Workshop day 2

Today is our second day at the workshop. I will start with what we did last night though... After we finished the workshop- around 5:30 pm we went back to the hotel and then broke off for dinner. Myself and the other students went to the "food court" in the mall. The reason for the quotes is because I don't want you thinking its like the food court in the KOP mall. This food court is equivalent to the buffet at the Borgata and it had the neatest way to pay. Each person got a credit card and you were allowed to go around to the different vendors- separated by different cultures food (mexican, thai, japanese, chinese, america etc..). You ordered your food and they swiped your credit card and when you were done eating, you went to the register, they swiped your credit card and then you paid for it however you wanted. I ended up getting chicken pad thai, a typical thai cuisine. It was delicious!!

After dinner 2 other girls and I went to the mall and walked around. The mall is basically an outdoor market (everything is the same in each shop) where you can bargain with them, just inside and air conditioned. I didn't end up buying anything because I was so overwhelmed with the all the different stores- but I will get some souvenirs soon! After that I ended up passing out in the room, still trying to get over the jet lag!

This morning we had breakfast and then took the van over to the university. Here is the site for the school we are at- it is the number 1 university in Thailand.

http://www.chula.ac.th/cuen/

Today we talked about different modeling tools, one in particular that allows students to program their own games and simulations and then publish them as Java applets on the web. It is such a neat tool that I know my students will find entertaining, but the best part for me is that they will be doing math at the same time by creating and analyzing graphs from the games that they have created. Super cool!

Here is a link for those of you who are interested in learning more: http://www.agentsheets.com/index.html

We had a yummy lunch today- rice, chicken and of course some noodle soup with fruit for dessert. Right now we are discussing how to use the cell phone or tablet in the classroom as a learning tool and not just a source of entertainment. It will really open doors for me in my classroom!

Tonight there is talk of going to a local thai restaurant in another nearby hotel that is known for its delicious food! So of course I am very excited for that. Tomorrow is a free day for us- we are going to discuss tonight what we want to do, but I am pushing for the beach!

I hope you liked the pictures- it took me FOREVER to figure out how to get them onto my computer and uploaded. Now that I know though I will have many more coming of the next few days.

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