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!