DING! I turned my head to
see the email pop up. Heart quickened, eyes focused. My first response letter from
the NEH Summer Fellowship is in. I quickly scanned it just to see,
‘We regret to inform you that we cannot offer you a place for this
year’s program.’
As my heart sank as the second DING from the NEH Gettysburg Fellowship sounded.
Same letter. Same reaction.
Darn.
Even though it got me
down (hence my FB post)...
..my PLN brought my spirits
back up and on April 4th (which also happened to be my 5th
wedding anniversary –montage here-) Hilton Teacher Treks called.
“Genein, we received over
1000 applications and only 15 were chosen. Congratulations! You're among the chosen! We are sending you to South Korea and Japan”, shared the enthusiastic
director of the Hilton Teacher Treks. AHHHHHHHHH!!!!
Wow! Upon hearing that, I
was immediately humbled yet ecstatic to be in that selective group. But while reviewing
my essay, I know I have to give kudos to the presenters at Edcamp LA (David Theriault , Bill Selak and the Bedley Bros) for their part in helping me create a winning
proposal.
The mission of Hilton Teacher Treks is to help teachers spread an understanding of cultures and
create a future generation of travelers. This is based on the vision of Conrad
Hilton, who desired to increase ‘world peace through international travel and
trade.” Who not better to do that than educators?
IT’S ALL CONNECTED – SO
WHY DO WE SEPARATE?
So that got me thinking,
‘How can I take what I learned from EdcampLA and CUE14 (student blogging, photo
walks, visual literacy and increasing authentic audience) and combine it with
lessons I already implement while aligning it with the mission of Hilton?’
Out of that question
birthed these proposed essential questions:
1) How
can the arts be used as a text for cultural and geographical exploration?
2) How
can I widen the authentic audience for my students to share their cultural
learning and interpretations of cultures using the arts?
It was from
these questions I went to work on building my own creative PD that incorporated
and interconnected social studies, geography, cultures, visual arts (paintings,
photography, architecture, script) and performing arts (music, dance and recitation of poetry).
I will also be blogging during my excursion and will be interacting with my
students (and with my PLN) from across the world. Come travel with me virtually!
A
CREATIVE SATURDAY MORNING CHAT (#satchatwc)
Saturday,
we had a wonderfully intense Twitter chat, lead by David Culberhouse, on the theme of
creativity. So many great questions (below) and responses permeated the feed but
it reminded me how there needs to be PD time for teachers to tap into their own
creativity. Jeff Farley mentioned that teachers should go to a PD not in their
subject area. 'How can ELA integrate math? How can science marry social studies?'
Just food for thought. Nonetheless, I am grateful to God and
to Hilton Teacher Treks for this special opportunity and I know that this experience abroad will revolutionize my teaching in a myriad of ways.
1)What does creativity and innovation look and sound like in
education?
2) What has to happen to encourage more creative and innovative
ways of thinking in education?
3) In what ways do we hamper and discourage creativity and
innovation in education, our schools, and our classrooms?
4) What are you doing, learning and or reading to inspire more
creativity and innovation in yourself and others?
5) Describe some ways that you've tried to engage more creativity
and innovation in your work? How did it go?
FYI -
MY ASIAN
ITINERARY
I will begin my trip in
Toyko, Japan and visit the Imperial Palace and East Gardens. At every location
on the trip I will choose a track from the album ‘Japanese Traditional Music’
which will reflect my experience of the natural surroundings or architecture. I
will also begin my ‘photo walk’ of each visit to storyboard my experience in
each city. I will then choose one photo, and while listening to the chosen
tradition musical piece, I will write a haiku expressing my interpretation of
the environment (natural or man made). Upon a visit to ‘Old Japan’ in Kyoto, I will head to South
Korea.
After Kyoto I will arrive
in Seoul, South Korea to further dive into the arts component of the trip. I
will visit the National Center for Traditional Korean Performing Arts, The
Korean House (which has a mask dance, pansori and other traditional dances) as
well as the Traditional Korean Music Center, which features a hybrid of Korean
drama, dance, music and samullori. The War Museum of Korea is where I will play
‘Arirang’ a famous Korean folksong and complete my first sijo, a Korean style
poem. I will also visit the
Gyeongbok Palace.
The final
two visits will be Gangneung, which holds the Sogeumgang Valley, and Changwom,
where the Music Fountain in Yongji Lake holds a spectacular sight and exhibits
how natural itself is musical. The Gyeongnam Art Museum will allow me to
analyze South Korean Art and compare it to the Japanse art. I will continue my
photo tour that started in Toyko, documenting these Asian cultures, scenery and
people in a visual art form.
(If you are planning to apply next year and would like to see my proposal please connect with me via Twitter or the blog!)
School - Life Photo Credit Unknown (please forward info if you have it!)
Would love to see a copy of your proposal.
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