【Creations of SkyDreamer】Supporting Group

Cheng-hong Tsai
Project Instructor
Xin Sheng Elementary School

　　Last semester, I was assigned the homeroom teacher for the third class of the fifth grade. Sometimes it is easier to teach the high graders because they do not need to be pampered like the low graders, or to be watched over all the time like the middle graders. However, the semi-mature thoughts and behaviors these preadolescents showed begged for guidance. Fortunately, the parents were all cooperative and supportive of the learning activities, and so their children could progress steadily during the semester.

　　Therefore, in addition to studying and sports, I encouraged them to participate in student clubs or contests to gain more experience in diverse learning and group activities. A semester passed, and I was very pleased with my students' performance. They all got along and cooperated well. The class achieved great results in various group contests, and was a winner in a relay race.

　　I was very happy when I heard that they got the initiative to enter the International CyberFair in the Local Leader category. Teenage is the time when children start developing their goals for life. Therefore, it is always inspiring for the kids to meet and talk with the outstanding figures or leaders in person. When I read their daily progress reports for the project, I saw traces of their growth in the interview transcript, the group meeting minutes, the poems and other works they created. I hope they will learn from the spirit and personality of a successful person.

　　In addition to the four students from the third class of the fifth grade, we also have on six-grader and one fourth-grader in the team. This combination represents cross-grade collaboration and all teammates have one thing in common: they are all model students. So, I can say this out loud: The students, parents and teachers of the Skydreamer Team, I have faith in you. Good luck!

Ming-ling Liu
Project Instructor
Xin Sheng Elementary School

　　When the kids told us that they wanted to interview Kite Master Mr. Buteo Huang for the International CyberFair, we were agreeable and excited - "agreeable" because kites have been a popular game toy among children and adults alike across all social classes for generations, and it would be easier for them to start up their project and remain interested; “excited" because that it is a great chance for us to see many colorful kites in innovative designs.

　　Mr. Huang agreed to do the interview on the day before the Chinese New Year's Eve when everyone was busy for the holidays. So we, a group of more than 10 people including students, parents, and teachers, visited the Buteo Hawk Studio in Sanxia. At the first sight, we immediately knew that Mr. Huang is a bright, passionate and eloquent professional. For five hours, he introduced each piece of his work in details and answered all our questions, from the environmentally themed The Disappearing Forest, Looking Out to the World, Miro's Cat, The Dragonfly, to Circle of Life, Bird from a Myth, My Son, and more. Each work came from an inspiration in Mr. Huang's everyday life, and his art is marvelous.

　　In addition to the skillfully crafted and eye-poppingly beautiful kites, we were impressed by his spirit in always wanting to do better in making and trying kites. For example, before he make an insect- or a bird-shaped kite, he would observe several species of that kind; to send a "Nautilus" kite to fly, he spent five years in making improvements until he succeeded. So we know that kites have not only opened his eyes, but also been his motivation to become an expert in dynamics, aesthetics, materials, or even birds.

　　Through this interview, we had the chance to see Mr. Huang's kites and the trophies he has won, and the students could learn from Mr. Huang his determination, passion and the spirit of chasing a dream tirelessly. The kids recorded many things Mr. Huang has said in their field trip report, such as "Dreams motivate learning", "Don't be the first; be the only one", "It's the ideas that change the world, not the techniques", etc. In my opinion, the encouragement and influence from such a role model was the best lesson the kids have learned from this trip.

Xiang-ping Li
Project Instructor
Xin Sheng Elementary School

　　The ongoing cyber trend is impacting everyone, and internet is becoming a tool that people cannot live without nowadays. From entertainment, social networking, learning or even commerce, things in life have been electronificated one by one. From the youthful to the elderly, we all will be living in a global village connected by information technology.

　　I have been teaching information education for many years, and I always focus on developing the information literacy of the children. Therefore, in planning the information courses for the school, aside from the teaching the basic skills such as data input in Chinese and English and the creation of spreadsheets and presentations, I and other information teachers would employ diverse tools such as MSN, Facebook, or even games to encourage hands-on experiences. We hope that they will discover the wealth of knowledge in the cyber world by themselves and develop a broader vision and mind.

　　From my observation of the high graders, they already possess basic computer and internet skills, and they are eager to make an extra step to create something unique, such as a website. For them, to create a website is challenging. Not only the resources at our school are limited, but it involves programming, graphics, animation and content writing that is unlikely to be done by one or two students. Only through teamwork and teachers' guidance, they could accomplish the task and learn from the process. The contest provides a great chance to do so.

　　The students participating in the International CyberFair are all excellent performers at school. Their Skydreamer kite team works very hard. In addition to writing and drawing for the web content, they meet at least once a week to discuss the project, even during the holiday season. I believe that the learning process will prove to be very helpful for them, and I wish them good luck in the contest.

Michael’s mother

　　Children who grow up in the era of globalization are face a more and more competitive society, and the current trends in education is to give to our children the skills that are practical and useful rather than cramming them with the knowledge that are out of time. The International CyberFair just suites the current trend and style. It encourages students to pay attention to the environment, to explore many local places and culture aspects, to develop research ability and to share learning experiences. Therefore, when my son told me that he wanted to join the activity, I was totally in favor with him and I would also participate in the contest.

　　Xin Sheng Elementary school is quite an open school, the courses are designed to develop students’ abilities. Thus, the team member Skydreamer has already acquired a certain degree of research abilities, and this is just the opportunity for them to organize and internalize the knowledge. Another tradition of Xin Sheng Elementary school is that students, parents and teachers collaborate very closely. Students have strong desire to learn, teachers are very capable and are willing to instruct and parents are enthusiastic participating in, which forms a strong triangle bond. This is also a vital key for the completion of the project.

　　Along the process of doing the research, these team members have done an array of tasks, such as deciding the topic, planning the program, writing innovative proposals and sharing the final work, they showed a variety of talents which often impress us as their parents. When they were doing the research, we reminded them not only focusing on the reporting because it is basic ability. The more important ability is how to transform the knowledge and take actions. Consequently, the feature of our project is that it incorporates team members’ ideas, innovations and actions, which also reflects Buteo Huang’s personality.

　　This is a hard but interesting process, we parents felt that our children not only learned the research methods but also develop responsibility and great attitude. Mr. Huang’s story is inspiring, his perseverance, innovation and diligence made him so successful today. The team members learned a lot from Mr, Huang’s motto: “Dreams leads to success.” “It is not your craft but your idea that changes the world.” We parents also learned that we have to respect children’s interest from Mr. Huang’s story.

　　It is so happy to have the opportunity to join the project. Even though there are only 6 kids in the team, each kids showed their incredible potential. It was a difficult work process, but they learned a lot. It is really a memorable experience for them. You all did a great job! You proved that elementary students could also be expert researchers. We are so proud of you and we hope that you can apply these ability you possess dealing with other upcoming challenges in the future.

Yu-Chen’s father

　　Flying the kite is like plying the marbles, cards or making Taiwanese bamboo dragonfly. The children have reached the age of playing these games, but perhaps due to the lack of space in urban and the advance of technology, they always have PSP or Nintendo on their hands. They have less chance and patience to play these Chinese traditional toys.

　　The International CyberFair encourages children to participate in group activities. Getting in touch with kite and knowing Mr. Huang are good serendipities brought up. When we accompanied with our kids to interview Mr. Huang before Lunar New Year's Eve, we saw the international creative works, feeling his concentration and perseverance to his profession. It seemed that children could understand the unique view of and persistent spirit of Mr. Huang.

　　Making web pages is pretty hard, especially these kids have no experience before, plus they only have limited time. They sacrificed their Chinese New Year holidays organizing the data, writing articles, designing web pages, picturing the book and figuring out the complicated computer program. Their wisdom and diligence are challenged. Luckily enough they have their teachers’ guidance and parents’ and students’ devotion, this project can be done smoothly.

　　Flying a kite is an interesting activity, even the six kids always flew kites under the condition that there were only breezes in a cold weather. They ran hard, raised their hands up high, the kites just won’t fly or it fell very quickly, and the kids got upset and frustrated. But every time when they saw the kites go up, they got so excited again, watching this reminds me of myself twenty or thirty years ago.

　　I here really hope that they can share Mr. Huang’s spirit, and spares no efforts when doing things and doing what they want to do. They own the future and the whole world!