ESL "workshop"

This morning (& on a SATURDAY), we went to the Macau tower for a workshop being put on by Oxford University Press. We were somewhat unsure as to what this would be like as the teachers kept encouraging us to go simply for the free dictionary. That should have been a red flag.. there are always catches to free stuff. Because my navigation skills are just stellar... we got on the wrong bus & headed to the border (which is the farthest point north in Macau) instead of the Macau tower, which is the farthest point south! haha... so I am officially off navigation duty & have passed that role over to Hong :) We ended up having to get off the bus at the border, get right back on & re-pay. Oh well... we got there in time! There were lots of little breakfast snacks, danishes & tea before we went into the seminar, which were quite delicious!! It made me miss Canadian breakfasts... when I get home, I am going to have the HUGEST breakfast humanly possible with lots of fruit, pemeal (sp??) bacon, eggs, tomatoes... mmm.. my mouth is salivating.

We were signed up for the New Magic! English seminar, and there were also ones for Math & Chinese (all elementary, high school in the afternoon). Funny enough (but expected), the seminar was all in Chinese... and it wasn't so much as an education workshop or seminar that I've been to in Canada, as it was a 2 hour infomercial for New Magic! English & Oxford University Press, in Chinese. It was interesting to see the new material being marketed, and see the similarities between what our school is using (Longman - Welcome to English, 2003) & New Magic! which is a 2009 edition (but also separate publishers). This new program uses more songs, dramas, poems, group activities/conversations than does our Longman textbooks... but even if our school was to invest in this newer English packet, I think that it wouldn't change anything. CDSJ will still have the same objectives, outcomes & forms of assessment despite the program they choose to market. The students will still be required to memorize & regurgitate according to the assessment strategies that are favored. I think what is missing in CDSJ & this New Magic! is a diverse selection of ways to assess students. If this New Magic! wants students to perform dramas or sing songs, then these should be considered as an oral mark for example. If students are making a comic strip based on a story they read in class, then this should be a part of their writing assessment. Versus currently, and even in this New Magic! packet, students are still assessed in their schools via unit tests, dictations, listening comprehension tests, etc. Any projects, performances, class participation, etc isn't factored into their final mark. Anyways... I'm glad I had this time at the workshop b/c it made me think about some of these things further.

There were a few other teachers from CDSJ, but they came quite late as they had lessons in the morning.

Fun fact - Macau tower has the highest bungee jump in the world. Interested?

Going to mainland tomorrow with some of the students & need to get a paper written for the uni & an article written for CDSJ's newsletter - busy busy... queen of procrastination :)