Rwanda Trip 2

I’ve returned from my second trip teaching abroad in Rwanda. I suspect that I learned more both personally and professionally than I did last year. Hopefully, this experience will lead to at least one panel/paper presentation. I’m also looking forward to applying what I’ve learned about myself and working with others to the up-coming school year.

Professionally I’ve learned that regardless of location, California or Rwanda, teachers have needs that must be heard and addressed by administrators and PD presenters in order for improvements to be made in the classroom. May I never be the PD presenter that assumes I have all the answers and that my presentation will solve all the problems a staff faces.

Personally, I learned to be more intuitive and sensitive to the feelings and motivations of those around me. It is important for me to listen to what everyone around me has to say, and to not just listen, but truly try to understand where they are coming from. In this, I become a much better co-worker, friend, and wife. I’ll keep you updated on how all of this goes. Pictures to follow as soon as I acquire them from someone who brought a camera.

Lone Rangers

Several things will be different in the way I run my classroom this year. Some changes are being made because of new supplies available to me in my new classroom, and other changes are being made as a result of research I’ve done over the summer. Some of the differences will be department-wide, some will only include a few of us.

I’m going to use the Standards-Based model to grade assessments this year. I’m not anticipating many people in my department buying into this model. This is not to speak negatively about any of them, as I respect all of the teachers in my department as professionals who are excellent in their craft. The problem is that this is very new for our district. I don’t know of any teachers at the middle school level who grade this way. This means my experiment will be messy. There will be no one to go to as the “authority” on all of this. I’ll be wading out there in all of it trying to figure it out. You all out there are my resource for help. Thank you in advance for being there. I’ll let you know how the experiment goes.

Calls for Papers/Conference Presentations

I’m looking to build up the old resume for PhD applications next year. Anyone know of calls for papers or conference presentation where I could write/present about professional development?