Mr. Fix It

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Strolled down the hall at work and found this poster posted over in the Primary School. Frank was apparently interviewed by the 5th graders on the topic of "How I use technology in my job." Below I include an excerpt of a transcript from some of the students' work:

Scene 1

Mrs. C: This is horrible!

T: Why?

Mrs. C: I have too many work to do and I have to do it by hand!

T: There has to be some kind of solution!

Scene 2

Student jumps out: I can help you!

Mrs. C: Who are you?

T: Mr. Frank!

F: That's right! I am Mr. Frank and I will fix your problem!

Yes, that's Mr. Frank: your Fix It man...

Trashion show

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

For her MYP Personal Project, one of my students put together a "Trashion Show": all the items worn in the fashion show were made from trash. One of the ties the "trashion" group made is now making it's way around the school. Today I saw it being worn by my fellow math teacher.

Yes, those are caps and wrappers from bottled water bottles...

Chilly trig

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Thursday, February 10, 2011

We started an outdoor trigonometry project yesterday afternoon when it was a balmy -15 C. When things went a bit rocky with our measurements, I decided we needed to go out again today for additional measurements. Alas, the temperature this morning was -28 C. Incentive to work quickly.

Here are some of the things we learned:

1. it's more accurate to measure things which are closer by
2. we need more accurate devices to measure the angle of elevation
3. the ink in your pen will freeze at a certain temperature
4. it's hard to write while wearing mittens
5. it feels great to be outside on a sunny Mongolian morning, even at -28C

The wireless souk

Doha, Qatar

Sunday, February 6, 2011

It's early evening and my students have dragged me back to the souk for one last souvenir shopping mission. There's a lovely crescent moon over the souk, and I am "armed" with my computer. I thought I might be able to find a coffee shop with wireless to pass the time while they shop. Upon arriving at the souk, I made an even more exciting discovery: the whole place is wireless! I think we've come full circle: Souk Waqif is a reproduction of a more ancient place (presumably), but now it's wireless...

I am also very curious about these face masks which I found for sale in the souk--I have seen women wearing them here and in Thailand and would like to know more about their origin--

Downtown Doha

Doha, Qatar
Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Before the MUN conference begins tomorrow, we took a brief tour of Downtown Doha. All kinds of wonderful, crazy buildings have been built or are being built. A few are pictured here.

Ah, the sea

Doha, Qatar
Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Twelve hours of flying have brought us safely to the State of Qatar. Outside our hotel, the palm fronds wave gently in the breeze. The blue green of the Persian Gulf is a lovely salve to the eyes after weeks of frigid temperatures in UB.

My students' MUN conference begins tomorrow...

En route

Beijing City International Airport, China
Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Pictured: passport scanner in Beijing airport.