Hi everyone - it's very late - Friday 26 March. Today was the conference - teachers were all up very early having breakfast by 6.45 am having handed in their presentations for the translator to preview.
Definitely pretty tense for many as this was way out of people's comfort zone and the stress was tangible - teachers checking their notes for the umpteenth time and generally hanging around not really talking.
Four people to a taxi to the hotel hosting the event and into a room full of Chinese people eagerly awaiting to hear what we had to say - pens poised and video cameras ready.
Uploading the presentations onto the laptop took a while and although the Chinese teacher helping me didn't want me to rename the presentations with the appropriate school name I had to insist - the last thing I wanted was for a teacher to have to search for their one in front of a hushed audience! Of course using a laptop in China isn't straight forward as it's all in Chinese!!
Of course it all went brilliantly (I knew it would) and the Chinese professionals were hanging onto every word. Redbridge teachers did themselves proud and clearly demonstrated their expertise and abilities to deliver and make the curriculum accessible for the range of pupils that we cater for. Think at last they realise how highly skilled they are.
What a successful culmination to the week's activities - the relief was palpable - we then had lunch which was hosted by the Beijing District. Teachers were now free for a few hours to have a well earned break. Dinner this evening was great - very relaxed, lots of laughs but also lots of discussion about pedagogy and all the stories and happenings that had taken place throughout the week.
Good night
Annette Carlon
Redbridge Secondary ICT Consultant
Redbridge Secondary ICT Consultant
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