Micah Sittig

Stamps of Disapproval

These make me cringe, but are worth a chuckle:

Two yaer-old cutie

Lately Maryann has taken to shuffling around the house with both of her feet in a swimming ring. Not sure why. She's also being very picky about what she eats, and has a bad cold that Charlotte is just recovering from.

Maryann's song in the taxi coming home from 2-for-1 burgers at Blue Frog on Monday night, to the tune of the first two lines of Happy Birthday, over and over:

Happy to you 快乐
Happy to you 快乐

Over and over.

E-bike shopping troubles

We ran around to a couple places looking at e-bikes today, but came home with only some groceries and a tummy full of Sbarros and Hunanese food. The main problem is that we really want a solid bike with a quality child-seat on the back. The problem is that the seats we scoped out online all seem to fit bicycles and bicycle-style e-bikes only, and larger e-bikes don't have solid structures on the back that could support a toddler in a child-seat. Tomorrow we're going to make one more trip to Carrefour and then decide. If it comes down to it, we may just buy the bike we like and have the local e-/motobike shop jimmy-rig the seat onto the bike using some solid bars and bolts.

After a day of thinking and searching on Taobao, we decided to just buy a bike that works for us and then use a "safety belt" for Maryann. We chose a 都市风-brand bike from the Zhangjiang Carrefour, and have ordered a double-lock seat belt from Taobao. Jodi will be riding the bike solo to-and-from work this week and then will take Maryann once she starts school on September 1. She already rode the bike home from Carrefour this evening.

The reasons we chose this particular bike are:

It is large enough to feel safe, but small enough to be maneuverable.
It has a long seat so it can easily fit two adults.
The frame on the back is solidly connected to the bike, so we have the option of switching to a child-seat if we decide it's safer than the seatbelt.
It has two half-size batteries instead of one large battery. This makes them more of a pain to get out and requires two chargers, but it makes them easier to carry upstairs at night.
The batteries are 48V 20HA, which give it an average range for an ebike.

And that's about it. I will keep this blog updated with news about the bike.

"The greatest teacher of them all"

Jiang Xueqin in The Diplomat:

Now that I’m in Beijing I often wonder if it’s possible to build a strong educational programme in the imperial capital of guanxi. To counter guanxi, which is essentially about leveraging one’s personal network, I thought it best at Peking University High School to emphasize process over people. So we instituted a policy that to enter the International Division, students must enroll in a week-long admissions camp.

This is a really over-the-top (in a great way) method for dealing with high school admissions. Somebody on Google Reader tried to defend guanxi in contexts other than this article, but the way I see it guanxi is a transaction that benefits some parties and has negative externatlities for many more others. For me, then, it's a no go.

Creative interpretation

A couple days ago when I picked up Charlotte and Maryann from daycare, Charlotte started talking about a rocket. So we talked about taking a rocket to the Moon and to other stars and how the stars would be very hot because they're like fire.

Then as we were walking home, she started singing the "rocket" song that she and her classmates had learned that day:

"We will, we will
Rock-it, rock-it!

So when we got home I pulled up Queen on Google Music and rocked it together.

First time in daycare

For the past three days Charlotte and Maryann have been going to daycare at a place near our house called 虹越瑞, next to the Taiwanese C-store market and cafe. They will transfer to their real preschools in September. It's been fun for me because the school has the requirement that teachers call each parent at lunchtime and give them an update on the child's morning, and then talk to the parent in the afternoon at 4:30 about lunch and naptime. So I know almost immediately that Charlotte hasn't been eating her lunches, and that Maryann is napping normally now that she is used to the new environment. Even though teaching high school should be very different from daycare, it's something to think about and inspire my own communication with parents.

Daddy can't speak Chinese

Charlotte is taking a bath, I'm on the toilet in our master bathroom. Charlotte wants to finish up and calls to me.

Charlotte:: Daddy! Daddy!
Jodi:: Daddy在上厕所，我帮你叫他过来; 老公，你快点出来，莎丽要洗完澡
Micah:: OK, just a sec.
Charlotte:: 妈妈，Daddy不会讲中文，Daddy只会讲英文，他只会讲英文
Jodi:: OK, I can use English to call Daddy to help you take a bath.
Charlotte:: OK!; (A while passes.); 妈妈，你用英文去交Daddy，好吗

I wonder if she really thinks I don't speak Chinese. I did pretend not to understand once today, maybe that created the impression.

Two sites for teachers

There are two websites that I found today that caught my attention. First was a website recommended by Frank Noschese, a physics teacher from New York that I read on Twitter. It is a set of Scientific Abilities defined by Rutgers University that he picks a couple from to practice during each lab.

Rubric Scientific Abilities (Revised 02/18/2008)

A Ability to represent information in multiple ways

B Ability to design and conduct an observational experiment

C Ability to design and conduct a testing experiment

D Ability to design and conduct an application experiment

F Ability to communicate scientific ideas

G Ability to collect and analyze experimental data

H Ability to engage in divergent thinking

I Ability to evaluate models, equations, solutions, and claims

Rubric	Scientific Abilities (Revised 02/18/2008)
A	Ability to represent information in multiple ways
B	Ability to design and conduct an observational experiment
C	Ability to design and conduct a testing experiment
D	Ability to design and conduct an application experiment
F	Ability to communicate scientific ideas
G	Ability to collect and analyze experimental data
H	Ability to engage in divergent thinking
I	Ability to evaluate models, equations, solutions, and claims

I had been planning to do something similar this year: make a list of all the skills I want my kids to learn during their labs this year, and check them off as we go through the year. This list is a little more abstract than I had been thinking because it deals with higher order thinking skills. It will take creativity figure out how to apply these.

Another website is the Hong Kong Association for Educational Communications and Technology (HKAECT), which has announced a "Multiliteracies for the 21st Century: Education, Communication and Technology" conference to take place in November. Maybe that can be my birthday present? I e-mailed about registration but got an automated vacation message in response, so I'll wait until August 25 for more information.

Great feats

We had pig feet for dinner tonight at a place in Zhangjiang town, and they were a little spicy but delicious.

But we decided to pass on the Zombination.

Be afraid…

This is my summer

So far this summer I've had one week-long class on Research in Teaching & Learning. It's nice being in the student's seat again; the change in perspective always lets me see new things about my teaching.

If you're interested in being a part of another possible University of Oklahoma Masters in Education cohort at SMIC School in Shanghai (open to anybody, not just school faculty) please get in contact with me: msittig@gmail.com