No Gradebook? What!

No crazy pictures for you today, but there is a site with many crazy pictures on it. I guess most of these are legit from what I have seen around here. Engrish.com provides mainly Japanese signs, but some China and other Asian countries. Not to promote the website in any way for purposes of making fun at these places, but it is interesting to see translation difficulties. I can't write the first Chinese character, and doubt I'll ever be able to. We've ordered the Rosetta Stone to help with the oral language. We've ordered Chinese Mandarin, but for many that do not know, there are dozens of variations of the Chinese oral language. Written Chinese keeps the country unified, but Mandarin would not be understood in many parts of China.

We learned today more about the scoring system for our school. Like I mentioned before, they use a "nothing below an A or a B. We have assessments at the end of each unit. 10 units total, 10 assessments, 10 grades. That is it, 10 grades only. For educators reading this, have you ever been able to predict what a student will make in your class after one month based on their performance and willingness to do the work? Have you ever wished you had additional time for that particular unit. Pacing in most U.S. schools becomes demanding because of the standardized tests which must be administered. With no standardized tests mandatory, our students will be able to pace themselves each unit and complete it with mastery before moving on. Sure, we can give those students who refuse a grade of a "D" which means "deficient," but those cases are few and far between from what we understand.

What does this translate into? No set gradebook and many hours of averaging grades, putting them into the computer and numbers crunching. Either the student mastered the unit with exceptional work and knowledge with an A, or mastered the unit with above average work and knowledge and receive a B. We establish the rubrics and elements of assessing that mastery.

I think it sounds pretty cool and allows the teacher flexibility. No worry on percentages or giving students nothing less than a 50 (hello Bartow County).

I was really excited today when they discussed traveling today. Jamie and I are going to discuss and probably book our first vacation (last week of September and first of October) very soon. We're undecided, but the possibilities are endless. Strongly considering Thailand first. I get downright giddy thinking about it.

Much more on our school, but too much to type for one post. We've spent a great deal of time discussing our health care plan, travel, salary stuff, etc. Our administration wants everyone to be relieved of all personal matters so we can solely focus on teaching before the year begins. I'm continually impressed with our Director. His experience in international teaching makes him perfect for this job, but his administrative skill would be an absolute incredible asset to any school system in the U.S.

Have a great Wednesday America. Most of you will waking up soon. Keep reading and let me know if you have any questions.

2 More Days

Jamie and I spent the morning with some co-workers at our Director's house eating pancakes. It was delicious and we thank the cooks and hosts. The rest of the day was spent walking around Shekou's mall, a trip to Wal-Mart, and watching quite a bit of the Olympics. I'm sure that most of you will see the coverage tonight including Michael Phelps Olympic record in his 1st 400 individual medley heat by basically going half speed. I'm not much of a swimmer, but Phelps far exceeds the dominance of Tiger Woods and Roger Federer in their respective sports. Be sure to check out some of the swimming this Olympics. An athlete like Phelps only comes around once every 50 years or so with his dominance at that level.

Jamie and I start work on Monday with pre-planning for new teachers to QSI. We are looking forward to it, but have enjoyed our summer preparing for China and the last 9 days in China. We are settling in quite nicely and really enjoying it. The people are nice, it is easy to get around, and we learn a little bit more each day concerning where to go and what to do. We've heard that we might get our full work visas at the end of the month which will enable us to go into Hong Kong.

I have done some research on Slingbox. For those who do not know what Slingbox is, it is a way for you to watch you television away from home via the Internet. For us, we'll buy the Slingbox and have someone at home connect it to their television and Internet router. We'll then be able to access their television shows and mainly the college football games this fall. I'll let you all know if we get it and if it works well. It has gotten pretty good reviews, so we'll see.

We have also checked into the Rosetta Stone for Mandarin Chinese. It is quite expensive, but should be worth it as we try and learn the language. We've heard that the Rosetta Stone works very well. We'll see. I'm gonna begin another slide show at the bottom of blog. Some of the early pictures will be of some blueberry Extra gum, a Sprite can, me sporting my UT visor, Wal-Mart, a fast food Chinese restaurant, and some more Chinese English translation signs. Not sure if I can add captions to them or not, so just shoot me an email if you have any questions. By the way, Jamie and I ate at Garwon, a Chinese fast food restaurant today for $2.50. Sweet! It is just right out our apartment door too. I guess if times get tough, there will always be that place. Have a good day America!