Day 1: 2/18/16
A very early morning. At the airport at 4 a.m. in preparation for a 6:15 take off. Bad weather in Reno and multiple de-icings later, what should have been a 2 hour layover in Dallas becomes a run- for-your-next-plane in Dallas. We land in D.C. starved and have just time to place our bags in our room before the informal meet and greet. My roommate has kindly left a welcoming note on my bed. The meet and greet has no appetizers left! I wander up to the 2 people I have stayed in contact with the most over Facebook, and they warmly embrace me. But starvation wins over, and our Nevada group quickly exits for an Irish Pub dinner around the corner.
A very early morning. At the airport at 4 a.m. in preparation for a 6:15 take off. Bad weather in Reno and multiple de-icings later, what should have been a 2 hour layover in Dallas becomes a run- for-your-next-plane in Dallas. We land in D.C. starved and have just time to place our bags in our room before the informal meet and greet. My roommate has kindly left a welcoming note on my bed. The meet and greet has no appetizers left! I wander up to the 2 people I have stayed in contact with the most over Facebook, and they warmly embrace me. But starvation wins over, and our Nevada group quickly exits for an Irish Pub dinner around the corner.
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Day 2: 2/19/16 Up early again at 6:15 a.m. to prepare for the days itinerary. An opening breakfast at 8:15 a.m. IREX is so well -organized: our nametags indicate which table we sit at. I walk in to crisp linens, china, and fancy name tags. Wow! Breakfast is promptly served and looks like the Irish breakfast I consumed a year ago in Ireland: bacon, scrambled eggs, sausage, diced potatoes, and a half roasted tomato. A female Fellow sits down next to me and nervously says she feels not dressed up enough. I feel I don't belong here either with all of these confident hotshots walking around. I immediately like this woman because she is able to express openly what probably some of us are feeling. Later I find out she is in my Colombia group! A representative from The State Department delivers the welcoming speech. I am trying to concentrate, but it is hitting me that this is a big deal. We are U.S. teaching ambassadors! We move on to our first small group meeting entitled- Prepare Yourself: Colombia. 16 of us meet for the first time. We quickly formally introduce ourselves to the group. There is so much information and we are too busy taking notes to take stock of each other. We meet Max and Kat, our IREX people who will travel with us. Nancy, a teacher from Colombia, teaches us about Colombian holidays, the school calendar, daily classroom hours, and high stakes tests the students must take throughout their time in the school system. We also learn Colombia has national educational standards and they aren't varied by state. There are no electives offered during the school day, so students participate in them after school only. Students remain in the same classroom all day, as the teachers move from one classroom to another. I wonder what their reasoning is for that. U.S. teachers treasure having their own classrooms surrounded by all of their stuff. The Internet is limited at school, but common in the homes. Students have uniforms, but teachers do not. Next we go to our global lesson planning session. I tape up my students' work and lesson plan on the wall with the other participants. This session was extremely helpful. It started with a video from Tony Jackson reminding us that content knowledge matters and you need to think like your subject. So in science class, you need to think like a scientist, and in art class you need to think like an artist, and in Spanish class, you need to think like a native speaker. So this is another reason why I insist upon immersion in my Spanish classes! The teachers and administrators from all around the United States walk around in a gallery walk and write answers to the questions we pose to help us with our projects. My project is societal and environmental inventions to improve conditions in the United States. My question is: How can I promote cultural awareness in this lesson plan? I get great feedback: Which countries would use these inventions? Why? Why might it be accepted differently in different countries? It was mentioned to use infographics. I have never heard of this term before! I do learn something here- that you need to sell your project! Next time I would laminate my projects so they look more professional. As soon I returned to Reno, I promptly laminated these projects.
Lunch arrives and it is then that I thaw out and bravely go to a table to interact with my Fellows. It's a bit intimidating- not really knowing anyone beyond Facebook and name tags- but as we talk, I realize we have much in common, because after all, we are all school teachers. After lunch, we return to our Colombia group for a second time. Something has changed. Before the class begins, the group is looser. My middle aged ladies ( The Steel Magnolias- I have named us!) and I have decided we all need to go out to dinner tonight at a South American restaurant. Max gamely counts dinner attendees as The Steel Magnolias call restaurants on our cell phones- no easy feat to seat 14 people on a Friday night! The few that abstain from attending are headed to the viewing for Supreme Court Justice Scalia up the road. Back to business, we need an individual research question to focus on for our trip to Colombia. I choose beauty because I have read up on how Colombia places a premium on beauty and how The Miss Colombia pageant in Bogota and Miss Universe pageant are a big deal to them. My question is: How does beauty shape the lives of women in Bogota? In Reno, Nevada? Some of my supporting questions include: How is female beauty defined in Colombia? Is beauty valued over intelligence in Colombia? How does the beauty of a woman affect her performance in the classroom? As a woman ages, is she still valued in society? Is the Colombian economy boosted by make up and maintenance sales? Looking at the Colombian artist Botero, are certain types of female figures seen as more beautiful than others? Friday night our Colombian group plus three of our administrators went to dinner at Las Canteras, a Peruvian restaurant in D.C., as there were no Colombian restaurants nearby. The camaraderie was apparent now. We laughed and talked for several hours. This group has real heart- we have 1/3 youngsters, 1/3 middle aged gentlemen, and 1/3 Steel Magnolias ( middle aged women), and yet we are united and look out for each other. We are a lively bunch! |
Day 3: 2/20/16
The next morning we went to breakfast at unassigned tables, and I notice many from our Colombian group found each other and sat together. We were reminiscing about last night and sharing photos of our families and pets from our cell phones. We had gone beyond Facebook friends. Our first meeting sends us to our state table. I am proud Nevada has 6 Fellows plus 3 administrators at our table. Go Nevada! The author Homa Sabet Tavanger was our guest speaker for Growing Up Global. She began with a great quote from a Saudi astronaut on an international space mission: " The 1st day or 2 we all pointed at our countries. The 3rd or 4th day we pointed at our continents. By the 5th day we were only aware of the Earth." Wasn't this like our IREX summit this weekend? The 1st day, I was looking inward and feeling very self-conscious. Then I started to look for other Fellows I had previously corresponded with on Facebook. Then I ventured out to meet new people, such as my group going to Colombia. Then we realized we had something in common no matter what state we were from: we were all travelling to the same place and would be sharing our experiences together for 19 days. Homa had another great quote: "91% of Americans can't speak a 2nd language, but we are #1 in self-confidence in the world." Homa went on to say employers are looking for global problem solvers and 1500 CEO's say creativity is the most important value they seek over rigor , discipline, integrity, or vision. How do we get our students interested in global education? We must start global education at a young age, so students are comfortable with it. It takes 10,000 hours to master anything. We can't wait till they are juniors or seniors in high school. I know this to be true: I showed my Global Education Power Point to all of my high school classes, and only the upper level honor's classes showed any interest in it. We must make it personal for them. We must make a connection on the level of human relationships. We must connect college/career readiness to workforce readiness. We must make global education stick- it's not a passing fad, it is here to stay. Start with something each student is passionate about and take it outward. If a student is passionate about needlepoint, who else in the world is passionate about it? Communicate your ideas to a different audience and investigate the world. Link that passion to content knowledge. What is the history of needlepoint? Broaden your passion. How is needlepoint viewed around the world? Recognize perspectives. Use your needlepoint to help a charity in your community or around the world. Take action. It is so powerful!
Empower your students to use social media for social good. Embrace technology as a tool for meaningful connections and not an end in itself. For example,Newspaper Map is a great website where you click on a country and get the current news in that particular country. StartEmpathy.org is a great website for recognizing perspectives. Mine our own community. What does Reno value? We value Burning Man and Art Town. Both incorporate World music, art, and drama. In the meantime, watch the movie, Dirt! It comes down to I am doing the best I can right now and I am not insignificant - we are all hummingbirds. Challenge yourself, your school, and your world, and make a difference!
The next morning we went to breakfast at unassigned tables, and I notice many from our Colombian group found each other and sat together. We were reminiscing about last night and sharing photos of our families and pets from our cell phones. We had gone beyond Facebook friends. Our first meeting sends us to our state table. I am proud Nevada has 6 Fellows plus 3 administrators at our table. Go Nevada! The author Homa Sabet Tavanger was our guest speaker for Growing Up Global. She began with a great quote from a Saudi astronaut on an international space mission: " The 1st day or 2 we all pointed at our countries. The 3rd or 4th day we pointed at our continents. By the 5th day we were only aware of the Earth." Wasn't this like our IREX summit this weekend? The 1st day, I was looking inward and feeling very self-conscious. Then I started to look for other Fellows I had previously corresponded with on Facebook. Then I ventured out to meet new people, such as my group going to Colombia. Then we realized we had something in common no matter what state we were from: we were all travelling to the same place and would be sharing our experiences together for 19 days. Homa had another great quote: "91% of Americans can't speak a 2nd language, but we are #1 in self-confidence in the world." Homa went on to say employers are looking for global problem solvers and 1500 CEO's say creativity is the most important value they seek over rigor , discipline, integrity, or vision. How do we get our students interested in global education? We must start global education at a young age, so students are comfortable with it. It takes 10,000 hours to master anything. We can't wait till they are juniors or seniors in high school. I know this to be true: I showed my Global Education Power Point to all of my high school classes, and only the upper level honor's classes showed any interest in it. We must make it personal for them. We must make a connection on the level of human relationships. We must connect college/career readiness to workforce readiness. We must make global education stick- it's not a passing fad, it is here to stay. Start with something each student is passionate about and take it outward. If a student is passionate about needlepoint, who else in the world is passionate about it? Communicate your ideas to a different audience and investigate the world. Link that passion to content knowledge. What is the history of needlepoint? Broaden your passion. How is needlepoint viewed around the world? Recognize perspectives. Use your needlepoint to help a charity in your community or around the world. Take action. It is so powerful!
Empower your students to use social media for social good. Embrace technology as a tool for meaningful connections and not an end in itself. For example,Newspaper Map is a great website where you click on a country and get the current news in that particular country. StartEmpathy.org is a great website for recognizing perspectives. Mine our own community. What does Reno value? We value Burning Man and Art Town. Both incorporate World music, art, and drama. In the meantime, watch the movie, Dirt! It comes down to I am doing the best I can right now and I am not insignificant - we are all hummingbirds. Challenge yourself, your school, and your world, and make a difference!