Dear Parents,
Today is Yan Laoshi’s last day with us. She has a conference to attend outside Beijing and left this afternoon. Each of the children in C Class gave her a hug. She has prepared the final exam for the class and Tian Laoshi will administer the test on her behalf this coming Friday. It is our fond hope that she will teach at YiB again.
The morning sessions went well. In the afternoon, Li Laoshi gave the children some time to finish their fan painting. Most children finished painting their three Peking Opera face patterns and some even painted bamboo, etc. on the other side of the fan. Then, Li Laoshi, Tian Laoshi and Bonnie helped the children insert the hardware into the slots of the fan. Now the children have another piece of work to bring home.
Subsequently, I gave the last fieldtrip orientation (we revised the schedule slightly as I will be away August 2-4 for an international conference in Nanjing). First I reviewed the children’s performance on the previous 9 fieldtrip worksheets. The following children received special mention for their consistently dedicated, high quality work: Rebecca, Jessica, Chloe, May, Jesse, Luran, Yiran, and Shannon. They each earned 3 points for their respective competition teams. Phil, Felix and Alex were praised for their conscientious efforts; they each earned 2 points for their teams. Gary, Andre, Alan, and Arnold each earned 1 point for completing most of the assigned work. I then gave an overview of the Summer Palace, which we will visit on the last day of the third week. We discussed the status of women in Chinese history, Empress Dowager Cixi, China in the second half of the 19th century, and the stories from the Long Corridor (chang2lang2).
Bonnie will fill you in while I am in Nanjing.
It is thundering and pouring as I write. May it bring us good weather
tomorrow,
Agnes (aka He Laoshi)