From Margie Harvey:
We had a conversation with Hong Zheng, the director of the Dandelion School, yesterday and she was gracious and welcoming, as she is each time we visit. She wanted to know if our accommodations were okay and how everything was going. We brought her some rubrics for work done by our students in the middle school and high school in Winchester. We also brought her some examples of alternative assessments from Social Studies units and English units. She was very appreciative and told us she would translate and share our materials with her teachers over the summer. We are very excited about hosting a Dandelion teacher in Winchester next January when they travel to America for the first time on a teacher exchange from the Dandelion to 4 school districts in Massachusetts. Cindy, the master teacher of 7th grade English classes at the Dandelion School, will be working with teachers in Winchester which is particularly exciting because Winchester High School is introducing Mandarin in the fall and it will be great to have a native speaking visitor with us in January to reciprocate our experience at the Dandelion School during the summer. It is a wonderful opportunity for Winchester students and teachers, as well.
From Tim DeRedon:
In my opinion China was a fantastic experience that I will never forget. From visiting the great wall to the dandelion school to the summer palace I've acquired great memories and friends that will hopefully last. We have all had a wonderful time and have shared many laughs. I look forward to going home but will miss life in China.
From Michael Stern:
Over the weekend, we visited Shanghai. Normally the Dandelion trip goes to visit Xian but this year we decided to go to Shanghai because of the World Expo. The Expo was interesting, but it was extremely crowded and the day we went was rainy and gross. Besides that though, Shanghai is an amazing city. It is like a Chinese New York City. There are big sky scrapers and plenty of expensive stores. The contrast between Beijing and Shanghai and especially between Shanghai and the Dandelion School is incredible. Shanghai has more cars and less bicycles, more new and expensive cars. It also has more American and European expatriates. It is a great city and despite the poor weather it was a lot of fun.
From Alex Saich:
Hello everyone,
So this is our last night in China before most of us return back to the US. Although we're sad to be leaving, many of us are also relieved to finally return from such an isolated atmosphere. This is the first time that I've been able to use a computer in 4 days now, and it was a much more unbearable 4 days than I thought it would be. Being able to go on the internet whenever we want to is something that I have taken for granted a lot. Back in America, I would check my email and facebook every day several times, and so not being able to do that here was unsettling. It was especially weird to feel so disconnected from the outside world as well as everything that's going on back home. This just goes to show how much we rely on technology that we feel uncomfortable being away from it for more than several hours at a
time.
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