Professional Development on the Island

As part of my orientation to the SPED department, I was required to attend a professional development in the main office of our organization.  It was all about how they run their special educational services.  Because I am in the New Territories, it was a lot of MTR hopping to make it to the main office.  I was fortunate to tag along with one of the educational assistants (EAs) who also had to attend.  She had actually worked with the company before and has been in Hong Kong for over a decade.  I am fortunate because she is the EA assigned to me and my liaison subject.  I rather like her quite a bit.  =]

The presentations themselves were information on top of information on top of information.  It was a lot to take in, but it was also greatly appreciated because I’ve been in districts that basically just threw you in and said, “good luck.”

It was also really great because there were quite a few from our division who had to attend.  I was able to get to know more about them.  While we all share an office space, people are so constantly in and out that it is hard to really talk.  Many of them have either lived in Hong Kong for a long time, or they have been teaching overseas for a long time.  I am one of the few people who are on their first overseas experience.  As such, people are always curious about what I am thinking.  There are some days I wonder what I was thinking as well.