The first two days after Chinese New Year break have been spent doing professional development activities, and I must say, the offerings were pretty good this year. One faculty member who was trained at the Beijing Opera presented about the differences between Eastern and Western theater. Eastern theater, he described, was more concerned with the beauty of the movements with little emphasis on what is going on 'inside'. Another teacher presented about her experiences growing up during the Cultural Revolution.

We also had a special guest, photographer Wang Gangfeng, also known as Gang of One who spoke of his own experiences during the Cultural Revolution and his discovery of photography. He presented his stunning work, which capture China in all of its amazing diversity and contradiction. Here are a few examples from his website:

Unfortunately, I had to cut out of his presentation early in order to prepare for my own. I'm sure my presentations on "Get to Know Your Mac" and "Imovie as a Tool for Curriculum and Assessment" weren't nearly as exciting, but I hope some of our underground mac users (we're a Dell school) found them helpful.