people who would act as spares here and there. (No pun intended.)

I did alright, bowled over 100 both games, just... but we ended up playing a third game and just horsed around. I discovered that I am more accurate left-handed, and Justin can get a strike bowling from a stomach slide. It was a game of one-upmanship, we eventually started making up team routines. My favourite was the double handoff bowl. As I am typing this, I am realizing that it really won’t make sense, and it won’t be nearly as funny to you, as it was to us.

Long story short, I recovered well from my mystery illness with a mystery shot—enough to go bowling that night.

~Ashley
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aszliross/8/1236325500/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aszliross/8/1236325500/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aszliross/8/1236325500/tpod.html Mon, 10 Aug 2009 01:48:12 -0400 To Teach: China

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Kaifaqu, China

I have told this story a couple times already... so it should be easy enough to write about now.

My morning started abruptly when my roomie jumped out of bed in a panic and thought she was late. I glanced at the clock and reassured her that it was only 2am, and she had plenty of time, and to go back to sleep. She did so easily which made me believe that maybe she was still asleep the whole time.

It wasn't so easy for me. I noticed that my throat was raw, and it was a little hard to breath. I kept trying to move to get comfortable, and just couldn’t find a way to sleep. I finally got up to look at my throat, and noticed it was quite swollen, but I just wanted to sleep. Every time I got close, it felt like my throat would close up more, I had to concentrate to breath. Finally, I must have fallen asleep because my roomie woke me up at 6am to get ready for school. I almost couldn’t talk, and my breathing was worse.

I got up, got dressed, and asked her to get Kathryn, our supervisor; I was headed to the hospital.

Kathryn kicked into caretaker mode, and wanted me to take it easy. I am sure she would have offered to carry me if she could have. When we got to the lobby, she wanted me to stay inside until she flagged a cab, but I told her I wasn’t dying, and besides, I am the queen of calling cabs.

As if on cue, a cab stopped at the curb before we even got there.

"All I have to do is think about them, and they appear! See, you need me."

We got the cab to take us to the nearest hospital, and we went in a very dark entrance. It looked like we might have trouble getting help because everything looked closed. We wandered around, trying to follow Chinese signs with really bad English translations, and finally followed some light into a wing that had some movement. There were no nurses around, but another patient, who has clearly had some surgery on his mouth, came out to see us. I motioned that we needed a doctor because I was having trouble breathing, and he recognized the importance of speed. He interrupted the nurse and sent her after the doctor.

Moments later, a doctor comes stumbling out in pyjama pants, gum boots and really messy hair, grumbling and yawning and ruffling her hair some more. She dismisses the helpful patient and motions for me to follow her into a nearby room.

She rattles off a bunch of questions at Kathryn—who is of Chinese decent, but speaks no Mandarin—and we both shrug our shoulders. She lights a little candle, then goes back to the door and yells out for the helpful patient to return.

The poor man is holding his chin while trying to translate the doctor’s questions and my answers. Finally, she puts a metal mirror over the lit flame (to sanitize it), tests it on the back of her hand like a new mom checks a baby bottle and gets me to open my mouth so she can take a look.

Instinctively, I say: “Ahhhhhhh....” She shakes her and says : “Eeeeeeeee....”

I try to mimic her, but start laughing at both the sound, and the way it tickles the back of my throat. The doctor pulls back and rattles off some quick, angry instructions. Through translation, I am told that it is no laughing matter, that I could be very sick and to do as I am told.

“Eeeeeeeeeeeeeee...”

Finally, I am told I can go to the emergency department where I can get an injection and pay for my visit. Emergency? Oh, the open part of the hospital, on the other side, where we didn’t come in.

The doctor decides to escort us there to make sure we find our way. On our way there, she wakes up, and warms up, and starts to practise her minimal English by telling us about her daughter. By the time we got to the Emergence department, we were friends.

We walk through a set of double doors and in full view of an ambulance, parked, in the lobby. I thought for a second maybe it was art, or a display, by closer inspection revealed that they were just waiting for their next call...

We went up to the pharmacy window to hand in the prescription, but we were directed to the payment wicket to discuss the cost of the visit and pay a head of time. It took a little more charades, but we finally determined that the consultation and medicine would cost Y9-- $1.50!

Once we paid, I was summoned into an adjoining room that was in full view of the waiting area. There, a nurse was hastily filling a syringe. I pointed to my arm, questioning the location on the injection, but she pointed to my backside.

Here? Out in the open? Just like this? So down went the drawers and she stabbed me close to the hip. It was shockingly quick, and then ever so painful! I had no idea what they had just given me. Kathryn started laughing at my complaining, but I was also half laughing at the whole situation. It was completely surreal.

To top it off, after the shot the doctor handed us the medical files (like we could read them!) and warned me that if there were any side effects, to return to the hospital at once.

“What kind of side effects?”

“If things go wrong.”

“What would go wrong?” (Remember, this is after I have already received the 'medicine’)

“If you stop breathing.”

“Oh, ok.” Sleepiness was getting the better of me and I started to giggle.

Kathryn and I stepped outside the hospital doors, and a cab pulled up—unrequested.

“See? I told you.”

~Ashley
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aszliross/8/1236238920/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aszliross/8/1236238920/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aszliross/8/1236238920/tpod.html Wed, 22 Apr 2009 02:44:21 -0400 To Teach: China

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Jinshitan, China

Today was the last socials class about WWI before their unit test on Monday, and then our unit on the Interwar years begins... It was a review of Canada's involvement and impact on the war. In Socials 11, I am amazed how much is crammed into a single year, and you have to cover it all because there is a provincial exam at the end. You would think that it would be split better with History 12, but it is not, you go over all the same material, just from an international perspective instead of a Canadian one. Here, it has the added challenge of needing to go fast in an ESL environment, AND, being content not necessarily relatable to the class. My mentor does an amazing job making it relevant to a class of Chinese students, but you have to wonder, if it is hard to get Canadian kids to care about Canadian history, how are Chinese students kept interested in Canadian history?

After school, I had a lot of errands to run, and ended up going to dinner at Tiramisu with Kathryn. The food was decent, but the coffee was terrible.

The most amusing part of the restaurant was surely the decor... The pictures on the wall were all pastoral oil paintings, hung too high. The one right beside out table looked pretty typical except there were ducks in the scene. Ducks are usually depicted one of two ways, swimming around, or flying in the distance. These ducks were in a landing pose, which revealed some hideous feet. I don't know why, but it was so awkward and made the whole painting look really juvenile. It was almost like the ducks had been added to make the painting more unique. Closer to the kitchen, there was also a photo of a bunch of slabs of raw meat... I don't know why.

Back at home, my roomie was in bed really early. I know she has been stressed over lesson planning, but I was antsy. I watched a movie with the boys next door to put off going to bed at eight pm. Leaving in a hotel has given me a little cabin fever.

~Ashley
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aszliross/8/1236152340/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aszliross/8/1236152340/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/aszliross/8/1236152340/tpod.html Wed, 22 Apr 2009 02:41:15 -0400 To Teach: China

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Jinshitan, China

Because of the way the program works, we have to teach three full days, so it made more sense for my co-teacher to teach both her units first, and then have me teach mine... This means I am a little bored right now as she is frantically lesson planning. It is tough to go from enjoying job mirroring to nothing.

Today, my mentor recognized that I am a little underutilized because there are two of us sharing his course load, and decided I might be up for a challenge. The school requires BC teachers for their program, so all teachers on call (TOCs) come from within the ranks, from teachers who have spare blocks during the time another teacher is away. Today, my mentor was scheduled to cover a class, but also had a conference call, so he asked if I wanted to do it-of course I do.

I was handed a pack of 500 loose leaf sheets, told the class should be working on a project and might need paper. Oh, and of course where the class was located. That is all the information I had. Almost like a real TOC situation, although I doubt it was done for that reason. I showed up early, and noticed immediately that the classroom was about half the size of my normal environment. Not the students, the actual classroom. It felt like I could put out my arms at touch both walls.

The other difference was that the classroom was all boys, grade 10 boys. Next year, after Maple Leaf builds a new campus across the street, the genders will be split. In preparation for that, all the grade 10 classes are single sex this year. It hasn't been without controversy, especially from the students themselves, and they still haven't ironed out all the kinks, but I am sure it will be an interesting change.

I drew a lot of attention due to the fact I was an unfamiliar (female) face, and I was peppered with a lot of questions well before the bell rang. Instead of repeating myself, I wrote my name on the board, and I asked them to sit, and wait for the bell. Sure enough, the bell went and they all wanted to know where their regular teacher was, and who I was. The truth was he was at the dentist, and of course, I am a student-teacher here to supervise them.

I then took attendance, and I asked them to get out their projects that they should be working on, but I faced a classroom of blank stares.

"Aren't you working on political cartoon projects?"

"Well, we got this at the end of last class..." said a helpful student has he handed me their instructions.

So they hadn't started, and they weren't really sure what to do. After a brief scan of the instructions, it was determined they were to draw their own political cartoon depicting why one of seven groups of people (of their choosing) were forced to leave the US after the Civil War. I spent the rest of the class circulating, encouraging them to pick a group, and pick symbols and scenes to depict the history they had learned. It was a ton of fun, and they were super well behaved. Some kids needed more a little more direction that others, but overall, I was really impressed with their skill.

The only other thing I noticed was the level of English comprehension and communication was quite a bit lower than my grade 11 classes. It is amazing how much they learn in a year.

I know that TOCing will be nothing like this back home, but wouldn't it be fun if it was? Ahhh... one can dream.

~Ashley
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