This is indeed a stack of books!  Last year, I wrote a Science Booklet for use by public school teachers and our students.  Then, Bayarchimeg and Amaraa translated, added, edited, etc.   and, here it is!  Published!

If you read from one side of the book, it is in Mongolian, if you read from the other side of the book, it is in English - very cool!

The authors: Amaraa on the left, me, and Bayaraa. Below, Magcar, the head of the Math and Science department, and Enkhtsetseg, the Director of the Teacher's School join us and others for a celebration.  Wine and chocolate - what could be better?

The Teacher's School was the host institution for this year's Annual Conference.  Co-hosted by the School for Preschool Education and the School of Education Studies, this is a large undertaking.  I was asked to provide one of the keynote addresses.

In addition, a journal of conference proceedings was published and distributed.

Oyuntungalag, our history teacher, was the Conference organizer.  She did an amazing job!  The conference opened with her welcome, and a wonderful performance of Morin Khuur.

Our Director Enkhtsetseg, the Director of the School of Education Studies, and the President of the Mongolian State University of Education, Jadamba, were on the agenda.

Naraa translated my address on Public School - University Partnerships.

All my colleagues presented.  This is Amaraa, and Bayarchimeg is giving a workshop on Science and Geography.

Dayrembek, geography, is attending a workshop.  Below, Odgerel, Byamba, Tsolsog and Jargal await their workshops.

Ganbold is a Mongolian Language teacher.  Below, Magcar is the Head of the Math and Science department.

Naraa and Dugerjav presented on teaching English.  Odgerel presented some of our research on curriculum comparisons.

Dugerjav and Otgonsuren, two English language teachers.

Tea time!  A wonderful break during a long, but productive day.  Below, Tumentsetseg, the IT instructor, presented a workshop on using e-games with elementary children.

It was impressive to see the scholarship of the faculty from the three schools.  And, impressive to see how many faculty and students attended workshops and engaged in great discussion about each others' research / projects.

Another somewhat different experience!  I was asked to design and deliver a four-hour workshop for faculty of the medical university.  While the majority of the participants were faculty in UB, there were several folks from training institutions in the countryside - about 55 participants altogether.  My friend and colleague Amaraa translated.  We designed many small group activities to keep everyone engaged and awake!!!!  Below are some pictures:

I'm not serving coffee, this is a part of an activity!  We've been asked to do a two-hour version for a private medical university next week.....

I thought I would walk you through a week of my teaching / classes. All classes are 90 minutes.  Monday morning:  my Child Development Lecture....usually about 80-90 students.  There are more students on the right....You'll notice Odgerel translating! 

Monday afternoon:  my AA Pedagogy class.  Here they are working in groups on their Inquiry questions / activities for a unit on Pollution.

Tuesday morning:  my Special Education class.  They have just received their assigned "students for inclusion" assignment.

Tuesday and Thursday evenings.  My English class for my colleagues.  Left to right, Amaraa, Bayarchimeg, Oyunaa and Magcar.

Naraa and Hishge have joined the group and they are playing Phrasal Verb Concentration!

Thursday afternoon:  My first English 4 class.  This is just before the big exam - they are still happy!!!!!

Followed by my second English 4 class.  They are in the middle of their exam.

Followed by my AB Pedagogy class.  They are also working on the Pollution Inquiry unit.  Then, I have my English class for my colleagues....this is six straight hours of teaching!

Friday morning:  My Child Development Seminar.  This is one-third of the students in the Lecture.....Byamba teaches the other two seminar groups.  I think mine are the best!

We had watched the movie, Babies, and they are working in groups to describe the differences and the similarities between the babies, and then to create a systems diagram, ala Bronfenbrenner, on one of the babies.

My last class of the week.  Another section of Special Education.

Of course, from time to time there are other groups arriving at the Teacher's School for courses.  We have had two groups of Six-Weekers, and at the end of March, 500 teachers arrived for five days of in-service.  There are a lot of preparations and a lot of students!  Makes for a busy week....

I've had a request to pay more attention to this blog and post more information. So, here I am! Two interesting activities on the same day this week. First, Wednesday afternoon, we had student research presentations. Thirty-five students submitted their research and thirteen were chosen to present. We even had media coverage! Quite impressive, and you can see the winner with her medal.

Then, Wednesday evening, I attended a concert in honor of the University's 60th anniversary, our Teacher's School 90th anniversary and most importantly, the 50th anniversary of the art and music program. Many, many of Mongolia's famous composers and performers were graduated from our school. The concert was held in the Wrestling Palace, creating a smallish and warm setting for 4 1/2 hours of most of the famous singers and musicians in UB and Mongolia. It was wonderful.