Day 8: Lin Kou High School

Today we spent our first day at Lin-Kou Senior High School where we met with the history teachers from this school.  It was so nice to be reunited with Jim and Kelly.  Even though we were away from them for only two days over the weekend, it felt much longer. I guess when you spend so much time with someone; it seems like a long time when you don’t see them. They did a presentation for us that outlined the Taiwanese educational system. I will write a follow-up post that outlines the Taiwanese educational system and explain how it compares to the U.S.

We then had a question-answer period where the Taiwanese history teachers were able to ask us questions.  We outlined the Social Studies curriculum in Fairfax County for them.  We also had a chance to ask them questions about how they teach history and what their school is like.



Giving a presentation on FCPS school system


We then took a tour of the school.  The school was very large and resembled a college campus – there were many courtyards and a lot of outdoor space.   Lin Kou is lucky enough to have an observatory and planetarium for the students.  Astronomy at this school is a required course and students have the chance to experience hands-on learning. I had a chance to look through one of the telescopes when we visited the observatory.




Looking through the telescope in the school's observatory



After lunch we participated in a Q&A session with the students from the school.  The students came prepared with questions they wanted to ask us.  After several questions, one student asked us how we teach Chinese history.  I started to explain how we teach our World History students about China and then my colleagues encouraged me to sing the Dynasty Song for the kids and teachers of Lin Kou.  The Dynasty Song is something that several of us at CVHS use to help our kids memorize the Chinese dynasties in chronological order. I was nervous to sing it, but I did it anyway!  I found out that the Taiwanese students and their teachers did not like how the song included the two Communist leaders at the end. I quickly had to explain that in U.S. schools, we only have a brief time to cover Chinese history but that I try to make my students aware of the differences between the Taiwanese government and Chinese government and history, as well as the tensions that exist between the two countries.  



Q&A with the student panel



Then, one of the students offered to sing us a song – this was the real deal version of the Dynasty Song!Taiwanese students have to memorize every single dynasty – not just the major ones.  They are required to start their history of China much earlier than the period of time we start at. I explained to the students and teachers that we teach our students to do a lot of compare and contrasting of civilizations.  They were surprised that I have to teach my students about the ENTIRE world in our World History course. 

Taiwanese version of their Dyansty song

The students asked us if we also had a song to remember all of the U.S. states in alphabetical order.  So, I mustered up enough courage to sing again.  Thankfully, Jim joined me to sing “Fifty Nifty United States” to them as well.  The students got a kick out of the songs – although embarrassed, I did it and it helped create a better bonding experience between myself and the kids.

Again, the students here were amazing! They wanted tons of pictures with us and our emails so they could keep in touch.  The Q&A session with them was so valuable – we learned so much about them and vice-versa.

At the end of the day the teachers from the school took us to another Buddhist temple – Wu Sheng Temple.  We had a little history lesson about Buddhism in Taiwan and then we made our way inside participate in the ritual where we made a wish and then had our fortune read. I was too scared to have mine read after Jacki #1’s fortune turned out to be negative L





Wu Sheng Temple





After our day was over, I had dinner with my host family and then Jacki and I went to Starbucks.   I realized that although in Asia….Starbucks is Starbucks is Starbucks – EXCEPT for the Frappucino.  In Taiwan, anything flavored with Red Bean is a hit.  So here, the Red Bean Frap is very popular.  Jacki and I decided to just stick with the iced coffee but we had a nice night relaxing and working on our blogs.