What a wonderful day.  My friend Odgerel is trained in special education, specifically education for the visually impaired.  She began her career as a teacher at the School for the Blind in UB.  She is currently working with a Mongolian Education Alliance on a project to teach English to children with visual impairments.  She took me along for the afternoon.  We first visited the School for the Deaf.  Both buildings are on one campus.  We stoppd in to see an old friend of hers.  She teaches first grade.  She welcomed me with Mongolian Sign Language.

There is a fabulous Home Ec / Shop program here at the School.  Below you can see the products that the students have created - out of wood, bone and horns.  They are truly talented.

A fish from a cow bone.

My very favorite.  A horse made from a camel bone and fitted into an old stirrup.  Incredible.

  Odgerel displaying horns that will soon become works of art.

Then we went to the School for the Blind.  Another friend of Odgerel's who teachers 8th grade.  Above is a diorama fashioned by her students while learning about nomad life.  Below, the Braille Alphabet.

We began teaching our first group.  They practiced greetings with me, and then worked on conversations with each other.

Some children write in Braille, others in regular print. 

These two are quite good conversationalists.  They have learned a good bit of English in a short time.  They are conscientious, and fun students.  Below, a study in paying attention!

We went into the hall to learn the Hokey Pokey!  Great way to learn body parts and have fun at the same time. 

This is our second group.  Each group was 2 hours - the best four hours I've spent in a while!

There are 400 students in the School for the Deaf, and about 70 in the School for the Blind.  The visually impaired students have a dorm within their school building.  These two buildings are dorms for the hearing impaired students.  A study was conducted a while back to find out why there were so many hearing impaired children in Mongolia.  They found a genetic answer.  Dorms are needed because so many students come from the countryside.  The schools educate children from 6 - 18 years of age.

In the fall, this pre-school will open for both hearing and visually impaired young children from UB only.  It was a cold, windy and gray day, but I found great warmth and brightness in these two buildings.

It was a lovely Sunday spring morning, and Amaraa, Bayaraa and I set out on a walk around UB.  Very few cars, few people, early morning cleaners and a clear sky made for a great start.  The first stop - I got a haircut. 

You can see the green!  Several lovely parks are blooming and are inviting places to sit.

And, the children enjoy the playgrounds.  Below, a woman brought her pet rabbit out to enjoy the weather.  Can you find him?  He's just above the cage, in what appears to be a triangle of wood.

We stopped at a wonderful cafe and enjoyed a sweet snack.

On the way back to the college, we strolled across the Square.  It was tax day on the mall!  All sorts of agencies set up to help people understand and plan their taxes.

.  I do have to say that today, Monday, it was cold, gray, and I walked home tonight in the snow!  May in Mongolia!

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.....