As I look back over another year in Shanghai I realise I have spent more time in this city than in any other place as an adult. Working for over six years in one school, getting married to a local, buying an appartment in a working class Chinese neighbourhood and raising a ‘joint foreign enterprise’ child are approximate to laying down roots. However, I am still a foreigner and will always be somewhat alien even if I become really really good at giving taxi directions and wielding chopsticks.

School time operates much like a carousel. You get relaxed spells during winter and summer holidays interspersed with unrelenting weeks of busy pressure as if one is running a sprint and a marathon at the same time. However busy it gets during term time, I always know that teaching in an international school is a lot more engaging than teaching disinterested Bristol yoof and eventually the carousel will turn to reveal the next holiday. I’ve survived before and I can do it again.

But, I also take heart from the awareness that I need to thrive in order to survive. I enjoy my job and sometimes I am even quite good at it. It’s easy to get stale and complacent after several years working at the same post, but I am fortunate to get fresh impetus from the energy and passion of colleagues. I was fortunate to be play a small supportive role in the Learning 2.010 Shanghai education technology conference at Concordia in September (http://www.learning2.asia). One major outcome of this conference was to ignite discussions within our department about the way to allow ICT to break out across the curriculum by working more closely with other subjects. The impetus came from my colleague Adriaan and it looks like we have some momentum to move forward.

I am more of a tinkerer than an advocate. Our department has been using Moodle as a tool to share resources and activities for more than three years. I started using Moodle when I was still in the UK and it struck during my first years in China that the crippled state of the Internet required us to build our own walled garden where we could curate, host and share learning resources.  Moodle would have remained a pet project of the ICT department, but two years ago Nick and Adriaan helped to push it forward.

First, we persuaded the school bosses to give us  a server to play with so we could make Moodle available to the wider school community. Then the prospect of a swine flu outbreak made it necessary to provide a digital backup plan for learning to continue in the event of school closure, which fortunately did not materialise. Still, the foundation of the facility took root thanks to Nick’s tireless enthusiasm until it became firmly established in the school’s culture by the beginning of this academic year.

Jake was still a baby this time last year. It has been amazing to see him grow and develop week by week throughout 2010. My online behaviour has been rather reticent during the last year, except for occasional video posts showing off Jake on Facebook. He is a fearless little boy who takes great delight in showing off his physical prowess whenever he can. By the time he was ten months old, he was already walking very well.  We cam back to the UK for a month in July. Our highlights included witnessing him mount John’s stairs without any help whatsoever and laughing with glee while filling his nappy in front of an assembly of geriatric scrabble players. Since our return to China, Jake’s hair has become increasingly wild and curly while his daring exploits at the local KFC slide has followed suit. In short, Jake is a little action man who loves the ELC music DVD and a fickle succession of reading books about animals and monsters ranging from Maurice Sendak to Julia Donaldson. We spent a few days before Christmas in Hainan Island. Jake was ecstatic when encountering the beach, the swimming pool and any escalator. It’s been a delight to watch him grow up this year from a baby into a proper little boy.

Shanghai Expo opened its doors at the beginning of May. Where we lazy or ungracious for choosing not to go. I enjoyed the spactacle of the architecture from the bridge on my way to school every morning. Shanghai was certainly a better place to live during the six months of the exposition, but I did not fancy the idea of queuing up for hours in the sweltering heat to spend fifteen minutes in a pavillion just to say I’d been there.  I am thankful for the six months moratorium on heavy construction that the made the noise and dust less polluting than it was before. It’s business as usual again since the Expo finished at the end of October. The building crews are working 18 hours a day on the site across the road. The outcome will be another tower block to obscure our view of the Nanpu Bridge after months of dirt and noise.

In some ways that pails into insignificance when compared with the individual acts of pollution I have to encounter on a daily basis when wheeling Jake around the back streets of Puxi. Acts of selfish pollution include smoking, even more smoking, spitting, reckless driving and inconsiderate parking in front of entrances for wheelchairs and pushchairs. Two weeks of holiday allow me to be more  philosophical about my prospects of changing an adolescent culture to be more compliant with my wishes about airs, graces and basic safety.

The weeks, months and years have started to blur together rather like the imagery from Maurice Sendak’s ‘Where the Wild Things Are’.

And he sailed off through night and day
And in and out of weeks
And almost over a year
To where the wild things are

The carousel turns and I’m still in Shanghai. My lack of online activity reveals a busy, engaging year (offline) in terms of my professional and personal life. Happy new year. What will 2011 offer?

Posted via email from catshanghai’s posterous

Posted via email from catshanghai’s posterous

Posted via email from catshanghai’s posterous

Posted via email from catshanghai’s posterous

The sight of mirrors and neon sickened my stomach. This may work in Las Vegas or even Tongren Lu, but it does not fit this place. Taikang Lu-Tianzifang is special, because it is an organic collection of independent shops, art galleries, bars and restaurants. It has an independent, artistic sprit that is difficult to find in Shanghai. The hordes or hipsters and package tourists may be a sign of ongoing gentrification, but it is not Xintiandi and there are no Starbucks or McDonalds in this asylum.

Replacing a lesbian night club with a hideous looking sports bar restaurant diner monstrosity is a most unwelcome development. Let's hope it fails. I don't want to look at it so there are no photographs. File under #boycott.

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I tried a new route and everything went wrong. Normally i take a taxi or school bus. The bus is provided by the company. It’s free, but I need to cycle to the bus stop and the return bus gets back after 5.30pm. This was not a problem before, but now my baby son is asleep before I get home.

Getting a taxi to and from work is quick and easy, but expensive at 45 rmb each way.

I was looking four a quick and cheap easy way to travel to work and back to be home in time to hang out with Jake.

I tried a new route yesterday. I took metro line 4 to Lancun Lu before changing to line 6 to get to Linye Xincun. I missed the first train at Nanpu Bridge and I had to wait for several minutes at Lancun Lu.

Trouble started at Linye Xincun.

I had to wait for over half an hour before I could find a taxi. The taxi did not understand my instructions. He failed to take the most direct route and we got held up in pre expo/ back to school traffic. I arrived at my new destination after two hours.

It’s time to rethink my commuting plans to be able to see more of Jake. My journey is going to look more like a triangle as I take the company bus from downtown Shanghai to Pudong and back to Nanpu Bridge on a taxi. This means I have to leave my bike at home.

Click here to download:

Moodle_Learning_Tips.swf (378 KB)

ICT has always been prominent at BISS, but this year it will have an even bigger profile as all subjects will be expected to use Moodle to make their resources and activities available online. It will be useful if this blog was a platform to share tips and ideas.

The first step has been for teachers to organise classes, add links to websites and upload files such as PowerPoints and past paper PDFs. The next step will be to make Moodle more interactive so students can upload homework as an assignment, participate in quizes, forums and glossaries.

Often it seems that Moodle can overwhelm teachers with so many features. The secret is to start using a few simple features effectively and to grow into the other tools as your confidence grows. There is the other danger of Moodle becoming boring if you always use it in the same way. Don't be scared to try something new. Experimentation can lead to good surprises.

Posted via email from Bissworld E-learning

Despite reassurances from their twitter feed I can't give them access to my data without thinking that a dishonest employee will run off with that information too. My previous post expressed some concern about AVG classifying Freedur's Windows software as a trojan horse.

I've dropped Freedur in favour of Strongvpn who are giving me quick access to UK streaming sites even as we speak. The website panel interface requires a degree in computer science to operate it so wait for the E-mail instructions after you sign up and pay them, but who's complaining when it works (thus far!). I'm not holding my breath. The Internet in China is far too flaky for that kind of optimism. StrongVPN offers monthly and annual payment plans starting at $7 a month.

Related Post
http://www.catshanghai.com/blog/2009/08/05/fun-with-proxies/

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Those of us who have been in Shanghai for more than a year will recognise the cycle and see there is an opportunity to get good secondhand gear. I have seen friends, colleagues and acquaintances sell everything from big estate cars, computers, furniture, baby gear, books, electronic equipment and tissue holders. Every year I get Emails from colleagues with lists and photos of things for sale. Invariably the 200 RMB Giant mountain bike is sold within seconds. I also see flyers in coffee shops such as Casbah Cafe in Huai Hai Lu and the Shanghaiexpat forum gets posts from people on a selling mission.

The funniest thing I saw this week was a spoof list sent to me by a colleague who is obviously in need of a holiday. Some of the items have been omitted to protect the guilty.

End of year Sale items
Opened box of tampons – half full – 20RMB
Sofitel slippers – 3 – 5RMB
Blue plastic re-usable folders – 20 – 20RMB
Unused kitchen multi-purpose sponge – 5 mao
Leg wax/ hair removal tube– half full! – 3RMB
Cans of cat food – various flavours x 5 – 20RMB
Cat hair brush – used once only! – 5RMB
6 empty CD cases – free
Vintage Plastic supermarket bags various sizes – 1 mao each
Box of staples – discontinued size – 5 mao
Box of toothpicks from japan airport – 3mao