CISS and Sichuan earthquake school children

On Monday, January 28th, our school hosted a visit with children from Sichuan, where they are still rebuilding their school from earthquake damage. We played our school's favorite game with the visiting students--KCC! It was really fun to see the non-native Mandarin speakers try to help the visiting children, as they had to practice their language (and miming!) skills. Enjoy the pictures below! Have a blessed day!

Cheer half-time from SISAC basketball tournament

Great job ladies!

Weekend in review...

I had a pretty low key weekend, working all day Saturday and doing errands on Sunday.  While out and about around town, I was amazed by the Chinese resilience. 
Who else would transport items like this?
 At the red light, I looked to my right, and saw a HUGE tree down in the road.  I thought, "wow, must have been from a big storm".  Then the light turned green, and the tree started to move!  I then realized it was being transported on the back of a truck!  This picture does not do it justice, but it truly was a sight to see.
 Then you have this guy... Trying to strap a dresser and drawers to his scooter, while his wife directed the operation.
The mission was successful.. he got the dresser on, left the wife behind, and moved the scooter forward by pushing his feet on the ground like Fred Flinstone.
..Probably all the way back to Puxi!
My dog, Mr. Snuggles.. always trying to find a warm spot in the cold apartment!
One of the nicer things about living in China, specifically Jinqiao.. there are flower vendors outside of Carrefour who have really beautiful flowers that you normally only see in the spring, like these tulips, for about 3usd.  I treat myself often..heehee ;)  I'll take nature however I can get it!  That being said, I think I'm turning into a plant lady, which I'm hoping is not as bad as being a stereotypical cat lady!  PS Now that all of the Christmas decorations have been put away, I have my Spanish stuff out again.. I love this bowl that I bought in Madrid last year!  Ayy! yo echo mucho de menos España!!
On Saturday I spent my day supervising my cheer team at the SISAC basketball tournament.  
We had a fun time cheering for the girls and boys varsity teams, and seeing the cheer team from SCIS perform.





Saturday night I got ripped off by this guy.  Let me explain how.. So naturally I stopped to admire the fruit decorations, and then he offered me a piece of whatever this is called.  It sort of tasted like turrón, so let's just call it Chinese turrón.  Well I miss Spain a lot, so I said okay, let me get a little-it's on the street, can't be that much.  WELL... I didn't realize that the Chinese turrón was so heavy, nor the piece the man cut for me was going to be so deep that he tried to charge me 115rmb, which is 18usd!  WHAT?!?!? no way! So I started to walk away to continue on to the metro, but he jumped in front of me, and wouldn't let me leave until I took the Chinese turrón and gave him some money.  I told him I didn't want it and that it was too much.  I offered 50rmb, just to get him away, but he wouldn't budge.  Then he said 70rmb and took some of the pieces out of the bag. At this point, he totally ruined my joy of finding turrón in China, and I just wanted to be done with the bad experience.  So I gave him my money and continued on my way.  Later on, as I was squished up against the door with the sea of people surrounding me, I ate some turrón on the metro while thinking "man, do I need to start a TV show about being pranked in China".

Sunday morning I made this oatmeal.. It came out pretty good, if I say so myself!  Oats, peanut butter, touch of sugar and crasins that I brought back from the States.
I played Scrabble for the first time since HS.. we played it all the time in AP English once the big test was done, and we had a few weeks to enjoy before summer break.  I won with 336 points, thankyouverymuch.  There's only two spots we bluffed the rules a little bit, but when the only tiles you have are 4 "i"s a Q, and a Z, it's kinda hard not to!
Last but certainly not least, check out this Mercedes parked outside my apartment.  Apart from the lady decal, sparkles, pink color, and yellow wheels, I love the fluffy wheel cover.  This car ranks right along side my other neighbor's car with a huge wing decal that says "Angle" instead of angel! 
More funny stories about expat life in Jinqiao to follow.. For now, have a happy and healthy week! 

The results are in..

On Friday, I sent out a quick email to international PE teachers around the globe to find out the most commonly used iPhone/iPad applications for improving fitness and teaching practices.  

With the most votes:

Coach’s Eye (9 votes)
Music Workout (6 votes)
iMuscle (4 votes)
  TeamShake (2 votes)
Sports Tracker (2 votes)

Absolute abs
Nike Control (football coaching drills)
Nike+ Running
Endomondo (running & cycling)
Garmin Fit  
Ubersense
iCab Mobile
Audio Memo
Twitterific – easily my best PD!
iCoach
Run keeper
Anatomy
PE games free – by Jarrod Robinson
Beep Test Team Trainer – by Simon Taylor
Sports Rules for PE Teachers and Coaches – by Jarrod Robinson
Stopwatch
Coin Toss
Sprint timer
Burst mode
Tabata timer
Live score
Cycle watch
TacticsBoard
docs to go & dropbox (for assessments)
fitdeck
movie maker
Nike Training Club
Gorilla Workout
Yoga HD
TGfU PE Games
P.E. Games
My  fitness Pal
Strava (cycling)
 
I will download the apps I don't have and do a review of them in the next few weeks, as my fitness training elective starts up next week.  It's always nice to have new technology to use with the 7th/8th graders!  Any activity dealing with electronics is instantly cooler! ;) 
 
Special thanks to the following teachers' input: Mr. Hegarty from Dulwich College Beijing, Mr. Deneef from Shanghai Community International School, Mr. Forsgren from The American International School in Vienna, Ms. Ketchum from Hangzhou International School, Mr. Eleryk from American School of Warsaw, Ms. Powell from International School of Zug and Luzern, Mr. Chan from International College Hong Kong, Mr. Moncrief from Frankfurt International School, Ms. Carson from The American School London, Mr. Ptak from American School of Warsaw, and Mr. Pierce from Club Europe.

 Hope my readers have a nice weekend, wherever you are in this beautiful world.

<3paz.amor.felicidad siempre 

Spinning Class for Personal Fitness Unit



Today was the first day my 7/8th grade girls' class used the spinning room.  They had a lot of fun using the machines, and getting used to the weighting of the pedals, different hand positions and riding in the saddle vs up in the air.   They wore their heart rate monitors, and attempted to stay in the zone for the entire 20 minute workout.  Below, is the playlist we used for our 20 minute workout:

Warm Up: New Day by Alicia Keys
Work it to the Bone by Chris Moody
Titanium by David Guetta feat. Sia
Sweat by David Guetta 
Cool Down: Diamonds by Rihanna

We then did our daily fitness challenge of 30 jack-knife sit-ups and 10 oblique push-ups on the right side, and then 10 more for the left side.  

Kudos to the ladies for a job well done, and not giving up when the workout became difficult!!

Don't forget the disco ball!

Tomato Salad and Spinach Soup

I don't have morning recess or lunch duty this week--YAY!--so I am back to my normally scheduled routine and high fiber, low fat, vegetarian diet.  There are a million and one reasons not to eat meat and/or processed foods.  Living in China has made me a better cook, as Western food is expensive and you never really know what you're eating in local restaurants, as the menus only have pictures and Chinese characters.  Even something that looks vegetarian probably has animal products in it.

 





 MY LUNCH:  
Chick peas, tomato, cucumber, red onion, bagged salad mix (I don't normally put that in this salad, but I had a tiny bit left from a different dish), tossed with pinch of salt, pepper, olive oil and balsamic balsamic vinaigrette.  You can also add lemon, (but I didn't have any in the house today) or maybe a pinch of sugar if the vinegar is too strong for your taste.





MY DINNER:
Olive oil, fresh garlic, celery sauteed until light brown.  Add vegetable broth.  Add pasta once broth is boiling.  Lower heat and let simmer. Then add the spinach at the very end.

Ta-da!!  Two delicious and healthy meals that each cost under $6!

Pair with some lemon water and you are SET!


Buen provecho!!

Walking in a Winter Wonderland...

To encourage student use of pedometers to track how many steps they take in a day (the goal is 10,000), I designed this bulletin board using a winter/holiday theme.  Mr. Keith's students' names are all written on the snowflakes, Ms. Mitchell's students' names are all written on the trees, and my students' names are all written on the candy canes.  I think it's a more positive learning experience for the students to all be recognized on bulletin board spaces, and not just the "star" students.



I recommend the iPhone application, "Footsteps" (free version works perfectly fine) to count your steps throughout the day.  Best part is, the application continues to count even if other applications are open!

Happy Monday, and happy walking!!

New Year, New You Fitness Challenge

It normally takes about thirty days for a new habit to form.  Test your willpower along with my 7th and 8th grade students this month, and see if you can meet four fitness goals every day:  8 hours of sleep every night, 5 servings of fruits or vegetables, 1 hour of physical activity, and 30 minutes or less of technology time. 

In addition, my students will be adopting a fitness buddy to exercise with throughout the month.  Check out my daily challenges via my twitter feed @getFITwithFITZ.