My lasting memory of Shanghai will be the amazing people. I feel like I have mentioned it a lot but if you ever get the chance to experience it for yourself you will understand why.
We spent only three hours in a Primary school today, yet the people showered us with gifts, paid for our lunch in a fancy restaurant and then took us to an old Chinese market. It was raining so they bought us umbrellas and in every shop they helped us haggle. We had a secret signal from Julie, whenever she thought the price was too high she would wave at us. All the while they smiled, laughed and were happy.
The lesson I saw yesterday, was the best lesson I have ever seen on Mathetical translation, and the lesson on circles today was equally good. I will be taking back so much inspiration for my lessons.
But the difficulty for me will be? In Shanghai some of these lessons have taken 2 months to plan and deliver, with about 10 teachers involved, then the lesson is delivered, refined, delivered again and sometimes refined a second time. This would mean my lessons for one week will take me nearly 3 years to plan. I need to be realistic, with the constraints of time, Shanghai teachers teach 5 lessons a week, I know it needs to be a 3 year plan for my department.
But I firmly believe this is the start of something really special in the teaching of Maths, and Brookfield school will be leading the change.
And finally, if you ever consider a trip to China, I hope I have inspired you to say yes.
Shanghai Styles 