It's SNOWING! 
January 30, 2017

It's beautifully white all around--it snowed last night!!

It's first day of class for us. Twenty one of us troop to the bus stand playing with snow on the way. For some it is the first "snow sighting" of their lives---and they are excited!!

We reach early--the campus is covered in snow---it's so cold--BRRRR!!

Snow on Campus!

It's COLD!!

Hunting around for the classroom, I realise the first taste of being a student after a long time. This was a new experience all together. To find the classes we were to attend, to find the way to the different buildings, to find LUNCH, and to find the right buses to board---this is going to be an adventure and the more I can explore, the better!

Creating Our Own Podcasts!

The next big technology task was learning to make a Podcast. Dr. Dawn Hathaway, introduced us to it in the most fun way possible....that perhaps set the tone for the activity. In any class, how well the teacher introduces a topic determines how well it is accepted by the students--we were hooked by the fantastic podcast Dr. Hathaway played for us.

It was now our turn to create our own podcasts in pairs. Chifuniro, my friend from Malawi, and I were to make a podcast on the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial. First, we researched the topic and got to know a lot of details regarding this popular President of USA. We noted the details and proceeded to make the script. This turned out to be more difficult than we had anticipated. We thought of the characters who'd be part of the podcast and how they would interact with each other. Then we thought of their expressions and of all the associated sounds to put in the podcast. After finalising the script we realised that it was extending more than 2 minutes....we needed to shorten it...snip, snip!!

Now the recording part....that should be easy. NO, it isn't. 

Using the program, Audacity, we record our scripts. After several attempts we finally got the hang of it. Our recording sounded quite good. Now to get it all lined up in the proper sequence to have the final podcast. We got the intro, the outro and our recording in the proper line up. 

All work and some play....makes us a GREAT team!

In order to get a portable file which can be shared between computers and on the internet, the files need to be in a .MP3 or .WAV format....this compresses the files and allows them to become portable. YES! We did it....got everything in place and sent the final podcast to Dr. Hathaway. We felt like geniuses!

It was fun to watch all my colleagues when the podcasts were played in class. Not only did each voice sound amazing in the recordings but they were really dramatic too. The expressions of pure joy on hearing ones own voice was really worth a watch. How much will our students enjoy recording their voices, if we enjoyed doing it so much. This is a valuable and creative lesson to enhance reading, writing, speaking and listening skills of students....I will surely incorporate it.

Getting To Know George Mason and D.C.!

January 26, 2017

The workshops on “Leadership” and “Gender Equity” were impactful and helped me to gain new perspectives and better insight. 

Workshops and Perspectives!

Getting to know the University which would be hosting me was exciting….George Mason would be “home” for the next 6 weeks. I met the 21 teachers from 19 countries who would be my colleagues at GMU….this was a GREAT group….I feel we’re going to have loads of fun together!

Proud to be a part of George Mason University!

Late afternoon on 26^th January, we were off to a tour of Washington D.C.—Yaaay! It was cold and windy….we were braving the chilly winds in our TEA caps….together!

Touring Washington D.C!

The Lincoln Memorial with it’s huge wall engraving of Lincoln’s speech was impressive…..memorable! The Luther King Memorial was our next stop…..reading all the quotes engraved on the long, well-designed wall was impactful….made me contemplate the immense contribution of these great men in shaping the US of today and the influence their thoughts and ideas had on the whole world. I feel, as teachers, it’s our job to continue their work of freeing minds from narrow constraints and help in creating global citizens who understand the value of hard-earned freedom.

Off To A Great Start!

January 25, 2017

We started off with a series of well planned, co-ordinated and informative seminars and workshops from the 25^th of January, 2017. The first one, by Deborah Hefferon, was my personal favorite….she conducted the session with such elan! There were 82 teachers from 39 countries in one room….WOW! that’s diversity! Soon we were no more strangers, but colleagues, with the same concerns and similar teaching goals.

With Deborah Hefferon....a great motivator!

Post-lunch groups of teachers competed with each other in a game of Jeopardy which helped us gain in-depth knowledge regarding the American education system. It was a surprise for most teachers to know that there may be certain flaws in the education system of the US, which most believed to be perfect. That was a revelation! Looking back, I feel that session connected all the TEA fellows in a more material kind of way…..the TEA caps given out as prizes somehow united us throughout the program….everyone wore it to ward off the cold winds (how thoughtful of IREX to give such a handy gift) and everywhere we went the caps represented us as a group….Great idea!! 

Teachers in TEA caps!

The International Poster Fair was the highlight of the evening. Teachers in their traditional finery    displayed the educational setting and the best aspects of their country through their posters. Visiting each stall and getting to know about every country was fun!

The India Stall!

Finally it’s Washington D.C.!

January 24, 2017

The welcome at Dulles airport was warm after the long 35 hour journey from Kolkata—it seemed IREX had thought of everything and made the journey to the Washington Plaza Hotel special.

Earlier, I had met the contingent from Bangladesh in Frankfurt airport and we exchanged pleasantries. Communicating in the same language, Bangla, helped in getting to know the four TEA fellows quite well in the flight to Washington. Surprise, surprise!—the ladies sitting next to me during the flight turned out to be TEA fellows from Tunisia and Estonia! Wow! We had the same destination.

On reaching Dulles airport I started meeting TEA fellows from various countries…..all excited to be at the same place at the same time. I started making new acquaintances on the way to the hotel….EXCITING!

Dulles Airport....off to the hotel!

Everything was taken care of so well by the friendly IREX staff during the registration process at the hotel….I felt I was in good hands. Hats off to their attention to detail and their professionalism!

After the sumptuous dinner (yes, I was ravenously hungry!!!) where I got to meet more fellows from other countries, I went up to my room….It was great to meet Mercy, from Nigeria, who’d be my roommate for the next three days.  

How The Journey Began!
January 23, 2017

I was excited and very very happy!

The opportunity to represent my country at the prestigious TEA program had come my way and I intended to make the most of it. Through a series of arduous tests, interviews and orientations four teachers from India had been finally selected for the fall 2017 program. I am one of them!

I began my TEA journey from Kolkata today, January 23, 2017. Seeing the fantastic Mumbai airport was surely one of the highlights of this journey. Beautiful and well maintained are two words that come to mind when one arrives at this busy airport—so proud of it.

Traveling is fun when one has good company! At Mumbai I met two of my co-participants—now I had GREAT company. We were all excited about this new stint in our lives and were happily exchanging notes on how each one of us had prepared for this program.

Asha and Ashok....my Indian colleagues!

Waiting at the Mumbai airport lounge for the flight to Frankfurt I watched passengers hurrying off or silently waiting for their flight to their destination. Airports are such amazing places—everybody is either coming or going somewhere…..everything is in transit.

Frankfurt Airport....Washington, here I come! 

Time for our flight to Washington D.C…...

Getting a Grasp of New Technology!

The technology classes have opened a new world of opportunity for me. They are so much fun too!

In the first session getting our own GMU email ids was a great way to start I believe. The idea of teachers being designers and designing their lessons to enable students to learn through new technology was something that I liked very much. Therefore, as designers, teachers have the responsibility to bring their students closer to technology that would benefit them in the long run. This was a great opportunity for the teachers to introduce and implement new ideas in class and make them engaging for the learners with the help of appropriate technology.

Next, we created our own Blogs....and here you are reading it!!

My Blog!

Planning lessons to achieve better student retention and understanding is possible when one applies the ACTS principle:

        Developing an Authentic Problem which would lead to a Clear Outcome through the application of proper Thinking Skills and appropriate Software Skills.

Priscilla Norton, our Technology Professor, shared the concept of DEAPR (Design Encode Assemble Publish Revise) to create technology friendly lessons for our students.

Learning to create Infographics using the DEAPR concept was an interesting experience. This will be something very useful to teach both English and Technology to my students....and they'll love it!

I was amazed when I entered class next day.....there was our own TEA Hall of Fame with all our creation on display!! 

                             

The TEA Hall of Fame!