Day 5 – Seeing Beijing

Our day today began at Beijing University, the top University in China. We had a brief lecture and discussion with Professor Chu, an expert in China security issues. The conversation was wide ranging, covering the need for China’s military expansion, aspects of China’s foreign policy approach, the Taiwan issue, and more. Here is a picture of the building we met in.

After our meeting we took a tour of the campus with several students and then went to lunch. The bulk of the afternoon was spent touring the enduring icons of China and its capital city. We began in Tian'an Men Square. Here we saw the building that houses Mao's mausoleum, the Great Hall of the People, the monument to the People's Heroes and the Ming dynasty gate where Mao's picture hangs. Here are some pictures.

Great Hall of the People

Monument of the People's Heroes

After walking across the Square and avoiding every manner of street sellers (they were very persistent), we walked underground and across the street to the main gate that would eventually lead us into the Forbidden City. While walking through the first Ming dynasty gate, you cannot miss the enormous picture of Mao that hangs above the entrance.

We only had a few hours to explore the Forbidden City, and I would guess that you could easily spend a week there and not see it all. The entire architectural complex was completed in 1420, and served as the home for 24 emperors for nearly 500 years. Each of the doors into the city have studs that run in rows. There are 9 rows of 9 studs. The 3rd row from the bottom is at hand height, and since it is good luck to touch them, most of the Chinese visitors were making sure to touch each one in this row as they passed through the doors. There are so many gates and levels inside the palace that it is dizzying. It is said that there are 9,999 rooms in the city. After seeing the sheer number of buildings, this isn't hard to imagine. North of the inner palaces are a series of gardens laid out symmetrically. These are beautifully constructed with pavilions, rock gardens, trees and water. This space is especially important because the remainder of the city is all stone. Here are some pictures.

After leaving the Forbidden City we went to a tea ceremony at a government sponsored tea house. We were introduced to proper procedures for making and tasting tea and were able to try four different varieties. I did buy a teapot for myself (this will come as no surprise to those who know me!) and some oolong tea.

From here we went to the Red Theatre to see Chan Yi: The Legend of Kungfu. This was a performance that combined dance, kungfu, acrobatics, and some high flying aerial stunts. The most surprising thing about this event was that the entire show was prerecorded in English! Above the stage hung a screen that translated the words into Chinese characters. We were in the third row and had an amazing view, though during one scene we were completely enveloped in fog.

This was a fantastic first day in Beijing. I only wish we had more time to explore the Forbidden City. Tomorrow I'll be writing after a visit to Badalang. Good night all!

Day 4 continued - Beijing Arrival

We finally arrived at our hotel in Beijing just before 11 pm. I want to finish telling you about our day yesterday and this morning's final meeting before turning in for the night.

After leaving Long Shan Temple we headed for the night markets of Taipei. There are many all over the city, but there was one in particular that we were looking for--Snake Alley. This alley was made famous for its snake shops, places where visitors can eat snake soup and sip snake venom. There were many food vendors along this stretch of market, many with exotic looking fruits, vegetables and seafood. Everything was fresh and very much alive, that is, until it was eaten. I would have taken a picture, but everywhere you looked there were signs stating no picture taking. Perhaps this custom is just too barbaric for pictures. Since snakes have long since disappeared from the island of Taiwan, all the snakes in the market are imported from Guam. While my group was not brave enough to try snake, one of our colleagues did try a bowl of snake soup. Yes, he said it tasted like chicken. He did, however, find the skin not at all what he had imagined it would be. My group pressed on, looking in on a few of the vendors and finally deciding on a street vendor for food.
Even though these markets are known as "tourist" markets, they are frequented largely by locals. In fact, our table of Americans seemed to provide a great deal of comic relief and surprise to the people who walked by and stared. The children waved and smiled, while many of the adults giggled upon seeing us. We sat on stools around two rickety tables we had pushed together and ate a hearty dinner of noodles, greens, and spring rolls. We drank beer that we bought at a local 7-11 (these are EVERYWHERE in Taipei) and brought with us. We had a great meal and enjoyed watching people watching us.

Some of us ended the evening early (like me, as I had a blog to update!), while others stayed to walk the market and shop. When we arrived back at the hotel we learned that our plans for the morning had changed and that we would be getting picked up at 6:15 am for our final meeting. So, early this morning we made a very long trip by cab out to the northern part of the city. We finally made it to a hotel that shared the street with these stores and shops.
Our breakfast meeting at the hotel was with Ma Ying-jeou, KMT candidate for the 2008 Presidential election. This meeting would have been similar to breakfasting with John Kerry a few months prior to the 2004 election. Mr. Ma was twice elected mayor of Taipei and was the KMT party leader. He was charming and open to answering our questions about Taiwan's political situation. He offered thoughtful answers and seemed pleased to have the opportunity to meet with us. He left us to finish riding the last 28 km of 6000 km bicycle trek across Taiwan to meet the voters. Upon finishing this meeting we took the MRT back to the hotel to prepare for our departure and the trip to Beijing via Hong Kong.

Overall, Taipei was an amazing start to this trip. I am looking forward to further adventures in Beijing. We'll be here for four full days and have lots to see. Stay with me, won't you?

Day 4 - The Hong Kong Interlude

Hello All! I am writing to you using the free wireless in the Hong Kong airport. The view of the harbor is truly beautiful. I have only a short time before I board the next flight to Beijing aboard Dragon Air. I really am in China now.

I promised to finish my tale of our travels yesterday. Our evening began at 5 pm with a long walk to Taipei 101. Here are some pictures of our approach. The geometrically shaped building is the World Trade Center.
We arrived at the building shortly before 6 pm. We received information that the observation deck was open until 9:45 pm, so we were excited to be going to the top. However, when we arrived we learned that it closed at 6 pm and that we would not be able to make the trip. We were all a bit sad, but still had much left to see and did not let this disappoint us.

We walked to a nearby MRT (subway) station and rode the train to the Long Shan Temple. The temple was built in 1738 by settlers from Fujian, China. It served as a place of worship and a gathering place for the Chinese settlers. Today it serves not only as a temple, but also as a sightseeing attraction and historical site. Inside it smelled of the incense that was being burned and offered. There were tables covered with lotus flowers, fruits, vegetables and other offerings. Here are a few images from the Temple. The waterfall is inside the temple grounds.
Okay, time to board for Beijing. More about the night market and Snake Alley later!

Day 3 - Can You Tell I'm a Tourist?

Today was our day to be full-fledged tourists. We started with a cab ride to the National Palace Museum. Let me say something first about the driving in Taiwan. It is no exaggeration to tell you that driving here is a contact sport. Imagine my embarrassment today when I grabbed the knee of one of my colleagues (male, mind you) in a moment of sheer panic. Generally we pile 4 into a cab and pray to make it safely to our destination. In addition to the usual aggressive driving that cabbies do, factor in hundreds upon hundreds of scooters and motorcycles that weave in and out of and between cars. They even have their own special area for stopping at intersections. Here are some pictures to give you a sense of what this is like.

Even though the cab rides are a bit scary, they are very cheap. We generally spend between 100 and 200 Taiwan dollars, with every 100 Taiwan dollars converting to about $3.20 in U.S. dollars.

At the National Palace Museum we had the most energetic tour guide I have ever seen. She talked fast, walked fast and often disappeared before we could catch up. We wore headphones with receivers to hear her voice, so we didn't need to be near her to listen to the presentation. I must admit that I found the museum a bit disappointing, largely because it was incredibly crowded. It was hard to see many of the artifacts, and even when you could see them, there really was no time to read the information. I did see some amazing pieces, however, and had a chance to tour the grounds and visit the Tranquility Garden. Here are some photos of the museum.
The area around the Palace Museum was incredible. Here is one view from the museum.
After our rather breathless visit here, we hopped in a cab and headed for the National Museum of History to see artifacts from the Terracotta Army of Qin Shihuangdi. We saw several life size terracotta figures of warriors and horses from Xian. I particularly wanted to see this exhibit since we won't be getting to Xian while in China.
After the National Museum, our small group took a walk through the adjacent botanical gardens. I don't need to tell you how lovely it was, just take a look at these pictures.
After the Botanical Gardens we headed back to the hotel to freshen up, and then went back out again for the evening. That tale must, however, wait another day. We just found out we must be packed and ready to go by 6:00 am. Even though I started writing at 9 pm, it is now almost 11 o'clock and I must pack and get some sleep. Tomorrow is a travel day, so when we arrive I will share the rest of my Saturday sightseeing tour with you. I'll catch up with you in Beijing. Goodnight!

Day 2 - (Almost) Nothing But Talk

Don't let the title fool you. I am, after all, an academic. I did come on this trip for largely educational purposes, so it should come as no surprise when I tell you that we spent nearly the entire day engaged in a series of meetings and discussion sessions. They speakers were very open, interesting and unafraid to give their honest opinions on some very tough issues.

Our first stop was the American Institute in Taiwan. The AIT was founded in 1978 when the United States moved its Embassy from Taiwan to mainland China. We met with the Defense Attache and other staffers to talk about security issues in Taiwan. The conversation was surprising and. For instance, did you know that the U.S. currently has active duty troops deployed in Taiwan? We did not. The reasons for the deployment are good ones, and the staff made strong arguments for the benefits of having them there. After this the Director of AIT, Stephen Young, came and met with us to answer additional questions about cross-strait relations between China and Taiwan.

We left AIT and went to meet Joanna Lei, a member of the Legislative Yuan. This is the 225 member legislative body in Taiwan. Taiwan has a unicameral legislature, so unlink the U.S. which has a Senate and House of Representatives, Taiwan has only one lawmaking body. We waited more than 30 minutes for her to meet with us, because shortly before our appointment, she was called to the floor for a vote and was required to appear. She was bright and enthusiastic and talked quite a bit about the current challenges to democracy in Taiwan. Taiwan was under martial law until 1987, so this is a very young democracy that is experiencing lots of growing pains. She is also a member of the KMT, or blue party, the political party that has been out of power since 2000.

After our meeting legislator Lei, we went to a very swanky hotel for lunch in a private room with the Director of the Department of Chinese Affairs for the DPP, or green party, the current ruling political party in Taiwan. We were treated to a 10 course meal that simply cannot be described. I stopped eating less than half-way through because there was simply too much food! We ate and talked for nearly 2 hours before leaving for our next meeting.

I'm sorry to say that the last meeting of the day was at 3 pm, the bewitching hour for me here in another time zone. The hours between 2 and 4 pm are very tough right now, so I'm afraid I had some difficulty keeping my eyes open. We arrived at the Chiang Ching-kuo foundation for International Scholarly Exchange at 3 pm to find Starbucks latte's waiting for everyone. STARBUCKS! I shouldn't have been surprised. We see one of these stores on nearly every other block we pass through. While the sign may look familiar, the menu inside is in Chinese, so you'd better know what you want and what they serve, or you're out of luck. Since I don't really drink coffee, asking for a grande hot chocolate is a piece of cake!

Our last stop of the day was at the Eslite Gallery to view the solo exhibition of Yeh Tzu-Chi. This artist lived and trained in the states for more than 10 years. Most of the landscapes were scenes from the U.S., including Niagara Falls, (OK, so this one is Canadian!), South Dakota, California and Maine. The artist, his wife and children rode a train for three hours to come to Taipei and meet us simply because they are friends of Vincent, the leader of our Faculty Seminar and a native of Taiwan. You can read about him and his work at Eslite Gallery: Tzu-Chi YEH. Here are two of his works.

After viewing the works we went to a cafe, drank tea and talked with the artist for a while.

All-in-all, we had a wonderful day. My roommate and I went for a short walk once we returned to the hotel. I did take one final picture of some of the amazing fruits at a local market. This one particularly caught my eye.
This large fruit is covered with thorns and has the reputation for being particularly smelly. In fact, the aroma of the durian is so pungent that travelers in Southeast Asia are forbidden from bringing them on airplanes or into hotels. It has been nicknamed the "King of Fruits" because of its large size. They certainly looked interesting, but I'm not sure I'm up for trying one. I will say that I have been eating a wide range of really delicious fruit. The pineapple has been particularly good.

Tomorrow is our day for sightseeing. We will visit at least two museums and will finally get to ride to the top of Taipei 101 to see the city from above. In the evening we will visit the night markets to finish out our day.

For the first time since arriving I will actually get to bed early, so I'll sign off now and wish you all a happy Friday. See you tomorrow!

Day 1 - NCCU and Democracy Hall

Our day today began at National Chengchi University with a lecture on Chinese calligraphy by Professor Tang Yi-Ming. After sharing some information with us on the beauty of Chinese characters, the styles of Chinese calligraphy, and mechanics of writing, he did a quick, demonstration and then let us try our hand at writing. Here is a picture of him writing a famous Tang Dynasty poem for us.

Here's my very poor attempt to write the word east in a variety of calligraphy styles. The top is seal script, the middle regular script, and the bottom two (from L to R) are running and cursive script.

After this we met with the folks from the Office of International Education and then with our faculty counterparts. I spent an hour speaking with Professor Chang, a lovely man who works to prepare Principals for public schools. After this we all went to lunch. Here is just some of the food we ate.
The meal was amazing and we all left stuffed. This was not a good thing, as we headed next to a lecture on Taiwan Politics, then one on Elections in Taiwan. After meeting with some staff members from the Institute for International Relations, we headed to Democracy Hall (formerly Chang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall) and an evening performance at the Concert Hall. Here are a few pictures. The picture of the Concert Hall is on top, with Democracy Hall on the bottom.
The evening performance was given by a spirited percussion group that not only played well, but injected a series of skits that can only be described as G-rated Benny Hill type material, with lots of slapstick using drums as props.

We ended the evening with a small group of us taking a walking tour around this section of the city. We saw the Presidential Palace, the old East Gate, the monument to 2-28, and some other sites in Peace Park. The most interesting and invigorating part of this tour was my walk across the Path of Health, a long stretch of stones that massaged (poked?) my feet in every place imaginable. This was a form of accupressure that worked remarkably well. Here is a picture of the statue of Confuscius we stopped to admire.

I do have more pictures and some other interesting tidbits to share, but now I'm off to bed. Last night I was so disoriented that I woke at 1:05 am, read the clock as 6 am, and got up and showered. When my roommate asked what I was doing so early, I could only plead exhaustion. I did manage to go back to sleep until the alarm woke us at 6. Here's hoping I get some sleep tonight and begin to adjust to being 12 hours ahead.

More tomorrow. Good night all!

Happily Arrived!

Greetings from Taipei. I have been traveling for nearly 28 hours, but have finally arrived at the hotel. It is very warm and humid here. It's odd that it is dark now, as we chased the sunlight for most of the trip. It wasn't until we boarded the final plane in Tokyo that it finally began to get dark.

The bus ride from the airport to downtown Taipei could have been a trip from any American airport. The buildings and roads, cars and buses look the same. It was a bit unsettling to see Chinese characters on signs and billboards and to realize that I have no idea what they say.

We begin our adventures bright and early tomorrow morning with a full day. My roommate and I have already had one misadventure. We arrived in our room only to realize that we could not make the lights work. We finally called housekeeping and a lovely woman came up to our room to show us that the room key needed to be inserted in a slot in the wall in order for any of the electrical items to work. Since we're operating on very little sleep, we'd like to think that better rested we would have figured this out, but I'm not so sure.

I'm off to bed, but please someone, call Ed and let him know I arrived safely. Please also give him the address to this site. He's not sure how to get it. I hope he'll figure it out before this trip is over!

More tomorrow!

**P.S. - For all my blogging friends, imagine my surprise when I logged on to find that all the icons and helpful menu words are in Chinese! Posting should be quite an adventure.

My China Itinerary

In 36 hours I take off for the first leg of my trip to Southeast Asia. Since this will probably be my last post before I leave, I thought I would share my itinerary. Where possible, I have provided some links so you can see where I'll be.

May 15th - Leave Richmond

May 16 - Arrive Taipei, Taiwan

May 17 - Day at National Chengchi University, late afternoon at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, evening performance at National Concert Hall

May 18 - Day at American Institute in Taiwan and meet with local officials, late afternoon visit to Yeh Tz-chi Exhibition at Eslite Gallery, evening at Taipei 101 (world's tallest building) and Eslite Books

May 19 - Morning at the National Palace Museum, afternoon at the Yingge Pottery Museum, evening at the Long Shan Temple and Night Market

May 20 - Breakfast with Ma Ying-jeou, KMT presidential candidate, depart for Beijing

May 21 - Morning at Beijing University or meeting with Beijing Olympic Committee, afternoon in the Forbidden City

May 22 - Morning at the Great Wall of China, afternoon at Beijing Normal University

May 23 - Morning at Tsinghua University School of Journalism and U.S. Embassy, afternoon visit to the Temple of Heaven, evening touring Houhai district by pedicab

May 24 - Morning visit to SiJiQing Commune, afternoon visit to Summer Palace

May 25 - Travel to Lhasa, Tibet

May 26 - Morning at Tibet University, afternoon in the old town of Lhasa and the marketplace in Barhkor Street

May 27 - Morning at Potala Palace and Sera Monastery, afternoon visit to a traditional Tibetan hospital

May 28 - Day at Yamdrok Lake (holy lake) with picnic, visit with Tibetan family

May 29 - Travel to Kunming, afternoon at Yunnan Normal University

May 30 - Day in the Stone Forest and visit to local minority nationality village

May 31 - Morning at YunNan University, travel to Shanghai, night cruise on Huangpu River

June 1 - Day at Fudan University and Shanghai Institute of International Studies

June 2 - Day at Xitang Water town

June 3 - Morning and early afternoon in Old Town of Shanghai and at Shanghai Museum, depart for Richmond

That's all for now. Hopefully the next time you visit, I'll be writing from China.

What Am I Reading These Days?

A meme has been making the rounds in the kidlitosphere that I have sadly been ignoring. Elaine at the Wild Rose Reader tagged several folks at the end of her response to this question. She ended by saying "I would have tagged Tricia at The Miss Rumphius Effect--but she's too busy getting ready for her big adventure!"

While I have been getting ready for China, I have spent nearly every waking minute of free time reading student work. When I am overwhelmed with work like this, I find it hard to read anything that requires me to engage for any length of time, so I generally read poetry and cookbooks. I still read to William every night, but I don't count my read-alouds to him as my books (though I probably could). So, here's what I have been reading in fits and starts this week while working on my grades.

Poetry

• all the small poems and fourteen more by Valerie Worth
• Immersed in Verse: An Informative, Slightly Irreverent & Totally Tremendous Guide to Living the Poet's Life by Allan Wolf
• The Teachers & Writers Handbook of Poetic Forms edited by Ron Padgett - (I've been reading this for a while and experimenting weekly with writing different forms of poetry.)

Cookbooks

• The Dairy Hollow House Cookbook by Jan Brown and Cresent Dragonwagon - I received this as a shower gift 13 years ago and I still pull it out regularly for inspiration and a great read.
• Starting With Ingredients: Quintessential Recipes for the Way We Really Cook by Aliza Green - This was a Christmas gift from my husband. I pull it out when I see something new at the farmer's market and want to experiment with a new recipe.

Even though my reading has been a bit thin in the last two weeks, I am looking forward to making up for it with a terrific group of titles while on my trip. I have been saving the new edition of The Horn Book Magazine, even though it's been hard! I will be taking two beloved favorites, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons. I also decided to try some audio titles, so I'll be listening to War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy and Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen. Finally, I am looking forward to reading a few new titles, including American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang, An Imperfect Lens by Anne Roiphe and Waiting by Ha Jin.

Thanks to all the folks who recommended books for my trip. Those titles that aren't making the trip with me will make an appearance during MotherReader's Second Annual 48-Hour Book Challenge.

What Does Your Art Say About You? - Drawing Personality Test

I am taking a break from grading (yes, I'm STILL at it) to share this little bit of really bad artwork with you. Take the drawing personality test and find out what your art says about you. Keep in mind that drawing with a mouse is really hard, but the analysis of the work is fascinating. Here's my picture.

The results of my analysis say:

• You tend to pursue many different activities simultaneously. When misfortune does happen, it doesn't actually dishearten you all that much.
• You are a direct and forthright person. You like to get to the core of the issue right away, with few signs of hesitation.
• You are creative, mentally active and industrious.
• You have a sunny, cheerful disposition.

In many ways, this describes a great number of the elementary classroom teachers I know, and really, it's not a bad description of me. Go on, take the test, and find out what your drawing says about YOU.

Happy Birthday to Peter Sis

Peter Sis was born on this day in 1949 in Czechoslovakia. He attended the Academy of Applied Arts in Prague and the Royal College of Art in London. In 1982 he traveled to Los Angeles to work on a film project about the Olympic Games. When Eastern block countries decided to boycott the games, Peter was called home, but did not return. He was granted asylum and began his new life in the US.

I am a great fan of the work of Peter Sis. I absolutely adore The Tree of Life: Charles Darwin, an amazingly beautiful and different look at the life of Charles Darwin. I continue to be captivated with the story and illustrations in Tibet: Through the Red Box. You can view an animated excerpt of this amazing work on Peter's web site.

Peter was recognized for his inspired and unique work with a much deserved MacArthur Fellowship in 2003. “The MacArthur Fellows Program is designed to emphasize the importance of the creative individual in society. Fellows are selected for the originality and creativity of their work and the potential to do more in the future.”

Please head on over to Peter's site and check out his amazing body of work. While you're there, think happy thoughts and send a mental greeting his way. Happy birthday, Peter!

Poetry Friday - Poems of Du Fu

Since I will be leaving for China in just 4 short days, I have been reading Chinese poetry in my spare time. This week I am reading the poems of Du Fu, a man generally regarded as the finest of the classical Chinese poets. Here are three poems I particularly like.

Welcome Rain on a Spring Night
The good rain knows its season,
When spring arrives, then it comes.
It follows the wind secretly into the night,
And moistens all things softly, without sound.
On the country road, the clouds are all black,
On the river, the single fire on a boat is bright.
At dawn one sees this place now red and wet,
The flowers are heavy in the brocade city.

In Late Sun, the River and Hills are Beautiful
In late sun, the river and hills are beautiful,
The spring breeze bears the fragrance of flowers and grass.
The mud has thawed, and swallows fly around,
On the warm sand, mandarin ducks are sleeping.

Enjoying Flowers Walking Alone on a Riverbank (2)
At Huang Si's house, flowers fill the path,
Myriad blossoms press the branches low.
Constantly dancing butterflies stay to play,
Unrestrained, the lovely orioles cry.

To read more poems by Du Fu, visit the Chinese Poems web site. Happy poetry Friday, all!

Another New Online Cataloging Tool - Shelfari

I have been using and loving LibraryThing since December. (See this post, and this one.) I am slowly cataloging my teaching library and have found this site a good way to share resources with students and teachers. Today I discovered Shelfari. This site makes it easy to see what others are reading, get and give book recommendations, and discuss books and authors by starting or joining book groups.
Here's a quick peak at my bookshelf.

I started by adding just a few of my books to see how it worked. I selected a couple of authors with multiple books in my collection and searched by their names. Adding titles was a piece of cake. Then I realized that you can import your entire library using a simple text file. I generated one from LibraryThing, uploaded it, and it was done! Wow! I just added more than 500 books in under one minute! While it is not as customizable as LibraryThing, I do like the whole book group idea. I'm going to play with this a bit more (when I come back from China, no more time now) before I pass judgment.

Do head on over and try it yourself. Once you've experimented, I'd love to hear your thoughts about it. Finally, if you do join Shelfari, please be sure to add me as a friend. I'm pstohrkidlit.

Thanks to the Buried Editor for the link.

Take the Geography Challenge

Alright folks, I'm finally making some headway in my grading and decided to take a break for a few minutes to have some fun. How about joining me for a little interlude? We can exercise our brain cells together.

Let's see how well you know the geography of the United States. Click on the page below for a quick quiz. You must drag and drop the 48 contiguous states in the time allotted to be promoted to the 4th grade. Ready? Set . . . Go!

Geography Quiz

I did it with time to spare! Can you? My strategy was to work around the coastlines and then fill in those pesky states in the middle. I was left with the two that still confuse me, Nebraska and Kansas. Given all the bad weather happening in Kansas these days, you'd think I'd know which was which by now. Go on, give it a try!

Focus on Children, Not Testing

The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) has issued a new report entitled The Learning Compact Redefined: A Call to Action. Here is an excerpt.

Current educational practice and policy focus overwhelmingly on academic achievement. This achievement, however, is but one element of student learning and development and only a part of any complete system of educational accountability.

Together, these elements support the development of a child who is healthy, knowledgeable, motivated, and engaged.

To develop the whole child requires that

Communities provide

• Family support and involvement.
• Government, civic, and business support and resources.
• Volunteers and advocates.
• Support for their districts’ coordinated school health councils or other collaborative structures.

Schools provide

• Challenging and engaging curriculum.
• Adequate professional development with collaborative planning time embedded within the school day.
• A safe, healthy, orderly, and trusting environment.
• High‐quality teachers and administrators.
• A climate that supports strong relationships between adults and students.
• Support for coordinated school health councils or other collaborative structures that are active in the school.

Teachers provide

• Evidence‐based assessment and instructional practices.
• Rich content and an engaging learning climate.
• Student and family connectedness.
• Effective classroom management.
• Modeling of healthy behaviors.

This report is all about changing the focus of our conversations to what is best for children, and recognizing that the continued emphasis solely on tests and test scores is not enough. Take just a few minutes to read this report. It's time for a change.

Celebrating Tana Hoban

Tana Hoban was born on this day in 1924. Long before she began writing and illustrating books for children, she was a well-known photographer. A master of the concept book, many of them wordless, Hoban created books on a variety of subjects including the alphabet, numbers, shapes, sizes, colors, opposites and animals. Many of her early books were in black-and-white, but the more recent works are in color.

Hoban once said of her work, “I like to draw the child into my photographs and say, ‘Come closer, take another look,’ and most important, ‘See everything!’”

Some of my favorite works by this amazing author/illustrator include:

• So Many Circles, So Many Squares
• Shapes, Shapes, Shapes
• Circles, Triangles and Squares - This one is out of print, but you may be able to find it in your school or public library.
• Is It Larger? Is It Smaller?

Ms. Hoban died in January, 2006 at the age of 88. You can read a wonderful tribute to her in the article Tana Hoban: She Made You Look Again and Again, courtesy of The Horn Book Magazine.

Books for Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

The May/June issue of LibrarySparks arrived in my mailbox today. There are many features in this issue supporting Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. Take a look at this terrific Table of Contents. Each month in the column So Many Books ... So Little Time, the news on children’s books is shared by the experts at the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC). This month's article is entitled, Asian Pacific American Voices. Here is an excerpt.

At the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC), we document the books we receive annually that are by and about people of color. Last year, we received about 3,000 newly published books that CCBC. Of those, we counted sixty-five about Asian Pacific and Asian Pacific Americans. Many were formula nonfiction books about specific countries--titles that may be handy for reports, but offer children few opportunities for engagement. And it doesn't take significant math skills to calculate that sixty-five books out of 3,000 won't go far in representing the diversity of the many different ethnic groups comprising Asian Pacific heritage.

While this introduction presents some disturbing news, the article does a fine job highlighting Asian Pacific American writers whose "fresh voices join a number of writers who have been creating books for years, providing readers with a slowly but ever-increasing number of stories and perspectives." A few of my FAVORITE authors and illustrators are listed here. They include:

• Lisa Yee
• Grace Lin
• Linda Sue Park
• Janet Wong

There are others listed, and I was introduced to few authors new to me, including Kashmira Sheth. However, I was greatly disappointed to see that Mitali Perkins, author of the fabulous books Monsoon Summer and Rickshaw Girl, is MISSING!

The Curriculum Connections article contains background information about Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and includes an annotated bibliography, web sites, games, activities, discussion ideas and more. Sadly, no works by Mitali Perkins appear here either. :(

Despite this glaring omission, there is still a wealth of useful resources in this issue, including a terrific Meet the Author column on Lowis Lowry. If you would like to learn more, you can sign up for a free sample issue.

An A in Procrastination

Since I am well on my way to earning an A in one of my best subjects, let me take a moment to point you to an article on the expanded use of comics in reading. While I cringe at the notion of graphic novels and comic books on equal footing, I do applaud the use of varied genres for ALL readers, not just the reluctant ones. Here is an excerpt.

Maryland's top education official is recommending that Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse start sharing the limelight with classic fiction in classrooms throughout the state.

Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick, an Archie fan in her youth, tried out comics in third-grade classrooms in eight elementary schools across the state last year. The experiment was so well-received that she will announce today that she wants to expand the use of graphic novels and comic strips to middle schools.

"We never said this program would supplant ... our regular basic reading program," Grasmick said, "but it could provide a huge motivation for some of our students."

On a related note, Free Comic Book Day was a big hit in my house. William came home with 4 comic books, including Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Little Archie. We've read them all. What fun!

Learning in the Great Outdoors: Second Edition

Alone on a Limb has just published A Nature Walk at School, the second carnival of environmental education. This edition begins with a little research in the library (including a link to a series by yours truly), heads out the garden door for a look at poison ivy, trees, nature study groups and more, reminds you not to forget your camera as you take in the sites, and finishes back inside with a look at some web sites for great new ideas.

If you are interested in outdoor education for a traditional classroom setting, the homeschool crowd, or are just plain interested in nature, click on over for a real treat.

Awash in Paper

Good Morning Friends!

My apologies for not writing recently, but I am drowning in final projects, portfolios, exams and papers. As soon as my grading is done (please pray it will be soon), I'll be back. I promise.

While you're here, let me remind you that I leave in 8 short days for Taiwan, China and Tibet. It will take nearly 24 hours to get to Taipei, given that we are flying a route that takes us from Richmond to Chicago to Tokyo to Taipei. We leave at 9:30 am on May 15 and arrive in Taipei at 9:58 pm on May 16. So, my first post from Taipei will probably the evening of May 17th. (Don't forget I'll be 12 hours ahead of EST). Our first day will be spent at NCCU, where we will begin with a lesson on Chinese calligraphy. While at the University we will meet with faculty members in our respective specialties, attend a lecture on Taiwan politics and visit the Election Center. Later in the afternoon we will tour the Mao Kong district and be treated to a tea tasting. Our first day will end with a visit to Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall for an evening performance by a percussionist troupe at the National Theatre. WOW!

I hope you'll join me here as I share my experiences. I will return on June 3rd, just in time to join in MotherReader's Second Annual 48-Hour Book Challenge, if I can manage to stay awake! I promised MR that I would contribute a prize for this little shindig, so I will be bringing something back from my whirlwind tour. I don't know what it will be yet, but I can assure you that even though it will be small enough to fit in my suitcase, it will definitely be something fabulous!

That's all for now. I'll be back when grades are posted. I'm sure you'll hear me singing when that time arrives.