Visiting Schools in Casablanca
Sunset in Casablanca
Sqala- Casablanca
Around 1770 the Alawite Sultan Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdallah decided to restore the walls of Dar el-Beida to create a point of resistance to European incursions between Mazagan and Rabat. In the early twentieth century, the fortification of the maritime wing of the Medina marks the beginning of the modern era to Casablanca starting to register in the commercial Atlantic. Meanwhile, the white city revives its heritage and remembers it was a Moorish city.
Hassan II Mosque- Casablanca
The Hassan II Mosque (Arabic: مسجد الحسن الثاني) is a religious building in Casablanca,Morocco. It is the largest mosque in the country and the 7th largest mosque in the world. Its minaret is the world's tallest at 210 m (689 ft).[1]
It stands on a promontory looking out to the Atlantic. A total of 105,000 worshippers can gather for prayer at the mosque simultaneously, 25,000 inside the mosque and another 80,000 on the mosque's ground outside.
The building was designed by the French architect Michel Pinseau and built byBouygues.[2]
It stands on a promontory looking out to the Atlantic. A total of 105,000 worshippers can gather for prayer at the mosque simultaneously, 25,000 inside the mosque and another 80,000 on the mosque's ground outside.
The building was designed by the French architect Michel Pinseau and built byBouygues.[2]
Reading Competition- Honored Guests
Our first day in Youssoufia we attended a reading competition for students.
We spoke to eager students about life in the United States- they asked great questions!
Education Systems in Morocco
Organization
-PreSchool (not compulsory)- 2 years
-Basic Primary School- 6 years (receive a certificate of completion at the end)
-Collegial (lower secondary/middle school)- 3 years (students must choose a vocational track at the end of this program)
-Qualifying (upper secondary/high school)- 3 years (students attend courses specific to their vocational track)
-Tertiary (license, master, doctor system)
Much like the US, Morocco is focused on educational reform in many areas similar to our school improvement goals. Their first reform "The National Charter for Education and Training" from 2000-2009 was largely unsuccessful because of the high standards set by the effort. In this bill they focused on areas such as: creating access for ALL children to schools, setting a goal of 90% completion rate (was reported at 10%), and reducing absenteeism. In 2009 they revived the effort with a new reform effort titled the "Education Emergency Plan" based on a report on the education system in Morocco that reported schools were shockingly underperforming. This reform effort is also focused on many of the same areas as well as improving literacy, etc. Another national movement is known as GENIE- Generalization of Information Technologies and Communication in Education which brought technology equipment such as computers to schools and initial training for teachers. This movement did not provide continued maintenance and support for schools and teachers which also made this effort largely unsuccessful.
-PreSchool (not compulsory)- 2 years
-Basic Primary School- 6 years (receive a certificate of completion at the end)
-Collegial (lower secondary/middle school)- 3 years (students must choose a vocational track at the end of this program)
-Qualifying (upper secondary/high school)- 3 years (students attend courses specific to their vocational track)
-Tertiary (license, master, doctor system)
Much like the US, Morocco is focused on educational reform in many areas similar to our school improvement goals. Their first reform "The National Charter for Education and Training" from 2000-2009 was largely unsuccessful because of the high standards set by the effort. In this bill they focused on areas such as: creating access for ALL children to schools, setting a goal of 90% completion rate (was reported at 10%), and reducing absenteeism. In 2009 they revived the effort with a new reform effort titled the "Education Emergency Plan" based on a report on the education system in Morocco that reported schools were shockingly underperforming. This reform effort is also focused on many of the same areas as well as improving literacy, etc. Another national movement is known as GENIE- Generalization of Information Technologies and Communication in Education which brought technology equipment such as computers to schools and initial training for teachers. This movement did not provide continued maintenance and support for schools and teachers which also made this effort largely unsuccessful.
March 19th, 2012
Wow! I think that runs through my head almost constantly!
What a day! This morning we began (exhausted but excited) with a wonderful presentation by Khadija about the history and culture of Morocco. It was amazing to learn about what culturally faceted, diverse, and resilient people live here. We also learned about the current culture and the struggles that are encountered as their civilization here grows, changes, and experiences many paradoxes when preserving history clashes with modernization. One of the major differences we learned about today was freedom of speech- an American concept that is often not appreciated enough. Here in Morocco there are three subjects that the citizens cannot question- the monarchy, the kind, or religion- by publicly criticizing or questioning those things, especially in written form students and adults can face serious penalties such as jail time! We also learned about popular sports, music, and other parts of Moroccan life and culture.
We enjoyed another amazing meal at lunch- Morocco should certainly be known for their amazing hospitality and food!
For the afternoon our travels brought us to the office of Mr. Benabdelkhader, Director of The Ministry of National Education. He was, as you imagine, very busy but took an entire hour out of his schedule to meet with us and answer many questions we had about the system of education here. We learned that Morocco struggles with many of the same issues that we do in the US from how to fund schools equitably, how to set and achieve high standards, how to reach students with special needs, how to reward high achieving students without creating barriers to social cohesiveness, etc. Education is a high priority to the people and officials of Morocco since they lack wealth generating natural resources like oil, they recognize the value of the education of people to drive their economy.
Next we travelled to the Medina (old city) for a tour of the markets. Here we browsed winding street after winding street looking at all of the beautiful and amazing goods for sale. Here you can buy everything from spices and dried fruit to clothing and home decor. There were so many rich colors of scarves and rugs, elaborate mosaics, bustling with people- sensory overload!
Finally we went to dinner at BAB El Had in the Medina. We sat at a traditional low table and drank water from beautiful little pottery cups. We began with a salad course that had three salads- eggplant, carrot, and sun dried tomato. Next we had a kind of meat tart and then our entree'. Next was dessert and then after that was mint tea, finally we were served a mild crisp cookie. This all helped to understand why the lunch hour is two hours long in Morocco. The people here certainly enjoy entertaining with food and lots of it! One of the funnier cultural moments happened as we were leaving. At the base of the stairs of the restaurant was a man who works there, when we came in he poured water over our hands over a basin to wash. On the way out he was waiting with a silver object that resembled a baby rattle to me. He held it out to me and I looked at him inquisitively and he layer his hand out flat and directed me to do the same. He then shook the silver thing over my hand releasing a liquid. Standing there with a handful of something I was still unsure what to do. He laughingly in half english and half french explained to me that it was perfume.. lol... I don't feel so silly because none of the others knew what it was either, I will continue laughing at myself though because I was looking for the gong to wring with it when he extended it to me!
What a day! This morning we began (exhausted but excited) with a wonderful presentation by Khadija about the history and culture of Morocco. It was amazing to learn about what culturally faceted, diverse, and resilient people live here. We also learned about the current culture and the struggles that are encountered as their civilization here grows, changes, and experiences many paradoxes when preserving history clashes with modernization. One of the major differences we learned about today was freedom of speech- an American concept that is often not appreciated enough. Here in Morocco there are three subjects that the citizens cannot question- the monarchy, the kind, or religion- by publicly criticizing or questioning those things, especially in written form students and adults can face serious penalties such as jail time! We also learned about popular sports, music, and other parts of Moroccan life and culture.
We enjoyed another amazing meal at lunch- Morocco should certainly be known for their amazing hospitality and food!
For the afternoon our travels brought us to the office of Mr. Benabdelkhader, Director of The Ministry of National Education. He was, as you imagine, very busy but took an entire hour out of his schedule to meet with us and answer many questions we had about the system of education here. We learned that Morocco struggles with many of the same issues that we do in the US from how to fund schools equitably, how to set and achieve high standards, how to reach students with special needs, how to reward high achieving students without creating barriers to social cohesiveness, etc. Education is a high priority to the people and officials of Morocco since they lack wealth generating natural resources like oil, they recognize the value of the education of people to drive their economy.
Next we travelled to the Medina (old city) for a tour of the markets. Here we browsed winding street after winding street looking at all of the beautiful and amazing goods for sale. Here you can buy everything from spices and dried fruit to clothing and home decor. There were so many rich colors of scarves and rugs, elaborate mosaics, bustling with people- sensory overload!
Finally we went to dinner at BAB El Had in the Medina. We sat at a traditional low table and drank water from beautiful little pottery cups. We began with a salad course that had three salads- eggplant, carrot, and sun dried tomato. Next we had a kind of meat tart and then our entree'. Next was dessert and then after that was mint tea, finally we were served a mild crisp cookie. This all helped to understand why the lunch hour is two hours long in Morocco. The people here certainly enjoy entertaining with food and lots of it! One of the funnier cultural moments happened as we were leaving. At the base of the stairs of the restaurant was a man who works there, when we came in he poured water over our hands over a basin to wash. On the way out he was waiting with a silver object that resembled a baby rattle to me. He held it out to me and I looked at him inquisitively and he layer his hand out flat and directed me to do the same. He then shook the silver thing over my hand releasing a liquid. Standing there with a handful of something I was still unsure what to do. He laughingly in half english and half french explained to me that it was perfume.. lol... I don't feel so silly because none of the others knew what it was either, I will continue laughing at myself though because I was looking for the gong to wring with it when he extended it to me!
The Education Ministry building in Morocco.
The walls surrounding the kingdom in Rabat.
Wares for sale in the market in the Medina (old city).
Beautiful lamps and other goods for sale.
Spices, fresh and dried in the medina!
Me, posing outside the restaurant where we had dinner.
Sitting cozy at the restaurant!
The appetizer salad with our dinner- Eggplant, Carrot and Sun-dried Tomato.
Rfissa- my entree for dinner
Finishing dinner with impressively poured tea!
Music in Morocco
Music that young people in Morocco enjoy is very heavily influenced by Western culture. Check out this video of "Rap Moroc" a song called Yed La Henna by Fnaire.
There is also influence of the culture of Spain in this music from Abderrahin Abdelmoumen & ensemble Akrami & Capella de Ministeres.
Some female singers and dancers some traditional dress of different types.
Video- 12 Centuries of History of Morocco
Interesting background on the history of this diverse country.
Dinner in Rabat- March 18, 2012
Our first official meal in Rabat at the DiWan.
Harira soup, traditionally eaten during Ramadan. Delicious!
Chicken cooked in the traditional tagine.
Profiterole for dessert- the French influence in desserts here is definitely evident!
Aquaholics- :) We did a great job staying hydrated until our unexpected detour... thankfully at dinner water abounded both fizzy (which has a pleasantly mild carbonation) and flat! Can you tell we were exhausted???
We have arrived!- March 18, 2012
Wow! What an exhilarating and exhausting day! I cannot believe that I am actually in the country of Morocco! This entire experience has been an unbelievable whirlwind of anticipation and opportunities for learning! In the space of two days I have flown to Atlanta, Georgia then on to Paris, France (where we tried the most beautiful and amazing tiny macaroons), and finally to our destination of Morocco! It was so wonderful to see the familiar faces of our group in Paris and little did we know that we would soon have our patience tested in a nice little bonding experience!
Our flight to Morocco was uneventful until we began our descent to land in Rabat. As we were descending I noticed we kept making wide circles and didn’t seem to be going any lower. Suddenly the captain came on and uttered a long rambling speech in French, which I could only grasp from that for some reason we could not land in Rabat and would be continuing to Casablanca. We flew on and eventually did land in Casablanca where it was obvious they were scrambling to prepare for the sudden onset of our plane as well as others landing. We unloaded on the runway and were shuttled to the terminal where the lines quickly became very long to get through immigration and customs. We finally made it to luggage claim and were pleased to find that everyone’s baggage had made the trip! We were ushered to large tour buses that were definitely showing much wear and tear where people crammed their luggage on and we loaded up eager to continue on our journey but instead we sat, and sat, and sat. The TGC fellows were remarkably calm (perhaps exhausted) but other passengers were becoming downright unruly. Unshaken the drivers took their time, prayed outside the bus on mats and cardboard boxes laid out flat and then eventually we were on our way!
The drive from Casablanca took right around two hours and was truly fascinating. I didn’t expect to see such an agrarian society in such a large metropolitan area. There were large fields planted with no machinery in sight. Instead each farm had an assortment of burros, chickens, turkeys, dairy cattle and sheep. Sometimes these animals are even kept in the “yard” of the compound looking medinas. I sometimes felt as we were driving backward in time as I watched burros pull carts of vegetables plucked from the fields or plow the land. Nomadic looking herders stood stoically by their sheep wearing red cloaks with pointy hoods. Signs of poverty also abounded as we many medinas lacking windows or proper roofing materials, some pieced together with castaway objects or even built of sticks! Quite the opposite some estates had large walls and elaborately adorned gates guarding mysterious looking large homes. In fits of exhaustion we drifted in and out of sleep as we travelled on to Rabat.
Arriving in Rabat was more what I expected of the Moroccan city. The downtown area where we got off our bus was bustling with people, modernly dressed, visiting shops and restaurants. We were overjoyed to see our hostess, a former ILEP Fellow named Bouchra, eagerly awaiting our arrival with our next bus. In what seemed like a blink after our former journey we arrived at the LeDiwan Place de l’Unite’ Africaine. We were certainly pleased to see a modern and luxurious hotel awaiting us. Our check in was pleasant, we were served delicious traditional mint tea while we filled out the necessary paperwork and then were shown to our elegant rooms. We took a few minutes to drop off our things and then met in the restaurant for a delicious traditional Moroccan dinner. I was not sure how I would like Moroccan food since I tend to think of myself as a picky eater. The interesting combination of exotic spices with a French flair infused is certainly a culinary treat! We had a lovely three-course meal in virtual silence since we are so tired it was all we could do to eat! I ended my night with a shower, wonderful water pressure and plenty of hot water I’m pleased to report! I’m laying here writing this blog on a quite comfortable bed as well! Now I think I will bid you adieu for the evening and get some sleep to prepare for the busy and exciting day that tomorrow will bring!
Our flight to Morocco was uneventful until we began our descent to land in Rabat. As we were descending I noticed we kept making wide circles and didn’t seem to be going any lower. Suddenly the captain came on and uttered a long rambling speech in French, which I could only grasp from that for some reason we could not land in Rabat and would be continuing to Casablanca. We flew on and eventually did land in Casablanca where it was obvious they were scrambling to prepare for the sudden onset of our plane as well as others landing. We unloaded on the runway and were shuttled to the terminal where the lines quickly became very long to get through immigration and customs. We finally made it to luggage claim and were pleased to find that everyone’s baggage had made the trip! We were ushered to large tour buses that were definitely showing much wear and tear where people crammed their luggage on and we loaded up eager to continue on our journey but instead we sat, and sat, and sat. The TGC fellows were remarkably calm (perhaps exhausted) but other passengers were becoming downright unruly. Unshaken the drivers took their time, prayed outside the bus on mats and cardboard boxes laid out flat and then eventually we were on our way!
The drive from Casablanca took right around two hours and was truly fascinating. I didn’t expect to see such an agrarian society in such a large metropolitan area. There were large fields planted with no machinery in sight. Instead each farm had an assortment of burros, chickens, turkeys, dairy cattle and sheep. Sometimes these animals are even kept in the “yard” of the compound looking medinas. I sometimes felt as we were driving backward in time as I watched burros pull carts of vegetables plucked from the fields or plow the land. Nomadic looking herders stood stoically by their sheep wearing red cloaks with pointy hoods. Signs of poverty also abounded as we many medinas lacking windows or proper roofing materials, some pieced together with castaway objects or even built of sticks! Quite the opposite some estates had large walls and elaborately adorned gates guarding mysterious looking large homes. In fits of exhaustion we drifted in and out of sleep as we travelled on to Rabat.
Arriving in Rabat was more what I expected of the Moroccan city. The downtown area where we got off our bus was bustling with people, modernly dressed, visiting shops and restaurants. We were overjoyed to see our hostess, a former ILEP Fellow named Bouchra, eagerly awaiting our arrival with our next bus. In what seemed like a blink after our former journey we arrived at the LeDiwan Place de l’Unite’ Africaine. We were certainly pleased to see a modern and luxurious hotel awaiting us. Our check in was pleasant, we were served delicious traditional mint tea while we filled out the necessary paperwork and then were shown to our elegant rooms. We took a few minutes to drop off our things and then met in the restaurant for a delicious traditional Moroccan dinner. I was not sure how I would like Moroccan food since I tend to think of myself as a picky eater. The interesting combination of exotic spices with a French flair infused is certainly a culinary treat! We had a lovely three-course meal in virtual silence since we are so tired it was all we could do to eat! I ended my night with a shower, wonderful water pressure and plenty of hot water I’m pleased to report! I’m laying here writing this blog on a quite comfortable bed as well! Now I think I will bid you adieu for the evening and get some sleep to prepare for the busy and exciting day that tomorrow will bring!
Flying over the Strait of Gibraltar as leave Europe and head for the continent of Africa!
Rabat- so close yet so far away as we flew on by!
My first photo on the ground! On the airport tarmac in Casablanca!
On the ground finally! The airport in Casablanca!
A medina on the way from Casablanca to Rabat.
One of my favorite things about Morocco already! We were greeted at the hotel with wonderful hospitality and glass of Moroccan mint tea which is traditionally served in this beautiful little cups. It is poured from a silver teapot held high, steaming hot, and pleasantly sweet! It is amazing!
It is so interesting to see everyday objects with arabic writing instead of the English we are accustomed to!
March 17, 2012
Paris- for a moment! Another TGC Fellow from Wyoming and I sampling the goods of the Paris airport! A delightful little Violet Currant macaroon! Delicious!
Final Preparations- March 15, 2012
Wow! Can you believe it's already time? I sure can't. Seems like the last few weeks have been a whirlwind and I've not really had a moment to pause and think about anything! I spent the last couple of days really enjoying time with my family, doing as much preparation as possible with my robotics teams, gathering some "New Mexico" items to take along with me, etc. I picked up a little Smokey Bear stuffed animal to take along with me and photograph in various places along the way to share with Capitan, NM upon my return. I plan to take him along to schools with me as well to share a little of what's special about the tiny NM town where I live! Big thanks to Jean Cunningham for helping me find the bears with the friendliest expressions. I also picked up some arrowheads and Native American jewelry as well as some print materials from Arrowsmith's in Lincoln. It was great to see so many spring break tourists around the county enjoying the beautiful sunshine this week. I feel very lucky to call this place my home and to soon get to share with the world the unique and wonderful place and people that can be found in the US and more specifically NM!
And my host is- Omar! :) February 27, 2012
I am thrilled to announce that I was introduced via email last week to my host Omar who teaches English Foreign Language (EFL) at Kachkate High School (photo at left from Omar). Omar lives in Youssoufia with his wife Saadia and six year old son Haitem. He reports that Youssoufia is a small mining town where most people work in the phosphate industry. At his school he teaches 10th and 12th grade students and works 19 hours/week Monday thru Friday. He has been teaching at Kachkate since 1992 and says that it is the oldest school in Youssoufia and has very limited resources. His class sizes range from 36 to 42. There are 7 EFL teachers in his department. Omar also said that in the next year he'd like to move back to his native city of El Jadida.
Learning the location for the second half of my visit and now having a mentor teacher to talk to is very exciting. I cannot wait to see what adventures will come and to meet Omar and his students! Wow! This is really happening! :)
Learning the location for the second half of my visit and now having a mentor teacher to talk to is very exciting. I cannot wait to see what adventures will come and to meet Omar and his students! Wow! This is really happening! :)
Monday February 20, 2012
I didn't have the kind of access I was hoping to during my trip to D.C. for the Teachers for Global Classrooms Symposium to blog so you'll get one long and very reflective post today. :)
Let me start by saying "WOW". This is really happening. It's all been a bit surreal for me and having very little detail about my upcoming travel coupled with my "OCDness" has caused me to sort of set things outside my immediate train of thought until this weekend when it became my entire focus for a few days. It only recently took hold of me that I am really about to embark on another great adventure in my career in education! Getting to hear from a teacher from Morocco currently in the US on an a teacher exchange program was definitely one of many highlights of my trip. It was fascinating to hear about the differences in a "day in the life" in his world. I am now more excited than ever to see what learning opportunities await me! I particularly enjoyed the Moroccan teacher's recollection of his impressions of American society and education based upon his experience watching movies. He told us about watching the film "Dangerous Minds" and how he was very concerned about how he would handle the gang rivalry, etc. in schools but he said "When I went to the schools it was nothing like this. The students open their wardrobe (locker) and there was no guns or heroine, there is only books and jackets". He gave the excellent advice of not relying upon pop culture media to form our preconceptions but rather to go as we are and "when in Rome, do as the Romans do". Now that I am home I am beginning the huge task of contemplating how I will present to students in Morocco what life is like in such a diverse country as the United States!
One of the many treats of this journey is the opportunity to meet and become friends with so many unique and wonderful educators from across the country from many different disciplines. We got to know each other somewhat as we learned together from a distance in our online course and some even more through social networking tools since the course. Getting to meet each other face to face was exciting and interesting! It was great to hear each others voices and really get to learn about their schools, programs, and personal lives. It was interesting to hear teachers and administrators talk about their schools and experiences in education. Again I have to say WOW! It is so eye opening to hear. One thing that really bothered me though was a thread of negativity that has permeated education throughout my entire 8 years as an educator. While there were really so many positive people there were equally as many who feel that they teach without the support of their administration, state, and even country. Of course there was much frustration over testing and curriculum and lack of opportunity to pursue passion and enrichment. Some teachers wondered if they would be able to integrate global competence into such tightly directed, supervised and driven education. This reinforced my fire to continue working to achieve balance in education. I believe so strongly that while education should be rigorous and there is a need for some standardization that it is also so important to prepare students with not only knowledge but also skills and values.
Another important part of this journey was the time to work with my "administrator"- a great colleague and mentor of mine who accompanied me on this trip. I have to say that over the past year I have gained so much insight into education and myself from the push to reflect and deeply question that I have learned from my family at ASK. During the past few years I've really felt very stifled by the walls of the classroom and natural barriers that a hierarchy of administration and teachers creates. I've wanted to increase my circle of impact beyond the walls of my classroom and been very interested in creating meaningful change. The meeting at this symposium was the first time that I've been to professional development with other teachers for several months. I found it harder than ever to discuss problems from the perspective of a classroom rather than the lens of analysis from a systems approach. Don't get me wrong, I love to teach and I certainly have no intention of becoming a "principal" but I do want to be able to affect change on a larger scale. I feel very much that I am in transition but to what I don't know exactly. It's exciting at times but I also feel a bit stifled at times by living in a rural area.
Let me start by saying "WOW". This is really happening. It's all been a bit surreal for me and having very little detail about my upcoming travel coupled with my "OCDness" has caused me to sort of set things outside my immediate train of thought until this weekend when it became my entire focus for a few days. It only recently took hold of me that I am really about to embark on another great adventure in my career in education! Getting to hear from a teacher from Morocco currently in the US on an a teacher exchange program was definitely one of many highlights of my trip. It was fascinating to hear about the differences in a "day in the life" in his world. I am now more excited than ever to see what learning opportunities await me! I particularly enjoyed the Moroccan teacher's recollection of his impressions of American society and education based upon his experience watching movies. He told us about watching the film "Dangerous Minds" and how he was very concerned about how he would handle the gang rivalry, etc. in schools but he said "When I went to the schools it was nothing like this. The students open their wardrobe (locker) and there was no guns or heroine, there is only books and jackets". He gave the excellent advice of not relying upon pop culture media to form our preconceptions but rather to go as we are and "when in Rome, do as the Romans do". Now that I am home I am beginning the huge task of contemplating how I will present to students in Morocco what life is like in such a diverse country as the United States!
One of the many treats of this journey is the opportunity to meet and become friends with so many unique and wonderful educators from across the country from many different disciplines. We got to know each other somewhat as we learned together from a distance in our online course and some even more through social networking tools since the course. Getting to meet each other face to face was exciting and interesting! It was great to hear each others voices and really get to learn about their schools, programs, and personal lives. It was interesting to hear teachers and administrators talk about their schools and experiences in education. Again I have to say WOW! It is so eye opening to hear. One thing that really bothered me though was a thread of negativity that has permeated education throughout my entire 8 years as an educator. While there were really so many positive people there were equally as many who feel that they teach without the support of their administration, state, and even country. Of course there was much frustration over testing and curriculum and lack of opportunity to pursue passion and enrichment. Some teachers wondered if they would be able to integrate global competence into such tightly directed, supervised and driven education. This reinforced my fire to continue working to achieve balance in education. I believe so strongly that while education should be rigorous and there is a need for some standardization that it is also so important to prepare students with not only knowledge but also skills and values.
Another important part of this journey was the time to work with my "administrator"- a great colleague and mentor of mine who accompanied me on this trip. I have to say that over the past year I have gained so much insight into education and myself from the push to reflect and deeply question that I have learned from my family at ASK. During the past few years I've really felt very stifled by the walls of the classroom and natural barriers that a hierarchy of administration and teachers creates. I've wanted to increase my circle of impact beyond the walls of my classroom and been very interested in creating meaningful change. The meeting at this symposium was the first time that I've been to professional development with other teachers for several months. I found it harder than ever to discuss problems from the perspective of a classroom rather than the lens of analysis from a systems approach. Don't get me wrong, I love to teach and I certainly have no intention of becoming a "principal" but I do want to be able to affect change on a larger scale. I feel very much that I am in transition but to what I don't know exactly. It's exciting at times but I also feel a bit stifled at times by living in a rural area.
Monday February 13, 2012
Just a couple of days until I head to Washington D.C. for the TGC Symposium! I am excited and a bit overwhelmed at the amount of work ahead of me! What a whirlwind trip this will be! :) Maybe it will be a bit warmer in D.C. at least?