As a teacher and an educator I am very excited to share this post with you.
The Snowy Day written by, Ezra Jack Keats is the first book featuring an African American child to win the Caldecott Medal for excellence (one of the highest awards in literature during the period when this book was released) in children’s picture books. He is well known for his multicultural children’s pictures books.
Ezra Jack Keats is not a Black American, but I wanted to share about his work and this lovely book. His family was Polish and lived in East New York. If you want to learn more about him feel free to check out this website: https://www.ezra-jack-keats.org/ezras-life/
FUN FACT: The Snowy Day is also the most checked out book of all time at The New York Public Library.
Happy Black History Month: Let’s learn about another great HBCU
Trenholm State Community College (TSCC)
*An HBCU located in Montgomery, Alabama
*An Enrollment of 1,334 students
*Tuition is +/- $3,720 for out of state students and $2,496 for in state students.
*No graduate students
*No room and board
*Campus is 50/50 men/women
*Mascot: HBCU Connect
What is very cool about this institution is that it is an associate degree-granting institution. They have a great purpose and mission to be able to provide affordable and accessible educational opportunities to students. This school was the merging of two schools – John M. Patterson State Technical College with H. Councill Trenholm State Techniocal College in April of 2000.
Feel free to check out their website for more information:
Black History is so many things! I am so excited to share so many parts of it with you this month!
I am coming to the end of my second week of vacation… soon I will be back in the classroom and with the routines of my life. Until then … I am enjoying these days that I have off.
Whoa! Whoa! Just whoa! I am loving sharing Black History this year. I read an article on line today and I now know that- Jones Bar-B-Q Diner in Marianna, Arkansas is believed to be(I shall continue my research for one older, but as of right now this is the oldest) the oldest Black-owned restaurant in the country! How cool is that? It has been in business for over 100 years.
I absolutely love bbq and a good bbq pork sandwich- – so if/when I make my way back to the states and travel allows this place is on my list of places to check out.
Feel free to click the link below and read up on the restaurant and if you ever happen to be in Marianna, Arkansas check out their BBQ!
I absolutely love sharing about my life as an expat in Shanghai, but when I am made aware of serious issues happening in the world I like to share that too! It’s Black History month in America where I am from … and this must be shared along with the other information I will share throughout this month. We must all stand together.
Did you know about this?
Have you heard about what’s happening in Ethiopia?
Genocide and famine are affecting Tigray – this is the northern region that borders Eritrea. The people of Tigray are experiencing horrific conditions and there is an abundance of war crime happening right now.
Please share this post and this information and contribute – after you do your research and reading – if you are able.
The question is often asked “Why were black colleges created if colleges and universities existed?” If you know anything about the history in America you probably can figure out the answer to this question, but I will STILL share with you. Historically Black Colleges and Universities AKA- HBCU’s were created to meet the needs of Black Americans. Before their creation, and for many years following, Black Americans were denied admission to white institutions.
I had the pleasure of visiting this university (I will have to do some serious searching to find pictures of my visit) a few summers before my move to Shanghai with some high school students. For a few summers I was a part of a group that would take high school students on college tours in the summer. We wanted to expose them to schools they may never have the opportunity to visit or see.
This one was lovely! So much history on this campus and I want to share it with you all.
Cheyney University:
*This school was established in 1837
*When this school was founded in 1837 its original name was:
The African Institute – a few weeks later it was changed to The Institute for Colored Youth (ICY)
*A few years later it as renamed Cheyney Training School for Teachers (July 1914) – Cheyney State Teacher’s College (1951) – Cheyney State College (1959( and finally Cheyney University of Pennsylvania (1983)
*Cheyney has a variety of undergraduate majors and minors for students to choose from.
*The university if accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education – recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education.
*They have a 12:1 Student to Faculty Ratio
To learn more about this university you can check out their site: https://cheyney.edu/
It is important that we know about American history and all parts of it. It’s not always pretty and full of Captain America vibes with someone who can just swoop in-fix-and save everyone and everything.
The history of America and its ugliness still affects many individuals today. With all of that, I am looking forward to sharing more information with you about HBCU’s and what they have done for America. A great number of individuals have graduated from HBCU’s and have made great impacts in our world.
I met some of my closest friends (pictured below) because of my time at an HBCU. College was an amazing period of my life and truly helped to shape the person that I am.
From HBCU to Mandela’s House in South Africa From HBCU to exploring Beijing, China togetherFrom HBCU to volunteering/chaperoning and grade school museum field trip
America and our world would not be what it is today without HBCU’s!
I am in week 2 of my CNY holiday. I am not complaining about having time off. I could … but what good would that do? This CNY holiday is definitely needed for this teacher that has had a long year. We have been so busy and COVID has changed everything. Teachers around the world are tired and they are unsung heroes! I appreciate all the work that teachers are doing in the midst of surviving a pandemic. This is not easy.
There are so many places that one can have afternoon tea in Shanghai and I am enjoying trying them out. Here are three places I have been to and I plan on trying a few more.
I will edit and update this post after I try a few more places. Afternoon Tea is all the current rave! You can find it at hotels, restaurants, bakeries, and small tea shops!
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IF you are going to do it why not do it at one of Hilton’s top luxury hotels on The Bund in Shanghai -WALDORF ASTORIA! There are two buildings- one which is newly built and modern and the other has been restored and is called the heritage building.
1) Waldorf Astoria: The Bund
The historic Waldorf Astoria is nothing short of top elegance. The hotel is beautiful, the service was lovely, and their afternoon tea set was ¥688 for two people. Approximately ¥344 a person. I did not see individual pricing, so you definitely want to go with a friend.
You are paying for the location- THE BUND, the venue- It’s The WALDORF, the amazing food , the stellar service, and there was even live music!
You are served a three-tier tray of delights! The bottom layer had savory dishes, the middle layer had scones with jams and creams to spread on top, and the top layer was full of lovely sweets! It was a delight!
I absolutely loved having afternoon tea here! If my wallet allows I would do it again with a group of friends!
Cost: ¥688 (Local and International Cards Accepted) About $107 USD
Location:
English Address:
Heritage Buliding, 2 Zhongshan Dong Yi Lu, near Guangdong Lu
New Tower, 88 Sichuan Zhing Lu, near Guangdong Lu
Chinese Address:
上海外滩华尔道夫酒店中山东一路2号,
近广东路, 四川中路88号, 近广东路
Nearest Metro: 30 minutes to E. Nanjing Road – you probably want to catch a DIDI- unless you want the long walk (China’s version of Uber) OR A TAXI
Eli Falafel is a tiny Lebanese restaurant in Xuhui. It’s more for take away, but there are a few table to sit down and eat. The food is healthy, not greasy, and they have a great menu full of Lebanese items. But …. This post is about afternoon tea so here it goes….
ON, Sunday January 24 I was walking and passed by Eli Falafel and saw a sign that said Lebanese Afternoon Tea from 2-5 during the week.
I absolutely live for afternoon tea – then it said Lebanese afternoon tea and I was too thrilled to try some Lebanese treats & enjoy tea on my official first day of holiday.
My friend and I arrived around 2:30/ 14:30 the next day- Monday the 25th and the sign was still in the window.
When we prepared to order the employee told us about all the different teas that the restaurant has. I didn’t think that there was a language barrier at all, but I said, “We would like afternoon tea please” and she responded “Huh?”
I was so confused. Again, I said “we would like to have afternoon tea. You have a sign in the window” and she said, “No. No afternoon tea.”
I didn’t understand this. I watched an employee wipe the sign off and place it in the window and they all told me no tea. So, I asked for clarity sake “No afternoon tea today? Or forever?” I picked up the sign and showed her and she said “No tea. Ever” and took the sign and put it behind her workstation.
This was so frustrating. If there’s no afternoon tea, then the sign shouldn’t be in the window for advertising. Who knows what happened and why they don’t have it anymore? But the sign isn’t in the window anymore. Ha!
I wonder if Lebanese afternoon tea will be available again, but it was not available for me this week and this was my plan to start my holiday. Ugh!
The. Worst.
I am sharing the flyer here. I was bummed …. But it happens.
I will say we did eat at the restaurant. Our lunch was fine, but it just wasn’t what we expected or what we planned on having.
somehow i still found a smile after not having Lebanese Afternoon Tea
Cost: ¥98 – I guess – since we didn’t actually have it. About $15 USD
This restaurant in Xuhui is always packed- usually with young’ish locals and not many expats. I have been wanting to check it out for dessert for a long time, but went with friends today for afternoon tea.
This was a fun afternoon tea experience. Two of the ladies who joined never had afternoon tea before, so I was happy to share my love for it with them. I “found” this place through a friend and it is lovely. There are two parts to the restaurant and there is even a small bakery! Who doesn’t love fresh bread and butter? I think most of us do!
If you live in China OR have lived in China this restaurant is a one step up – higher quality WAGAS type restaurant. A little bit of everything on the menu and options if you are vegetarian- I can’t say that I noticed vegan options on the menu. We didn’t eat, but just perused the full menu.
My friends and I had a grand time today. It was refreshing, and lovely, and a great experience.
Reshanna, Kimber, Meg, Me This dessert was absolutely lovely! I am going to find the name then edit this caption
It was an inexpensive afternoon tea experience, which was nice. There weren’t many employees who knew English so the manager helped us- Elsa was lovely. Our service was a little slow, we think they could have forgotten to put our order in, but we had great conversation so that helped for sure. You can choose one tea (plenty to choose from) and one dessert of your choice for ¥98 which is about $15 USD.
this was ABSOLUTELY delightful and I cant wait to have it again
Cost: ¥98 (Local and International Cards Accepted)
Location:
English Address:
855 Huashan Lu, near Fuxing Xi Lu
Chinese Address:
华山路855号，近复兴西路
Nearest Metro: 15 minutes from Shanghai Library
Phone: 6212 8085 (In China)
My personal ratings ….
1: Waldorf Astoria 10/10
2: Eli Falafel 0/10
3: Chartres Garden 8.5/10
We are ending the month of January on a great note. There is still a lot happening in the world – and us expats are aware of it all, but while we are on holiday, have time to –RELAX-RELATE-RELEASE (A Different World, ha!) We are finding moments for connecting and having good experiences…. I am so thankful for these moments.
Excited to have a few new followers …. enjoy this expat journey with me!
What at time to be alive, right? I am sure you have heard more than one person say that in the recent weeks. 2020 was one helluva year and I spent it all in China – minus the three and a half weeks I was in America for my Chinese New Year holiday.
The best thing I know to do is to be positive. I know that we are still in a pandemic that is taking lives of people all over the world. I know things are changing day by day, there are travel restrictions in different countries, health issues all around us, individuals have lost their jobs, school is virtual all over the world -along with so many jobs – everything is just different. With so much being different I have been so thankful to experience this pandemic in China. Somewhere around April I felt like life was pretty much back to normal. We still had lots of health precautions around the city and travel restrictions, but the city was open and we could “do life” again.
The start of the year was tough. Though I didn’t experience quarantine like many of my friends in China did I was still in a quarantine of sorts. The city was pretty much empty and closed. MOST – not all- restaurants and businesses were closed, and I was in my tiny Chinese apartment all by myself. I spent a lot of time on my phone, ipad, and laptop staying connected with the friends locally and around the world – nothing about 2020 was easy, but it slowly started to get better.
If I look back on the year that was one of the highlights for me was making it to the top of Yellow Mountain! I still can barely believe I did that – it took six hours to hike to the top and I absolutely loved bringing in the new year with friends at a NYE Celebration at The Westin on The Bund here in Shanghai.
In 2021 I encourage everyone to write their goals – be realistic with them and make a plan to reach them. If you’re reading this you survived one crazy year. Make 2021 a great one to remember. CHEERS to this new year! May your year be filled with great health, financial gains, and prosperity.
I plan on instituting #SelfCareSundays – my hope is to be consistent with it.
On a lovely and positive note. If you wonder how I made it through this year….I had my friend Deatra by my side. Being an expat looks very glam over social media and if I’m honest some days it really is GLAM but it has its moments – and this expat life hit hard today when we realized we were ‘stuck’ (a good place to be stuck) here in China and couldn’t’ travel home – and at some moments couldn’t travel in China. I am so thankful for good friends.
Proverbs 27:9 says – A sweet friendship refreshes the soul – and my soul is refreshed!
Just want to share something that you might find helpful.
Here are a few ways to praise kids … more than just “Good Job” – These are hard times.
We are still in a pandemic, some schools are in person, some are virtual, some families have decided to personally home school their kids indefinitely- there are so many unique situations. Kids NEED to know now more than ever that we are proud of them!
Let’s encourage and praise our kids – and be specific when doing it (when possible).
Here are some ways you can praise and encourage your learner/child:
1
You can…
Give a high 5
2
You can…
Give a thumbs up
3
You can…
Say “Excellent Effort”
4
You can…
Say “I am so proud of you”
5
You can…
Say “Outstanding”
6
You can…
Say “Way to Go”
7
You can…
Say “What great thoughts you have”
8
You can…
Give a fist bump
9
You can…
Say “Wonderful”
10
You can…
Say “This is superb”
BONUS
YOU CAN…
Post a sweet and encouraging message to their social media account – as long as its safe to do so! Take all safety precautions and keep all appropriate boundaries.
Enjoy Praising Your Student/Leaner/Child
Praising – or encouraging kids is a great thing to do. They crave the instant gratification (adults also crave this) to help reinforce in their minds that they are doing well. When praising kids/students you want to focus on their hard work and achievements.
Praising kids can help to boost their self-esteem and their self-confidence.
You may never fully know the impact of your words on a kid. Don’t take it for granted.
Here is an example:
“Wow! You did a wonderful job on your art piece today. I love how you colored in the lines and use three different shades of blue.”
You may not always be this detailed, but details helps for the learner to understand what they are being praised for. Saying ‘Good Job’ is not a bad thing, but explaining why you are saying ‘Good Job’ is even better.
Being an educator is great! There is nothing like it. It’s not for everyone, that’s for sure. I once heard someone say “If a child cannot learn in the way we teach, we must teach in a way a child can learn.” This really shaped the way that I teach and control my classroom. I want every child who enters my classroom to learn and enjoy learning. This is not the easiest of tasks to adjust and modify the way that you teach, but it is whats needed to be the most effective for your students. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Also I would love it if you could follow me on Teachers Pay Teachers … Here is information for my store:
I’m slowly adding more resources, some are free and some have a low price! I’d love more followers for my store. It’s free to click the link and hit follow!
There is so much happening in the world … how many pandemics have to happen at one time? I am so sad to read about this news that is happening in Nigeria. Here is a quick link from Wikipedia that has lots of information about what is happening. If you haven’t heard about SARS – it is Special Anti Robbery Squad – a branch of the police force in Nigeria and was founded in 1992. SARS was founded to deal with crimes of robbery and firearms but recently SARS has been committing human rights violations, murdering, torturing, and holding people in jail for large sums of money.
Check out this article below- and do lots of research and reading on your own. We must do something about this. The world must do something. We cannot just watch as people die unjustly at the hands of others.
May we all be informed and use our platforms and voices to change the world. I pray if this was me, my family, my home city, that others would support! You have a voice. You can share on your social platforms, you can have discussions with family members, you can use the hashtag #ENDSARS …. we never know if what we do is the final piece to the puzzle of hope and freedom for someone else.
I don’t know where to begin…it has been way too long since my last post and I know so much has happened since then. I had computer issues, and log in issues and I finally got it all taken care of. I was able to save my computer and only pay $23 instead of buying a new one for almost $1,300 (the one I wanted). Im so happy about that fix! Now on to life in Shanghai post – still – during … COVID isn’t over but it feels very post COVID though I know we are still living in a pandemic.
Shanghai has been very good to me during this time. We know that we are still living in a pandemic so there are still safety measures that have to be followed daily. For individuals who have been allowed into the country, the borders were closed for months, they still have to quarantine upon arrival. You have to have a COVID test when landing and the numbers of times after that is different for everyone. I have talked to a few different people who have returned to Shanghai in the past few weeks and they have each had a different experience. You do not get to choose where you will do your quarantine, but from what I have read and heard it is one week at a hotel-designated for you, and one week at your home (for most people). Once you complete your 14 day quarantine you can resume your normal daily living while following safety/health precautions.
Exploring Shanghai
We have to wear masks in busy full places, definitely on the metro and to enter places. Once your temperature is taken, and you show your green health QR code- something we use here in China, you enter restaurants, shops, businesses etc, and most times take your mask of. I have felt very safe here with everything that has been put in place. I have been healthy this entire time that the pandemic has been happening and I was even able to travel in the past few months (within China- I don’t plan on leaving the country any time soon- I do not want to quarantine at all).
Traveling was great. In August I took a trip to Yellow Mountain – and hiked to the top of the mountain with a group of friends. It took about six hours to make it to the top. This was one of the most difficult things I have ever done in my life. EVER. I am so glad that I did it – and after doing it – I do not have to EVER CLIMB A MOUNTAIN AGAIN. Even though I don’t ever have to climb a mountain again, I am so glad that I pushed myself and that I did it! It was a challenge, I pushed through, I stopped when I needed to, I took breaks when I needed then kept going. There was a moment when I felt like I couldn’t go one – and I looked and saw a looooong line of people behind me waiting for me to move and I pushed through. What an experience. After making it to the top my friends and I stayed in a lovely hotel at the top of the mountain and still had to hike part of the way down the mountain when we left the next day! That was tough too. I was so sore from the previous days hike … but we have to get down soooo hike- we did.
Made it to the top of the mountain! Amazing and Difficult all at the same time
Zip Lining in the mountains
Exploring an ancient town with friends
More Exploring Mountain Views
In October I took two fun trips – one to Hangzhou (about 45 minutes away from Shanghai by speed train) to see a Cirque Du Soleil Show and one to Hefei (about 2.5 hours away from Shanghai by speed train) to hang with some friends. Both trips were great and you can see a few pictures below!
School started about 8 weeks ago! We have been busy learning and working so hard so that we are confident English speakers, readers, and writers. It was so exciting this week to hear my students read. I am immensely proud of the work they have done so far this year. We are in the first term of school so we still have so much to do and learn, but we are taking our time and doing our very best! Kindergarten life is fun but so exhausting. I am so tired at the end of the day, but I really enjoy what I do! Here’s to a great year with my little people in my Polar Bear class.
I feel like there is so much more I could say and catch you all up on. Life is busy for sure- but productive and good. I will be so happy when we don’t need 24/7 masks, but until then I am following every health and safety protocol given. My friends and I are finding moments to get together, hang out, explore the city and I am finding the joy in exploring the city and having solo experiences.
I hope you all are doing well. I am always thankful for you reading and following my abroad journey. I am in a book club with some friends and we are currently reading Americanah – and its been hard to get through this one. Have you read it? What are your thoughts on this book? I would love to know!
I had to go and check out the Pokemon exhibit!
Why not go to the Pokemon exhibit???This puzzle was huge. I thought it was so cool! Me and a student from two years ago hanging out during National holiday
FEARLESS in SHANGHAI 