Bagan, Burma

We made it to Rangon, Myanmar (Burma), and after two days there took a night bus (Gangnam Style, as in the videos on the bus) to lovely Bagan. Bagan (Pagan) was where things started to pull together in what eventually became modern-day Burma, back between 1044 and 1287. People donated land, and rulers had these amazing pagodas built across these flat plains - 10,000 of them - 3000 of which remain in various degrees of repair. We are on a fault line here, and earthquakes through the years have taken a toll on the mostly brick and stucco structures. One wants to head out as early as possible, both to catch an impossibly breathtaking sunrise over the plains, but also to do most of one's exploring before it gets impossibly hot! it is surely 95 or so today. We biked to Old Bagan this morning, and to about a dozen pagodas, before succumbing at noon.

A delicate Buddha in stone from the walls of the Ananda Pagoda, circa 1099 A.D.

And less subtly, one of the four standing Buddhas from the same pagoda - the largest Buddhas in Burma.

Almost literally, as far as the eye can see...

We even found a school, though students are on a 3-month break, many of them at the pagodas selling paintings, bells, statues, etc., etc, etc. They are so sweet, it is hard not to buy something from each of them!

We are taking a boat early in the morning to Mandalay, a 9-hour or so journey on the Ayerwaddy (Irrawaddy) River. Contrary to popular myth, Rudyard Kipling never visited Mandalay, though he did write the poem, Road to Mandalay. On the other hand, George Orwell served as a police officer in Rangon during WWII. How cool is that?

 

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Family Visit

So, as most of you know, I was married to a very nice man named Mooraly from Malaysia. Our marriage didn't work very well, but thankfully we are still friends. And VERY thankfully, I am still friends with his very wonderful family, many of whom I have been fortunate to see during this week in Singapore and Malaysia.

These are Moo's aunt and uncle, Kamila Attay and Raja Mama. We went to a funky Indian restaurant located in a house that served amazing food on the traditional banana leaves.

This is their daughter, Gayatri, who I first met when she was 6, with her son, Ishaan. Both so dear -

And this is their son, Ganesh, who was 5 when I came on the scene, and his girlfriend Kristen on the left, and cousin Vaishnavi, whose room we borrowed (thanks, V!).

Valerie, sister-in-law, who my father will always love because she served macaroni and cheese and meatloaf when he visited Malaysia 25 years ago (not a food adventurer, my dad!). So good to see her!

Cousins Darshini, Ishaan, and Vaishnavi. Could they be any cuter??!

Vaishnavi is a blue belt in Tae Kwon do!!

Darshini...a princess dancer!

Moo's mom and the boys.

Lovely sister-in-law, Shireen, who put us up and put up with us.

And Ravi, Moo's younger brother, and Shireen's husband.

I am very, very lucky.

On to Burma...

 

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Junyuan Primary School Visit

I spent a few hours on Tuesday ay Junyuan Primary School in Singapore, which serves students ages 6-12. Sharifah Osman is the head of the IT department at the school, and she shared lots of interesting information about how Singapore has roles out out their IT plan, starting way back in 1997.

The front desk at Junyuan Primary Scool. Just like the clerks at elementary schools across the U.S., this woman helped take care of many things even while I sat for a short time waiting for Sharifah to show me around - two sick boys, one bandage for a girl with a skinned knee, a request from the principal, two teachers needing some papers, greeting a visiting parent.

I slipped into the library for a quick peek - students told me they get to go twice a week and can take out 4 books at a time. Harry Potter? Not so much. But The Lightning Thief is a favorite series, the teacher was walking back and forth (below) between the library and the kids who already had their books and were reading out on the sidewalk (no enclosed halls here! Everything open to the elements!)

 

Chinese New Year takes place over about two weeks, with celebrations occurring throughout. I was invited to join the staff and parent group for a "Lou Hei" ceremony - everyone has a pair of chopsticks and stands in a circle around a plate of shaved carrots, cucumber, cabbage, raw salmon, garnished with crushed peanuts, sesame seeds, and sweet and sour sauces. On three, everyone dives into the plate, throwing the salad up in the air, chanting good wishes for a prosperous new year. It's a relatively new tradition, started in Singapore! The folks to my left: assistant principal Tony, head principal Madame Law, and assistant principal Hielda. There are 1,070 students in grades 1-6 at the school.

 

This is the school's Eco-garden, located in the courtyard. There are several different mini-biomes - a cactus desert, a pond, a rainforest. The science teacher has set up stations in the garden, and, using QR codes and tablets, students make their way through, completing tasks and assignments. If a student has a question along the way, the tablets are set up so he or she can Skype teacher on the spot!

The school has also chosen to purchase Samsung Tablets instead of iPads, mostly because of the functionality of Flash (or non-functionality in the case of the iPad).

Here are a couple of classrooms (above and below), both using Promethean boards. The IT person explained that they checked out both SMART Boards and Prometheans, then gave teachers the choice. They overwhelmingly chose Promethean - they liked the interface much better.

 

This is a set-up that students can use during recess - the computers (below) are kept in these boxes, made to look like a train. If they choose, they can have 20 minutes of computer time on some days.

There are three computer labs serving the school, 40 computers in each. Each class is expected to go to the lab 2 hours per week. The lab below is a laptop lab so the computers can also be carted down to the classrooms.

And just like every school I've ever been in, READING, READING, READING is the key! Actually, science instruction is not started until about 3rd grade, rather, they emphasize math and reading until then. Thanks, Singapore! On to Malaysia....

 

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From Singapura

Hi All,

Well, it has been a whirlwind since we touched down in Singapore (also known as "Singapura," city of lions) last Friday morning at 2:30 a.m. Our initial host, a former high school friend of mine, Tom Weinland, picked us up at Changi International Airport. It is Chinese New Year, and the whole island is celebrating, including Tom and his Chinese wife, Pui San, so we have been swept up in the festivities while trying to get our "duck's feet" working here. The weather is fairly mild, mostly in the 70s and 80s during the day, and super humid, as always, with daily downpours, usually in the afternoon.

I'm mostly relying on my iPad for accessing the internet, but wifi is is spotty, even here in ultra-modern Singapore, so who knows what future travels will allow (i.e. don't be too concerned if posts here are few and far between!). We have decided to spend more time in fewer places, so after a couple of days in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, we will fly to Burma (aka Myanmar) for 10 days, then to Bali for 10 more,. We decided that, since Burma is just opening back up to the wider world, the changes likely to take effect there will vastly transform it in the very near future, so we will take a peek now. Bali is... well, Bali. After that, we will head back north - still to be determined.

Also downloaded an app called Blogsy for interfacing with the blog more effectively - supposedly makes it easier to upload pictures, videos, etc. - but still figuring it out. As so much seems to be, sounded easier than it actually is! Will try to get that configured so I can share my pics. For now, here is a picture of some so-called "super trees" (thank you, Google images) that are in Gardens by the Bay, part of a huge new construction project recently undertaken here. Singapore is making moves to "go green," and these tree-like structures function like mature trees, collecting rain water and hosting 162,000 different plant species planted around their trunks! Photovoltaic cells also harvest solar energy. It's a small space, Singapore, so they build efficiently (and vertical!!).

So, Gong Xi Fa Cai (Happy Chinese New Year)! It's now the Chinese year of the snake - I myself am a rat, so that makes me a little queasy!! : )

Hope you all are well!

Sandy

Hong Kong for a Minute

After a 15-hour flight, we are in Hong Kong for a two-hour layover before the final 5-hour haul to singapore. Our seat mate on the flight, Joe,  who lives in Boston, is originally from Hong Kong, but went to college at Indiana University where I went - same years, too! He lived in Wright Quad.

Met yet another person on the flight from Bloomington (where IU is) - Dwight Worker, a retired professor from IU. Worked for IBM, then taught for ten years. He has a farm west of Bloomington. He is headed to China to bike to a former student's wedding in Chongching which is at the end of March, then to see the Three Gorges Dam. 

Had my first conversation in Chinese with two kids who showed me where I could charge up my iPad. The two of them had two phones and a tablet between them.

Almost too tired to type, so xai cian, pengyoumen!

Sandy

Flying Out

It's 7:00 a.m. Wednesday morning and our friend, Marcie, will be here at 8:10 to ferry us to the airport. Shots taken care of, passports with at least 6 months of validity left on them, a pack of cards and several books for the airport and ride packed. John and I are each taking one carry-on bag, and that's pretty much it for our six-week excursion. Not bad - and not even overstuffed!

Since I'm going to be spending at least some of my traveling time with educators, I am also taking a little thank you gift for those kind enough to accommodate me. And, though electronically-enhanced technology, if you will, is my primary focus, I'll be taking what is still my favorite "teacher tool" - the very technologically advanced Sharpies!  (thinking of you, Sheryl!).

Chicago - Hong Kong - Singapore - well, that's today!

More soon -

Sandy

Leaving Comments on this Blog

Hi -

I never have liked the "comment" component of Blogspot - a little unnecessarily circuitous. But I REALLY hope folks will leave comments and questions, so here's a quick primer on how to do it!

See the list of blog posts in the column to the right under the heading BLOG ARCHIVE? You have to click on the link of the post you want to comment on, then scroll down to the bottom to leave your message. If you have a Gmail account, I don't think you have to do anything else. Otherwise, you might have to do one more step involving inputting numbers so it doesn't think you are a robot trying to leave a message (as if! And wouldn't that be cool?!!).

Two days and counting! A little homesick for Asia, actually, as so many good things started for me there. So excited to go back!

More soon - Sandy

Getting Ready

Hi -

So, this week has been full of preparation. I am the ultimate procrastinator, so, though I have known we would be making this trip for, well, the whole year, I just got my innoculations two days ago!! All four of them. OUCH! Hepatitis A and B, Typhoid, and the Flu shot that I had avoided. "Do I really need that Flu shot?" I literally moaned. The nurse reminded me that I will be spending many hours flying over the ocean in a closed environment with people breathing all sorts of things TOGETHER. So... arms sore, but hopefully safer, I proceed...

FIRST STOP - SINGAPORE
We fly in to Singapore on Friday, February 15. I have set up a couple of school visits during the time we will be there. First, I will be accompanying my brother-in-law, Jaya, to his elementary school, Junyuan Primary School. I will be meeting with the ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) director, as well as hopefully getting a peek at some of the classrooms.

I will also be meeting with Zulkifli Ahmad, the ICT director at a secondary school, which serves students from 13-16.

The four areas I am focusing on at this time are:

• Professional Development - What kind of tech training do educators get, and how is that delivered?
• Implementation among the Student Population - what tools do students have access to? How much of their work involves technology? How is collaboration fostered?
• Communication with Families - How is information gathered and delivered to families? 
• Infrastructure - What are the basic resources schools have? Is there a technology plan Singapore-wide, or school by school? 

Are there other things YOU might be interested in knowing? Leave me a note, and I will see what I can discover!

Also looking forward to the warmth of being almost on the equator! I lived in Malaysia (just north of Singapore) for four years back in the '80s, and I know for a fact that I am a hot-weather girl! And the food??!! The best!

More soon -

Sandy

To Whom This Might Concern

Hi -

I've been thinking about this first post - WHO am I writing to?

Some of my former 4th graders

When I did the blog during my heart surgery experience, my audience consisted of my wonderful 4th graders at Frost Lake Elementary School (see right). I felt as though I was having a conversation with each of them every time I posted. It informed my thinking and my writing about the experience.

For this journey, with the tech integration aspect of the work in mind, my thoughts go to colleagues who have struggled to integrate technology into the classroom. Some have the tools but not the training. Some have inadequate tools in terms of hardware/software, or the infrastructure to utilize them effectively. Some are uncomfortable with "the new," and feel embarrassed to ask for help. Sometimes the help they ask for is delivered in a way that does not make sense to them by folks that never had to bridge the gap between "before technology" and "with technology."

Several years ago - about 15 now - I quit a job that was "tech heavy," for which I felt unprepared and inadequate. I was working with people who were much younger, who did not remember NOT having a gaming system or some kind of technology in their homes, then in their education. I was ashamed for not "getting it," but I didn't even know the right questions to ask to get myself to a better place.

After I had been at my next job, as the communications director for a small non-profit, for about four months, the systems administrator quit one day - IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY - with no warning or notice. I had picked up more than I realized at my previous job - I had been helping my new colleagues with this and that on their computers, mostly little things. The head of the organization asked if I would step in and help with the systems administration duties, which included running the server with about 20 nodes. I knew just enough to get started, and I got hold of manuals and of every single friend I had ever known who knew anything about computers and computer systems to help me.

Now I love it - or mostly. I am learning to love how technology changes constantly; how my students are my teachers most of the time in this arena - they just "get it" without having to translate. I am learning NOT to be embarrassed when I don't know things, because there is SO MUCH I still don't know.

Southeast Asia

So my hope, as I check out how technology is being integrated into the educational experiences of students and educators in various parts of Southeast Asia - from Singapore, where math and science scores lead the world, to a refugee camp in Thailand, where technology is very limited, and places in between - is to consider how technology might be helping make that educational experience more effective, why that matters - and how anyone can do it.

PLEASE leave your thoughts and questions. Every one will help guide and direct!

Selamat tinggal -

Sandy