I selected the Paris, Normandy, Brittany, and London tour because I wanted my group to have a unique experience; I didn't want to repeat a tour that students from our school had already taken. I also wanted my students to recognize that although French, English, and American cultures are very different, we do share common ground. Ultimately, I wanted my students to have the international travel experience that I wish I had had when I was a teenager. As reflect on our trip, I must say that our tour far exceeded my expectations. Our EF Tour truly was experiential learning. From learning the universal language of smile and point, to reading a map, paying in a different currency, navigating public transportation, trying unfamiliar foods, realizing the wide-variety of toilets, and becoming aware of the cultural notions of personal space, my student travelers learn so much more in ten days abroad than I could ever hope to teach them in 180 in the classroom. I started the process last May with EF Tours, an educational travel company that organizes tours specifically for students. From service learning to language and cultural immersion, EF creates itineraries that meet all sorts of educational needs and provides a safe, secure learning experience. While no two tours are exactly the same, the following is a breakdown of our trip. Day 1: Departure Day Our group met at Rochester Airport at 7:15 am. We got our boarding passes, said our goodbyes, and passed through security. Then we waited. And waited. And waited some more. Our flight was delayed due to a navigational issue. As I stared at the board willing it to update to an actual departure time, I also thought about what I needed to do if we missed our connection in New York City. EF had prepared me for this. And as frustrating as it was to sit in the airport for most of the day, my travelers were learning about travel and about flexibility. Sometimes, you just have to be patient and deal with the problems as they arise. We finally boarded, and made it to NYC with about ten minutes to get to our gate. By some strange twist of luck (or perhaps an awesome flight attendant), we were nearly next to our departure gate when we arrived in NYC. After purchasing some ginger ale and plastic bags for nauseous students (group leaders, be sure to pack some in your carry-on for students just in case), we boarded our flight to Paris and were finally on our way. Day 2: Paris We landed and cleared customs rather quickly with me leading and my co-chaperone/skeptical husband taking up the rear of the group. A teacher as well, Jeremy was just as apprehensive as I was when I chaperoned my first tour a year ago. He would quickly become a student-travel convert but not quite yet. We arrived in Paris, met our extraordinary Tour Director, Ronen, dropped our bags at our hotel, and went into the city. I was immediately impressed with our travelers. After a quick orientation, we gave them time to visit the ATM and eat lunch. From a cafe across the street, Jeremy and I were able to watch their small groups learn to order in France. Unlike in the US, in Europe you need to get your waiter's attention to order, to get refills, to get the check, etc. After answering a couple of "What do we do?" WhatsApp messages, they quickly caught on. After lunch, Ronen took us on another walking tour of the city to Notre Dame. He gave us an overview of the Cathedral's history and its cultural and religious significance to the city of Paris. Travellers had time to visit the Cathedral, do some souvenir shopping, have an ice-cream or crepe, and visit Shakespeare and Company. Then we met as a large group and made our way to dinner at Auberge Notre Dame, across the Seine from Notre Dame Cathedral. While we were eating dessert, Jeremy and the other chaperones noticed what looked dust coming from the scaffolding at the top of the Cathedral. A few moments later, we realized that we were seeing smoke, not dust. Soon we watched fire trucks and police cars pass by toward the Cathedral. We could see flames around the spire. As Ronen called the bus driver, we organized our student travelers and made our way away from the fire to a safe place to meet the bus. I updated parents as we waited several blocks away for the bus. My initial concern was my students' safety. My secondary concern was this memory of their trip. As Notre Dame burned, Paris seemed to just stop. We could see Parisians and tourists crying in the street as we witnessed this landmark, 850+ years of history, burn in front of us. I couldn't help but think of my own visits to Notre Dame, my first visit in 2008 when I was just a bit older than my student travelers, and the impact that that trip had on me. It ignited my passion for travel. I was concerned that this experience would extinguish that passion in my student travelers. But as they did throughout our trip, my student travelers reminded me of an important aspect of travel: It's not just about location; travel is also about time. As some of the last people to see Notre Dame whole and as some of the first to see it damaged, we witnessed the moment of history. No matter how many times we visit in our lives, we won't ever see Paris the way that we saw it on that first day. And while that is memory that will stay with all of us, it's surrounded by many, many more positive memories of our trip. Day 3: Paris Bus Tour and Versailles The next day, we woke up early to an overcast sky. We met our local guide, Estelle, and took a bus tour around the rest of the city of Paris. With photo stops at the Place de la Concorde and the Eiffel Tower, as well as the memory of the previous evening, we soaked up every second of our time in Paris with renewed appreciation. Ronen gave us lessons in Paris's geography, while Estelle increased our knowledge of Parisian history, art, and culture. In the afternoon, we made our way outside the city to Versailles. While our tour was delayed, we visited the palace and the grounds. We also got to see Ronen work his magic as he rearranged our reservations for the evening, ensuring that we were able to do everything on our itinerary despite the delays. We returned to the city for our Seine River cruise, dinner, and a beautiful view of the City of Light from the top of Montparnasse. Watching my student travellers see the city and the Eiffel Tower lit up for the first time brought out the magic of this experience. Day 4: Rouen, Livarot, and Caen At this point, we started to bond more as a group and fall into a rhythm. We packed the coach bus early and departed for Normandy. While some group leaders disagree, I think it's important that student get to experience smaller towns and the countryside of the place they are visiting. The capital cities give students a glimpse of urban life, but the rural areas give students a more complete understanding of what it is to be French, English, American, etc. In Rouen we learned about Joan of Arc and visited the sites of her trial and execution. We had another lovely lunch outside in a cafe. Then we had a cheese-tasting in Livarot. After trying four different kinds of soft (and smelly) cheeses, I was officially impressed by my student travelers. Regardless of how much they didn't like the smell or taste of some of the cheeses, everyone tried them. After cheese, we made our way to Caen for a hike up to the castle, dinner, and a full night of rest (finally!). Day 5: Honfleur and Etretat In the morning, we visited the gorgeous seaside town of Honfleur. We learned about the viking history of the area (Norman-Norsemen) as Ronen took us on a walking tour of the town. After lunch and the first ice cream of the day, we headed to the seaside cliffs of Etretat. With baguettes sticking out of backpacks, my student travelers hiked all over the cliffs, exploring every inch of the landscape. After nearly two hours of hiking and exploring, we ate our second ice cream of the day and returned to Caen for dinner. Day 6: D-Day Beaches of Normandy For many of my student travelers, as well as for Jeremy, this was the part of the tour that we anticipated most. We started the day at the Caen Memorial Museum where we explored the main exhibit and watched a short film about D-Day. Then we boarded the bus for the memorial. We learned that the American cemeteries are actually considered American territory. We walked from the memorial to the cemetery, to the chapel, and down to the beach thinking about the men who fought and the many who died to liberate occupied France. For a few of my students, they thought specifically about grandfathers and great-uncles who arrived on this beach nearly seventy-five years ago. As we walked, Jeremy and I witnessed a WWII veteran's emotional visit with his family. From Caen, we went further west to Pointe du Hoc to visit the remains of a bunker turned into a memorial park. We returned to the hotel that evening with a bit of sand and a new reverence for the Americans who fought on those beaches so long ago. Day 7: Mont Saint-Michel and Saint-Malo After a reflective day at the D-Day beaches and memorials, we continued west to Mont Saint-Michel, the abbey and fortress founded in the 8th century. When we arrived in the morning, the island was completely surrounded by water, but by the time we left in the afternoon, the receded tide left it connected to the mainland. Ronen guided us through the abbey and explained more about William the Conqueror and the Hundred Years' War. After exploring the island and eating a quick lunch (and ice-cream), we continued to Saint-Malo in Brittany. There, our guide, Coco, explained the story of Saint-Malo, a walled-city with a long history of piracy. She guided us around the major sites, commenting on their history and significance as well as telling some incredible stories of pirates. After our tour with Coco, we ate a traditional crepe dinner in town and, of course, had another ice-cream. Day 8: Paris We departed our hotel to return to Paris via Chartres early. Unfortunately our bus got a flat tire. Fortunately, Ronen and our driver worked their magic while we ate a snack and used the restroom. While we missed lunch in Chartres, we were able to have a nice lunch en route to Paris where we finished our time in France at the Louvre. Jeremy and I led the students immediately to the Mona Lisa, not because it's my favorite painting, quite the contrary, but because it's THE Mona Lisa. It also never fails to be the most anticlimactic experience in Paris. After paying Mona a customary visit, we proceeded into what I consider the more interesting works in the museum: the Napoleon III apartments, the Egyptian antiquities, the sculptures, and the foundation walls. The Louvre is impossibly large, and even on my fourth visit, I felt as overwhelmed as I did on my first visit eleven years ago. But the Louvre is symbolic of travel in general: you can't see everything in a single visit; you always leave something to see or do that becomes your reason to return. After the Louvre and dinner, we took an Easter stroll on the Champs Elysees. We watched the sunset on the Arc du Triomphe, peeked into the most expensive shops in the world, and just watched the tourists and the Parisians pass by. We said our goodbyes to the Boston and North Carolina groups and prepared to leave Paris for London. Day 9: London We left our hotel early to take the Eurostar from Paris to London. For many of my student travelers, this was their first time on a high-speed train. Exhausted from our late night and early morning, I don't think any of us saw the chunnel. I certainly didn't. For most of the week, Ronen and I had been planning to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. Any kind of delay would've caused us to miss the event, so we didn't mention our plan to the student travelers. Luckily, our train was on-time, the van met us at the station to take our bags to the hotel, and we got on the Tube into the city without any fuss. Ronen led us to the perfect, uncrowded spot to see the changing of the guard--it was the perfect start to our London adventure. After the changing of the guard, we walked to Covent Garden for an ATM visit and lunch. Unfortunately the English ATMs didn't accept some of our cards, but my student travelers were pros by this point and didn't panic. We sorted out a temporary solution, and planned to call the banks when they opened at home. After a leisurely lunch with some souvenir shopping, we met with Ms. Smith, who came to town to see us for the afternoon. Having moved to her new home just eight days before, it was exciting to meet with a local of both New York and England. Though our time together was short, it was an awesome reminder of the possibilities and opportunities travel affords. While a student tour gives young travelers a taste of a wide-variety of places, it also shows students the enormous variety of opportunities that are available to them. Day 10: London Since we didn't have to compromise our time, we were able to explore London in more depth. Our wonderful tour guide, Keith, met us in the morning for our bus tour of the city. Keith's jokes are great, and you can find him on EF's Instagram. (He's basically a celebrity!) Keith also included more frequent stops for us to walk and take pictures, including Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge, London Bridge, and my personal favorite, the Globe Theater. After leaving Keith for lunch, we were able to offer student travelers choices between the Victoria and Albert Museum, Natural History Museum, and the Science Museum. In addition to the wonderful art and artifacts, these museums are all FREE! We squeezed in a visit to the National Gallery to see Monet as well as one last visit to St. James's Park before dinner. After dinner we finished our time in London at the Lyceum Theatre to see the Lion King.
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Time has definitely gotten away from me this semester, but in November, my students heard from C-PP exchange student Korish. (I won't include students' full names on my blog.) Korish is from Pakistan, and he spoke to my English 10 classes about the dangers of the single story for him and his country.
After teaching us some basics about Pakistani culture and society, Korish addressed the stereotypes. He started with the misconception that Pakistanis ride camels to school. Apparently a student at his school asked him this during one of his first weeks. Though he was taken aback by the question initially, it's become of his presentation that he uses to help students become more comfortable talking about misconceptions and stereotypes. As he showed us pictures of his home city, students realized that Corning is small town in comparison and Campbell, a tiny village. Korish went on to address the misconception that Pakistan is in the Middle East and gave students a quick geography lesson about southeast Asia. The majority of Korish's presentation was about breaking down the stereotypes of terrorism that are common in the U.S. He confronts the stereotype that Muslims are terrorists head-on. Keep in mind that Korish is only sixteen and is here studying on scholarship. That is a tremendous undertaking for someone so young, but his talk with my student was enlightening and, I think, effective. He shared the Pakistani perspective on effectively combatting terrorism and emphasized that Pakistan has been affected by terrorism far longer than the U.S. He also reminded students that there is no terrorist nation or religion: nations and religions want peace, terrorists do not. To emphasize his point, Korish talked about local areas his host parents won't allow him to go because of violence. Students agreed that this was a dangerous area to avoid, so Korish asked why, if there are violent places in the U.S. can't there be peaceful places in other areas of the world? I think this example helped students understand his point about not judging others. Although we've been studying Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's TEDTalk, "The Danger of a Single Story" in class, Korish's presentation added a layer of relevance. I'm grateful to him for his willingness to be a peer educator to my students, and I plan to continue to invite student presenters to my classes in the future.
Today I presented at the 67th Annual New York State English Conference about global competence in the 21st century classroom. I'm incredibly grateful to be able to share my work with my peers across New York State, and I hope there was at least on useful tool or resource each person was able to take away from my presentation. The NYSEC conference has connected me to many great educators and authors since I first became a member as a graduate student at Ithaca College. It's also the place where I first learned about the Teacher for Global Classrooms program, so in that regard, my professional learning came full circle today.
My presentation is available as a hyperdoc. Hyperdocs are linked documents, like a Google Slides presentation, that I use with students when we complete mini-research tasks. I've found them to be both effective in guiding students through research as well as engaging. Since returning from Morocco, I’ve been thinking more and more about my research questions. With the current upheaval in U.S. education and the movement toward school choice, the issue of equity is at the forefront of my mind. Though I don’t believe that we should continue down the current public education path just because that’s what we’ve always done, I recognize that many of my students stand to lose more than they will gain if the proposed educational policies of our current administration go into effect. While my time in Morocco was very brief and my observations personal and limited, my experience in Moroccan education has deepened my thinking about equitable education and what equity looks like in my classroom, my school, and my country.
How can schools provide equitable education opportunities?
Contexts Public education in Morocco is centralized: The Ministry of Education is responsible for school buildings, curriculum, and even assigning teachers to specific schools. Because of this, I initially inferred that the limited resources are divided up equally among all public schools. Classrooms have desks or tables and chairs, but they are very crowded. A school may have a projector or two, but those resources are shared among classes or saved for special events. Students must purchase their textbooks and workbooks in addition to paper, pencils, and pens. My host teacher brings his personal laptop to work. The curriculum is set by the Ministry of Education, leaving teachers with little flexibility in regard to what they teach. Teachers are also assigned to the schools in which they work. Regional preferences are taken into consideration, but many first year teachers end up in rural areas where veteran teachers often don’t want to teach. These are all, of course, generalizations based on my own observations, but I think they are useful not just for comparison but also to unpack the idea of equity itself. In my classroom, I have an interactive whiteboard that works with my school-issued laptop to deliver instruction. We are not a one-to-one school, so I share computer labs, technology carts, and large group spaces with other classes. My students have wireless internet access throughout our building. We follow the Common Core State Standards but I have a lot of flexibility in regard to what and how I teach. My district provides textbooks. (We are book-rich.) Students and families are primarily responsible for supplies such as pens and paper, but because we are Title I school, we often get funding and donations for these materials to pass along to needy students. Geography and Socioeconomic Status Both my school and my host school in Morocco are located in rural areas. Many of my students live below the poverty line and rely on free and reduced lunch programs, another issue in the news, to get by. We have school busses that provide transportation and a late bus option for students to stay after school to get additional instructional help. We have incentives for students to stay in school and earn their high school diplomas, and we have options and programs available to struggling students. In Morocco, students in rural areas often live in dorms because they live out of walking or biking distance from school. Like the U.S., Moroccan teachers come in early or stay late to help struggling students. And like in the U.S., for many students these “extras” do help bridge the gaps for students in rural, remote areas. But for many other students, it’s not enough. My students don’t have the same social and cultural opportunities that students in the nearby suburban high school do. They don’t have the same access to high-level advanced placement classes or international baccalaureate programs. While online learning has leveled the playing field somewhat for my students, it does not and cannot take the place of a highly qualified instructor and peer group. In Morocco, I witnessed many of the same issues. Students in the urban and suburban schools were more likely to have access to “extras” like art and music. Teachers and administrators had more access to technology due to their locations in larger cities or suburbs. They also had a wider network from whom they could get ideas and resources. This gap, due to both geography and socioeconomic status, is a difficult one to fill. Even in Morocco, where public education seems as though it should provide equal opportunities, if not equitable ones for all students, there are issues. For example, teacher experience and retention is a shared issue. In the U.S., we know that our neediest students need the most qualified teachers but they don’t often get them. Low income districts in the U.S. often pay lower salaries and have few affordable housing options. They are more likely to have a teaching staff with less experience and higher teacher turnover. In Morocco, I originally assumed that because public school teachers earn their salaries based on experience not location, that there would be less turnover in high-needs rural districts. After talking with new and experienced teachers, I learned that this is not the case. Teachers assigned to rural districts, especially in remote areas often have the least experience and the highest turnover rates. In Morocco, public school teachers can apply to be transferred to other schools at the end of the year. Many apply to suburban or urban locations to be closer to their families and to have more social, cultural, and economic opportunities. Thus the details are different, but the problems are similar. How do we encourage highly-qualified teachers to stay in the areas with the neediest students? Are salary incentives enough? Do we need to rethink our own system of hiring teachers in the U.S.? As our teaching shortage increases in New York, how are we going to attract and retain highly qualified teachers in our rural districts? Gender Gender equity was not initially one of my research areas. Before my trip, it wasn’t an issue that I often noticed in my classroom. There are very few obvious discrepancies between male and female students in my school. Moroccan students and teachers helped me to notice the less-obvious ones. In Morocco, girls are ambitious. In every class I observed, rural and urban, public or private, the hands raised first and most often were those of girls. When asked what they wanted to be when they finished school, young women answered “doctor” or “lawyer.” In language classes especially, girls dominated. Even in rural areas, where girls are less likely to finish high school because families value their son’s education most or because of fear and anxiety over daughters living in the dorms, girls still stood out as the most engaged and the most ambitious compared to the boys even if they were only a small percentage of the class. As Moroccan infrastructure and investment in education increases, the predictions are that more and more girls in rural areas will finish secondary school and go on to university. Then there are the boys… In general, the teachers that I spoke with often pointed out that the majority of their male students were disengaged. This could be due to the subject area: most of the teachers I interacted with are foreign language teachers and languages aren’t content areas boys in the U.S. gravitate toward either. This could be because of the increasing number of female students attaining higher levels of education, especially in the last twenty-five years. Or there could be (an)other reasons. When I returned to my classroom, I started to notice the gender dynamics more. In many cases, I noticed my male students were also less engaged than their female counterparts with few exceptions. I started to think about what causes this. Is it the content area? Are girls biologically wired for languages in ways that boys are not? Is it my instructional strategies? Could or should they be more gender-based? Is it a consequence of changing social norms as women hold more professional and leadership roles in both the U.S. and Morocco? Perhaps most important of all of these questions, how do we get boys engaged in academics, especially languages, too? Students with Disabilities One of the most important challenges teachers face is addressing the needs of students with disabilities. Differentiation, accommodation, and modification are all aspects of U.S. teachers’ everyday lives to varying degrees. I have always taught with at least one special education consultant teacher in my room. I’ve also had co-taught classes and provided Academic Intervention Services (AIS). Over the course of the last seven years, I’ve worked with students with a wide range of cognitive and physical disabilities. Meeting their needs often tests my creativity and problem-solving skills, and I have found that what often works for high-needs students can be beneficial for all students. In Morocco, I observed that there are few students with disabilities in high school. Teachers said that most students with disabilities, especially severe ones, don’t attend school due to stigma about disabilities and/or lack of educational opportunities. The few that do attend school don’t receive formal accommodations or modifications to level the playing field. Those that do get support receive it because of the effort and expertise of their individual teachers. This means that few students with disabilities finish school. Though there are programs, some run by NGOs such as the Om Arrabiaa Association we visited, to train and employee people with disabilities, these programs are limited. Investing in the education of people with disabilities is important to economic stability and growth. As teachers, we want all citizens to be productive members of society, and we work hard to ensure that all of our students have these opportunities to make successful transitions from school to work. In the U.S., IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) mandates equitable education opportunities for students with disabilities. IDEA has come under question recently as the U.S. Department of Education reevaluates its policies and its role in public education. As a teacher who works with a significant number of students with disabilities, I am concerned. How will we ensure that students with disabilities continue to receive an equitable education without a federal mandate? As education policy evolves and changes, how can we make sure that these students have adequate opportunities and resources? Conclusions I recognize that I have more questions than answers after my experience in Morocco. I do hope, however, that my purpose in participating in Teachers for Global Classrooms is clearer: My goal is to improve education for my students. While I hope the Moroccan teachers I met and with whom I worked did find something I shared useful, mine was and is a selfish journey. Through my observations and interactions of Moroccan teachers and students, my understanding of education and its purpose deepened. Because of this experience, the questions I ask, the goals I have, and the ways in which I think about education in general have changed. I no longer see global education as an aspect of a larger educational concept. Global education is education. Tuesday evening English 10 and 12 hosted Moroccan Culture in our IDEA Lab. We cooked Moroccan food (by way of Jamie Oliver). We also invited June Seaney, professional dancer, instructor, and choreographer to speak to us about Moroccan music and dance. Let's start with the food. In the U.S., most of us rarely take the time to cook a meal and sit down and enjoy it together. My students eat their lunch in the cafeteria and many also eat breakfast there. They have about half an hour for a quick bite, and then it's back to class. In Morocco, mealtime felt sacred. We sat down together and took the time to enjoy our meal. I want my students to have a similar experience. Together with my "sous chefs," we made couscous, beef with prunes, and roast chicken with Moroccan spices. I also baked Moroccan bread the night before, and even though I'm not a great baker, it turned out well. Perhaps most importantly, we sat and enjoyed a meal together. Our guest speaker for the evening was June Seaney from Cornell University where she teaches in the physical education department. I knew of June from her dance troupe's performances in Ithaca when I was an undergrad and graduate student. June shared her extensive knowledge of Moroccan music and dance with us and went into detail about different regional music and dance traditions. I think one of the big takeaways for both me and my students is the regional diversity in Morocco and the pride Moroccans have for their regional traditions. This certainly helps think of Morocco as a place of many stories. As I finish my capstone as well as the school year, I can't help but look ahead to next year. Although Moroccan Culture Night was a great experience, I would like to do it again during the school day when all of my classes can attend. Though I would love to bring my students to Morocco someday, from this experience, I see the full value of bringing a taste of Morocco here. It's difficult to fathom that I've been back in my classroom with my own students for three weeks now (including spring break). We are deep into our bioethics unit, an interdisciplinary research unit in living environment and English, in English 10. English 12 is enjoying the love triangle of Girish Karnad's play Hayavadana as they grapple with the question of completeness. Morocco does seem very far away from my daily life as a teacher, and yet it's changed so much about my teaching. Today, I got a chance to revisit Morocco with a small group of students at our April Board of Education meeting. I was so proud of my students for talking with the BOE about the importance of recognizing misconceptions and stereotypes and being tolerant and open-minded. They also got to share their letters from the Moroccan students as well as pictures from their schools. In many ways, I think it was a testament to their learning and personal growth for them to share the personal connections they've made with people they once thought were very different from themselves. That type of self-awareness and sensitivity is an invaluable character trait. We also got to invite the BOE and the greater community to our Moroccan Culture Night. This is an idea I got from a social studies colleague in another district, and I love following her culture nights on social media. I think this will allow my students and my self to bring global competence to our community. Morocco has a well-deserved reputation for hospitality. Throughout these past two weeks, I've been welcomed into schools, classrooms, and homes. Students and teachers especially have been excited and enthusiastic to talk with me about education, culture, religion, travel, food, art, music, technology, and a hundred other things. They've shared perspectives and listened to mine with open minds and hearts. I'm especially grateful for the hospitality of Mr. Benhammou and his family. He welcomed Ms. Cooper and me into his home and his classrooms from the beginning of our trip to the very end. He answered our questions, co-planned and co-taught with us, and drove us all over Morocco at all hours. I am also grateful to his family, his wife especially, for letting us borrow him for the week to learn about Moroccan education and culture. Since they are both teachers, they also provided insight into balancing their teaching careers with their busy family life. At both a professional and a personal level, this issue of work/life balance is one that I too am contending with, and it was reassuring to see a family in a different context work through these challenges together. As my field experience comes to an end, I'm starting to think about what I will say about Morocco when I get home. We've talked a lot about storytelling and strategies for sharing this experience with our students and communities. Though I don't have all of the details of my story yet, I know that I will start with Moroccan hospitality. Today we visited four different Moroccan schools. This morning Ms. Cooper, Mr. Benhammou and I co-taught lessons at Taghnari High School. Moroccan students also wrote their letters back to you. I have a few more to collect tomorrow, but they were very excited about the opportunity to make an American friend and practice their English.
After those classes, we visited Group Scolaire des Nations, a new private school in Fkih Ben Saleh. The school includes primary and middle levels. The facilities are impressive. The school is brand new with large classrooms, science labs, and even a gymnasium. They are also building a theater, fine arts, and music space, which is very uncommon in Morocco. We go to observe a third grade class learning English. Most students, even in the private schools, don't begin to learn English until ninth grade, but the school includes foreign language instruction in the elementary grades. These students read a story for us in English. They are well on their way to being multi-lingual. After lunch with Mr. Benhammou and his family (remember, Moroccans go home for lunch), we returned to Institution La Fontaine, the private school where Mr. Benhammou also teaches English as a foreign language. Students shared a skit and a presentation with us about Moroccan. Ms. Cooper and I also talked with them about education in the U.S., our schools, and our students. Students asked and answered questions, some of which I have on video to share when I return. Our day ended with a visit to a very rural school run by an NGO (non-governmental organization). I don't have the correct spelling, but I will share the name of the school when I get it. We were guests at the English club's meeting. Middle school students, all girls, though a few boys joined us later, interviewed. They also answered our questions about Morocco, shared their artwork, and sang songs. Like in the United States, there is a wide range of schools and educational opportunities for students. Equity is an issue which which I continue to struggle: it's incredibly frustrating to know what does work and be unable to implement what works because of socioeconomic conditions and/or bureaucracy. But no matter the school, we've met incredibly motivated students and teachers who are working hard to create better opportunities for themselves and their communities. Today Mr. Benhammou brought Ms. Cooper and myself to Institution la Fontaine, the private school where he teaches middle school English. Today felt more like a "normal" school day for me since we taught four periods (four hours) in a row.
Today's lesson was a modified version of the collocations "to do" and "to make" that we taught yesterday. Mr. Benhammou took the direct instruction materials that I created for the collocations and turned them into an inquiry lesson. I've noticed that direct instruction (teacher lectures students) is the primary method of delivery here in Morocco for a variety of reasons, but especially because of crowded classrooms. He also took the lead on "charades" to encourage students to use their English language skills to communicate with one another. I really appreciate his willingness to try new instructional methods, especially from two teachers who teach in a different content area. His openness in particular is something that I think all teachers, including myself, should aspire toward. In a previous post, I referred to the Chinese proverb, "Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime." I would like to revise that proverb just a bit and add that when we teach each other, we feed our community. This week has been about "feeding" our educational communities abroad and at home, and because of the share challenges and shared ideas, I know that I will return home full. Today Ms. Cooper and I taught a lesson to the 11th grade students on collocations (words frequently juxtaposed) for "to do" and "to make." The class was small by Moroccan standards with only about 20 students. I did have the students take notes briefly, and we used those notes for a modified version of "two-corners" and "charades." They did an excellent job with the lesson, especially considering that these words can be confusing for English language learners. For instance, why do we "do the dishes" but "make the bed?" In the afternoon, both Ms. Cooper and I gave presentations about classroom management and engagement strategies. One of the biggest concerns of Moroccan teachers is engaging their students so that they are motivated to learn English. Language proficiency is highly valued here, with many students who are proficient in three or four languages. To learn English, both teachers and students face the additional challenge of crowded classrooms, with anywhere from 30 to 70 students. There is little space to move around.
Thus, I have two questions for you today:
*I am taking pictures, I promise. I'll share them as soon as I get a better connection. |
Mrs. ShepardTeacher, ELL tutor, traveler, hiker, reader, and aspiring citizen of the world. Archives
April 2019
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