October 17th, 2006

Today is the last official day of the conference. Although I miss TBA and all of you-I am very happy I took the chance to come here and meet all of these wonderful people. It has certainly opened up my mind as to what is possible in education and what role collectively we can all play. We had summary sessions in the am and I co-presented with H.R. from Hong Kong. In the afternoon we made the trek to the Great Wall---and I climbed, and climbed. It was breathtaking--incredible to think that it was made by man ---pictures can better describe than I ever could--but I feel so blessed to have had the experience.

This group has grown so close to one another in a short time. I am happy that many of my colleagues from here will be attending the Boston conference on November 2nd through 4th. I have arranged for a group of TBA students to meet a group of UK students who will be coming to the conference. I also hope some of our teachers have the chance to go to the conference to meet colleagues and discuss ways to collaborate. I am convinced that for our students and teachers---opening up other parts of the world and gaining knowlegde and experience of how other cultures educate and live is critical. I am so happy that Mr. Malanga and Mr. Ensdorf had the vision and energy last year to give 15 of our graduates the chance to see and experience another part of the world and its history. I hope for the seniors reading this--it will give you incentive to fundraise so that you too can experience some of this.

I miss you all and look forward to seeing you Friday. Love Mrs. Skipper:)

Tuesday October 17, 2006

I cant describe how many bicycles there are on the roads here. There are thousands of people riding bicycles every day. Unfortunately because of all of the factories and overcrowded conditions in Beijing--there is also a tremendous amount of pollution. It does not clear up in the morning until after 11 am--much like the West Coast of the US. Today was another amazing day of talks. One professor in particular David Hopkins impressed me very much with his thoughts of systems leadership---it gave me some things to think about for back in Boston.

We actually eat three meals a day here. For breakfast, I generally have some vegetables, fruit, and soup--sometimes an egg. For lunch, it is a mixture of rice, some meat dishes, vegetables and soup. Dinner varies---but always includes some delicious dishes of vegetable and meat mixtures. The food is bright in color--great to taste--and light to eat. I have not felt hungry or full--just right.

Tonight we went to a special cultural event put on by a middle school choir with dancers. The kids were amazing. They played instruments, sang beautifully, and danced in ways that were breathtaking. Tomorrow is the final formal day of conference and once again I have to present and am nervous. I feel blessed to have made connections with so many people here. They are so impressed with everyone back at TBA. A big piece of my presentation was about school and our amazing staff and kids. I have so many school leaders who want our kids and their kids to correspond and meet--and the same at teacher level.

I am including pictures from the night event and some of the awesome leaders at the conference.

Monday October 16, 2006

At the end of yesterday I had to speak along side three other principals from South Africa, Australia and England. The entire International delegation was treated like royalty by our Chinese hosts. The event was well organized and had dual translation in English and Chinese. Participants wore headsets so that they could understand the various speakers. I have to admit I was VERY nervous before speaking. The audience was intimidating because there were so many people from so many countries who are just amazing leaders. The four of us speaking developed a bond of support which held through the remainder of the conference. Maragaret from Australia, Charles from South Africa and Michael from the U.K. all did a fantastic job as they talked about their vision of school leadership in the future. I hope I represented TBA well---we did get quite a few invitations to visit and to be visited:)

The first day of conference session went well. The most difficult part was adjusting to the sleep or lack of sleep piece. The day and night are flip flopped from Boston--but all in all I feel okay. We had excellent Chinese speakers for the first part of the day and then broke into International groupings to discuss issues. It is amazing how similar the issues are around the world: achievement gaps; teacher shortage; old models of education which do not put teachers and students at the center; political mingling in education. I am learning a tremendous amount from my colleagues. I also have an entirely new view as to what it means to come into a country without knowing the language and have to manage. There is very little English spoken here because we are an hour south of downtown Beijing. By the way---if we think Boston is crowed with its 1 million people---try 15 million in Beijing:)

I have attached some pictures of the first day of the conference. There is one of my friend William from South Africa--great passion and heart--and Leona from Hong Kong.

Day One- Sunday October 15, 2006

Hi everyone. The plane flight was VERY long--14 hours. I arrived in Beijing at 1:45 pm China time which is exactly 12 hours ahead of Boston time- so it felt like 1:45 am for me. I have been so impressed with how polite and helpful people are here in China. The airport- unlike Logan- is well organized and efficient. Today- Sunday we had a special invitation to attend the 25th anniversary of the National Association of Educational Exchange in China. Education here is well respected and the event is considered very special. China would like to do more exchange with other countries to learn how other countries approach teaching and learning. There were so many people at the event---hundreds and hundreds of buses. However, only 200 or so people were allowed inside of the Great Hall--which is like our White House. Our delegation- which has principals from 14 different countries were allowed to be in the picture with the special Chinese delegation. I have included a few pictures of the Great Hall and event.

The hotel room is simple but efficient with all the needed amenities. I have included a picture looking out from the hotel. We are staying about 1 hour south of Beijing in an industrial area. By the way---the food is awesome. Lots of vegetables and soup---little meat--which is fine with me:)