As to be the reporter for the magazine of China Information Technology Education.John Wu invited 3 honourable teachers and educator from Belgium, Spain and Israel who had contributed their comments and collaboration to the cultural projects between Chinese students and the others from around the globe in 2005.Special thanks for Mr Lieven Van Parys from Belgium, Mrs Maria Rosa Battle Pou from Spain and Mrs Marsha Goren from Israel.

Even though the cultural setting I am writing from, that of a country in southern Europe, may seem as distant and different from the USA as from China, in truth, the Chinese project reflects a teaching-leaning style more similar to our approach than the American one. In this project from Utah I miss an approach that makes students reflect on other eating options, as it concentrates solely on fast-food restaurants. Why not make students think about other options, why not encourage them to learn easy and healthy recipes they could prepare? Why not suggest other type of eating establishments where healthier food is served, like Asian style or Mediterranean type restaurants which abound in the USA? As to the Chinese project, as a teacher involved in content teaching, and keen on implementing information and communication technologies to enhance student autonomy, I definitely think it is a project I would like to apply and that my students would enjoy as they also learn to eat and live healthily.

Hello John,

I analysed both projects and I prefer the Chinese one.Why?Creating a new school environment where we implement communication and new technologies opens a whole new area of learning  that can motivate the pupils. Learn from each other, co-operative learning gives better results than some magic with a calculator. Eating healthy may not become an arithmetical exercise, an ‘adding together’ of calories  and grams.

‘Back to everyday reality’, where children and parents have to decide every day what to eat without a calculator.Some simple rules can  help.

We often forget  the importance of  ‘timing’. ‘Eat your breakfast, it’s the most important meal of the day!. (Even: ‘Any breakfast is better than no breakfast!’) Skipping breakfast doesn’t help kids maintain healthy weight because they eat more calories during the day. Nutrition problems are often the result of bad timing.

Try to eat variety of food and don’t forget fitness and sport. Modern bloggers have to leave also their chair and computer… and run!

A good strategy is to combine these two project together with the preparation a real healthy   breakfast at school (see: powerpoint presentation) where children experience that good nutrition tastes often better than the usual stuff they find on the table at home.I hope this article is useful!

Many greetings 

Lieven

Thank you very much for your mails. I could open both of them ( the mail and the PPT) and I am going to use them in the social presentation of the magazine. I want to congratulate for the PPT, it is really extraordinary.

The presentation is going to be held at the premises of the National University in Mar del Plata. Our objective is to invite people from the Chinese embassy, members of the Chinese community in our city, local authorities, members of the press ( newspapers, radio and TV), students,students’ parents, Mar del Plata National University authorities, Rotary Club members and people in general. We think that, overall, there will be over 300 people at the presentation. The fixed date for the presentation is Noverber the 11th. and we will try to keep a record of this ( photos,newspaper articles, etc). Once we collect all this, I am sending it to you.

John, I want to remark that, in Argentina, the project ” BUILDING A LONGEST BRIDGE BETWEEN CHINA AND ARGENTINA” has been designed and carried on by three professors:

a) Professor Cristina Lopez ( Illia School Director)
b) Professor Beatriz Busse  ( Illia School - English Department Coordinator)
c) Professor Edgardo S Berg  ( Illia School - Professor in Charge of the English Workshop)

I need to mention this because the project is the result of a common effort of the three of us ( and some other collaborative professors), and not only me.

Thanking you again and promising sending material from the Presentation,

Regards

Edgardo Berg
Illia School
MAr del Plata

 Spacial Spinning Tower on Chinese magazine reached Lieven’s hand. Magazine-1 Magazine-2 The students in Zhixin Primary School love to make the zoo animals in their classroom.Thanks for Lieven’s chenille to our students.Hopefully,we could send some “animals” to Lieven in Belgium besides the photos. *************Zoo Project Hello John, Here I send you two pictures of your magazine and me…. I found your edublog ‘etip’ on the net. Very interesting and beautiful. I worked on your photos. Can you send some of your animals to my address in Belgium? Thanks! (So I can place some animals in another position so I can transform them better for the TuxPaint program.) Thanks for all your work! Many greetings Lieven —————————– Lieven Van Parys, ICT-coordinator Vrije Basisscholen Meulebeke Moerasstraat 11 8760 Meulebeke Belgium

(”Chuck” DuClos )I found a good book in our clubhouse library. Dear John Wu, Thank you for your rapid reply.I am a registered nurse with a BA degree majoring in clinical psychology. My primary nursing experience has been in a psychiatric hospital and outpatient clinic -counseling (one on one and group therapy). When our large state mental facility changed from a hospital for the mentally ill to an enclosed facility for the criminally insane, I decided to take an early retirement after 30 years. I did not feel my services could be adequately used working with the criminal mind in a prison-like atmosphere. [The psychopathic (often called sociopathic) personality is a growing illness in America.] This is an area open for discussion at another time. My wife, Edith, and I have been married for 53 years. Our two daughters are married and live a short distance away. Our three grandchildren are in college in southern California near where we live. Are you failure with this location in the United States? We have our residence in a mobile home senior center with gives us added security and many amenities that seniors can use. (Do you have mobile homes called “coaches”?) I enjoy swimming, and swim daily in the afternoon in our heated pool. This gives me the exercise I need and away from the computer for a while. I also garden my small flowering plot. I enjoy cymbidium orchids, bonsai, and flowers that can easily be brought into the house in a flower arrangement. Our winters are mild, although we can get a light frost at times, so we do have to use caution with tropical plants. All of my Tuesdays are spent as a volunteer tutor/mentor at a neighborhood elementary school. The school has many under privileged students that are bused in from an area south of us. My time is primarily spent with them and their many problems. I work closely with the school psychologist, and counselor. “Edie” needs my care and attention, and I seldom go far from home for any length of time. She has had cancer, and currently has an eye condition called macular degeneration. Edie is blind in one eye, and has difficulty seeing with the other. She manages very well and has adapted herself to many household chores. She is 87. Until just a few years ago she painted water colors. She is a talented artist. We do travel with my driving. Our trips are near home, or on rare occasions we take a trip on a cruise liner. We visit our daughters and their families. Our lives are quiet. The activities within our mobile home community keep us in touch with a wonderful group of people. We attend a Protestant church which is the Presbyterian Church. We have been with this church for 53 years. The other main religion in America is the Catholic religion. Please write me and let me know of your life and experiences. I am very pleased to be writing you, and both of us enjoy all of the Orient, and your many traditions some of which, I wish I had. Please call me “Chuck”. It is an American “nick-name” (short name) for Charles. My last name, DuClos, is of French ancestry on my father’s side. I understand that you have a search engine out of Beijing called, Baidu.com. It is recognized in the USA financial district as being highly rated as the world’s sixth-most trafficked Web site. Perhaps you can correct my errors and/or tell me more. Thank you again for you correspondence. Respectfully yours, “Chuck” DuClos

Thank you very much for the interesting educational magazine and beautiful photo!. It arrived today. It is a beautiful page about your school.

Next week I go to the Ministry of Education. I may give a presentation about our new project (ZOO). I will show them the Magazine (and photo!). ICT and Education are placed here together in a original way.

It’s good news that my box with materials arrived. Have fun! (please take some photos during the activities) Thanks! After sending some animals back I will take several photos and place/transform them into the free program ‘Tuxpaint’ .

Thanks for all your work!
Lieven

The Package from Lieven in Belgium. Zhixin students making animals.

We will begin with a question about the economies of the cities:
About Introduction of Bridge Project

Pittsburgh City,USA

City Postcard of Shaoguan,Guangdong Province China

What jobs do your parents have, and what can you buy in your city that students in the other country might not have?

About Introduction of Shaoguan
About Food in Shaoguan

Gregg Stone / The Ellis School Pittsburgh ,USA
John Wu / Shaoguan Guangdong,China
Shaoguan Teaching and Research Section