challenge, but as I think about it, it's been one of my unconscious goals whenever I travel. I've also been reflecting on citizen diplomacy in regard to students, since the first group of CS students will be traveling to Europe in April. They, too, will be citizen diplomats.
Assistant Secretary Taplin also spoke about the importance of conversation. I'm paraphrasing a bit: real conversations with real people in real homes and schools are the antidote to "fake" news. This idea has instilled even more of a sense of urgency in me about addressing the issue of misinformation, especially on social media. In several sessions throughout our two days, we talked and thought about these conversations that we will be having with teachers and students all around the world. While I don't have all of the answers yet, I do want to share these questions:
Though I have a lot of planning to do and lessons to instruct before departure, because of the symposium, I'm more focused on simple ideas and actions that will have a big impact on my students and my teaching. I've been worried about making sure that I meet all of my objectives for this experience and designing complex projects before departure. Now I feel more comfortable treating this experience as a marathon, a long term shift, than a quick sprint to rapidly change my instruction.
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We received our travel notifications on December 23, 2016, and I had the best of intentions to write my first post then. Of course, intentions only rarely lead to action and that day was no exception. I was excited to finally know where I am going after ten intense weeks of professional development and months of waiting, but I was also wrapping up my classes before break. Education is like a tornado: everything is quick, intense, and over before you know it. Now it's February, and I'm only thirty-five days from departure.
Thursday, the Morocco cohort had our pre-departure webinar. Since we're the first group to travel, we really don't know what to expect. We were given an overview of Moroccan history and culture, which I hope to turn in to a brief video to introduce Morocco to students. We also heard from a member of last year's Morocco cohort who gave us lots of useful travel tips, including an app to learn Moroccan Arabic. On Friday, we received our partner assignments and host school locations. Ms. Cooper teaches 10th grade English at a charter school in Washington, DC. We talked for over an hour about everything from Morocco to our students to Francophone African authors to social justice. I definitely consider her a "kindred spirit" already. After a week in Rabat, Ms. Cooper and I will be traveling to our host school in Fkih Ben Saleh, in central Morocco. It's a small, agricultural city of approximately 82,000 people. Next week, we will connect with our host school and teacher. |
Mrs. ShepardTeacher, ELL tutor, traveler, hiker, reader, and aspiring citizen of the world. Archives
April 2019
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