Plymouth Study Abroad

Inquiry Project #3

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Cox) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 01:24:00 +0000

Inquiry projects one focused on looking at British culture, project two was more comparative and now the third inquiry projects looks at what we have discovered about our own culture and beliefs as a result of our time abroad. Take a look at what I did-just click play!

Map mashing

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Cox) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 08:50:00 +0000

I made this map to show my students where I have been this past summer and where I have lived as an introduction for myself for the start of the school year. I have included links to make it more interactive when I am showing it to them on the Smart Boards that I have in my classrooms. This can be a good starting point for my classroom to talk about other cultures and multicultural art projects.
View Larger Map

PLATE workshops

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Cox) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 08:40:00 +0000

Year two put on 50 minute tech sessions for everyone else studying through MSU at Plymouth.

The first workshop I went to was about using Jing to capture tutorials to use with students, parents, professional development, etc. By downloading the free software at www.jingproject.com you can make instructional files using screen shots with your voice and curser. Check out the ones I did!

Learn a little about jing

Here is a brief explanation on how you can comment on voicethreads

The next workshop I went to was on copyright info. As we all have discovered, this is a very messy grey area. Four things factor into what drives copyrights. 1- The effect or potential effect on the market value of the property. 2-The amount of work used from the whole of the article or collection. 3-The nature of the copyright piece. 4-The purpose and character of the work.

In order to help the battle that is escalating from the laws and culture surrounding copyright evolving at different rates, Creative Commons has been developed to allow any one who creates something the ability to easily declare specific copy right laws. Did you know that a couple once wrote up prenups out on a cocktail napkin at the bar before they got married. Years later, one of them still had the napkin which was used as a binding document in court when they were separating! Any time someone makes something materialize, a copyright is assumed and they have legal rights relating to what has been produced.

The last session I went to was on "rethinking professional development using Web 2.0." It was nice to see how some of the technologies I have been learning can materializes into amazing learning tools for teachers as well as the students. Judy Harris has a website devoted to educational technology professional development. It is amazing how much info is out there that people have posted to share with each other! Voivethreads, imovies, google apps, and netvibes.

more new skills...Voice Thread

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Cox) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:03:00 +0000

Check out my voice thread on foods in London. You can comment on the voice thread by typing, using a microphone, using a cell or land phone, or by using a web cam! I better be getting some comments :)

Administration Fair Thoughts

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Cox) — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 21:38:00 +0000

For an afternoon class during our first week, we had the opportunity to look at different thesis projects that the Masters in administration students have been working on. I was most intrigued by the Advisory Committee research done by Suzanne Keys.

Her powerpoint and discussion that she had with the small group while I was at the her table was a clear way to describe what the 2nd half of my internship was like at the liberal alternative high school. I was never able to get a clear explanation about what "forum" was when I started student teaching. I began to understand the format of this class time but the purpose took longer for me to grasp. What Ms. Keys said about advisory resonated with what I took away as an understanding with "forum" from my internship placement. I got Ms. Keys email and I plan to look further into her work.

Other thesis projects I went to dealt with toxic teacher that may be a part of your staff, and making a department cohesive within similar courses.

London Scavenger Hunt

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Cox) — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 21:16:00 +0000

Our assignment while in London, was based of a scavenger hunt format. This was intended to encourage us to try things that we may not have otherwise tried or explored. This assignment also helped me to think like a teacher; noticing ways of learning, reflecting about culture, and noticing how technology is integrated in different venues. We were encouraged to respond to 6 out of 10 prompt questions.

Americans in England.

As I traveled around to several areas of London via the underground tube and the buses, I noticed that the only time I knew for certain that I was around American tourists was when I was at major attractions that are heavily advertised or well know. For example, I hardly noticed any American tourist in several of the market areas that were outside of the central, main tube stops. In Little Saigon, the vietnamese area, I didn't notice anyone that seemed to be new to the area.

Go to a district where English is not the primary language.

Little Saigon, near the Old Street underground tube stop was an interesting area for me to explore. It was very interesting for me to see on the menu how different the same alphabet characters are used. Various accents used in the vietnamese language have always fascinated me.

When ordering from the menu the English descriptions were helpful, but I didn't feel comfortable trying to pronounce the vietnamese words for the three dishes I shared with my friends. The Vietnamese food is so fresh, flavorful, and colorful! I really enjoyed eating at Cay Tre!

Favorite lunch spot recommended by locals.

Before going to the Tate Modern, we were told by locals to explore the area of Borough Market. Although the market was closed on Sunday, we went to "Old King's Head" for lunch. It was a place off the beaten tourist path. After walking down a small alley my friends and I were by far the youngest people in this pub. There were a few tables of ladies that seemed to be in their Sunday church clothes and a few men were eating and drinking by themselves.

I chose to have a dish recommended to me by the spirit master. It was the pubs version of the English dish, bangers and mash. My meal was e

ssentially a long, spiraled sausage tube with spices slightly different than what I had had before. The sausage ways on top of mashed potatoes with gravy and peas. This was a hearty meal that filled me until supper!

Observe parents with their children.

When we were trying to find a festival late Sunday afternoon near the Elephant & Castle tube stop I observed several parents with children. Specif

ically, I was looking at a street map posted near the mall. This area of London was quite different than the other areas I had seen so far on my travels. I heard German and Spanish being spoken by the locals. As I was talking to my friends about what were going to do as we consulted the map, we heard a scraping sound and saw someone falling out of the corner of our eyes. It was a small child that had been rinning around on the si

de walk. At first I didn't see any adults around. Then I noticed some other kids coming to check on the crying bou that had fallen. There were adults that seemed like they may have been the little boys gaurdian standing by the wall near the mall entrance. None of the adultseemed to be concerned about the boy but the other siblings he

lped him and he was back to playing by the time we left.

I also observed similar situations in the Plymouth schools earlier in the week. The adults in the UK don't seem to be as protective of the children. Modesty and privacy is not as prevalent either. All students change into their gym clothes together in the classroom with male and female adults in the room. The elementary students think nothing of changing clothes next to all their peers and teachers.

Technology for learning.

I was curious to see how the Tate Modern, a well known art museum, would include technology in their museum presentation. In many ways it was similar to US museums that I am familiar with. The audio guides were available for a fee, just like the Detroit and Chicago art museums I have been to. Also similar, there were captions next to the art and larger text versions were available in each room. I was surprised about the amount of video instillation art works at the Tate Modern. Many digital and film projectors were used in several art pieces. I was pleased to see the interactive computers and video footage that was provided in the spaces between galleries at the Tates. There were also activities books for children to use about the art through out the displays. The Tate Modern seemed to use many technologies to appeal to the learning of a wide age spectrum. This is a picture of street art on display at the Tate, pictures are not allowed inside the museum.

To market, to market.

I went to Portobello Road Market on Saturday, after arriving to London. The market was very expansive with new merchandise, antiques, and various produce and food carts. Many of the booths selling new merchandise seemed to be geared to the tourist wanting "London gear" such as pashminas, shot glasses and t-shirts. However, I overheard many customers with British accents. The market was crowed as the last hour that the carts were open was fading away. Food venders started to deeply discount produce and foods. I tried paella for the first time at a cart that was trying to sell all the remaining at half off. Yummo! The market seemed to be an important way for the locals to make their livings. It was a place where many cultures were represented and may ages and classes of people seemed to shop there too!

London: Day 3

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Cox) — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 17:07:00 +0000

We started off our day with a short class session where we recapped each other's experiences from the previous day.

Patty, Stephanie, Kristin and I then went to Leicester Square's 1/2 off ticket box, where we got "Blood Brothers" tickets for that evening.

We then made our way to "The Capitol" for tea; the English way. It was amazing! I found out about his place using google and it was one of the cheaper options for this type of experience. My the looks of things we were a little worried that we were underdressed and too poor! It turned out to be just fine and we really enjoyed it! Here we are in the sitting room, which we had to ourselves for most of our 1.5 hours that we enjoyed our tea, sandwich platter and cakes. I had Jing Ceylon tea-yummmo! We shared cucumber and salmon, tuna and lime, egg and cress, and chicken salad sandwiches. (Even though there was mayo involved I ate my fair share) We shared lemon, carrot, and chocolate cake.

After tea we made our way to Harrods. Harrods is essentially like a Meijer for multimillionaires- if you can imagine! It has dog outfits and cakes that start around $100USD and go up to much more. There is a wedding dress boutique, meat and seafood markets unlike anything I have ever seen, Jimmy Choo shoes for $ 1,350USD, the list goes on and on!

Read more about the experiences in Little Saigon in my scavenger hunt post.

London: Day 2

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Cox) — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 17:06:00 +0000

Connaught Hall breakfast was not near as good as what we are use to at the University of Plymouth!! And the community bath made for a less than pleasurable experience in the tiny coffin sized shower.

After meeting for a short class session, the three amigos were out for another adventure. We walked along the river exploring the area near the Tate Modern. We had lunch at "Old King's Head," which was recommended by locals. The we went to the Tate Modern-I loved it!!! Very exciting! We took the Tate to Tate fairy to the Tate Modern. After closing down the museum, we explored to find YoShushi, a conveyer belt sushi bar. Very fun too! We had a very enjoyable day in London! Check out my scavenger hunt and voicethread to find out more.

London- Day 1

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Cox) — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0000

The nine of us from our program and the three instructors took the train on the way to London from Plymouth Saturday morning. Train travel is the way to go here; electric plugs are in reach from every seat, the food "buffet" has elder flower water and ohh those toilets! Before we had gotten on the train, Robin gave us a motherly talk about being responsible with our train tickets and tube passes while we were traveling.

Of course, I had encountered a problem. Patty and I had made a trip to the food cart and toilet. As I turned abound to flush the toilet I noticed that there was a little piece of paper in there. After closer examination I noticed it was my train ticket in the loo. I was a bit worried, so I popped my hear out to ask Patty what to do! Perhaps I was laughing pretty hard at this point. Seriously, who else would this happen to?! I decided flush it own and hope for the best. As we left the train station, it turns out I needed the ticket to exit the station. So i had to talk to the security patrol man and explain to him what had happened. He was a tall man with a British and, perhaps, African accent mixed. After I explain that my travel group was right there and my ticket got flushed down the toilet, he responded "I don't like when people don't tell me the truth!" I wasn't sure if he was serious so decided I would act as if he was just giving me a hard time and go along with it. Shortly later, he let me out of the gates and into London! Yippie!

The group then used the London Underground, aka the Tube, to go to our dorm were we would be staying for the next few days, Connaught Hall. We had a short group meeting upon arrival, and we were free to explore the city and start our scavenger hunt assignmnet.

Kristin, Patty and I jumped on the tube with the intention of going to Portabella Road Market. Little did we know it was a "hot mess" down there because several line were closed to weekend repairs and a person under the tracks! I ended up not being patient enough to wait for the escalator so we got out of the tube via the stairs! Bad idea! He is a picture of how far it was before I was even at the top!

After going to the market, we went to "The Old Swan" for dinner. Here is were we had our first Pimms, a yummy punch drink with fruit and mint in it! After we ate, we went to the Notting Hill Arts Club. Very cool experience; live band, dj and martinis! We took the bus bake to the dorms that night and had a lovely time watching from the second level, top row!

80's Night!

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Cox) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 23:39:00 +0000

Every year the Master in Educational Technology group has a tradition of hosting an 80's night and/or a prom. This year, we had a combination resulting in an 80's prom. I had no idea my hair was still able to get this kind of volume!

Check out the movie slide show too!

Inquiry 2 Podcast!

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Cox) — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 16:01:00 +0000

Look at all the hard work Tina, Kailey and I did about our experiences in the Plymouth Community College.

Inquiry 2 final.mp3

British Primary School

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Cox) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 18:39:00 +0000

Today I learned about podcasts and itunes in the morning. After a bag lunch from the refractory (aka cafeteria) I had the opertunity to spend the afternoon in a primary school with 3 year students, approximately 2nd graders. They were very excited to talk with me. They told me adorable stories in their little accents and they asked me questions about America. I showed them maps of America, Michigan, and Indiana. I even showed them street view of my Aunt and Uncle's house, because they were so curious about what american houses and cars were like.

It is near the end of their school year, thus their were many fun projects going on that I got to see. Ever year the 5th year students make sculptures outside which are inspired by the eart art of Andy Goldsworthy. I was super excited to see this- I have watched his movie and looked through many of his books! There isn't a seperate art teacher in the primary schools here. The general teachers seem to do pretty good art lessons. They are pulling ideas from many cultures. I even talked to there teacher about being art pals with one of my classes in the fall!

Podcastable!

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Cox) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 09:12:00 +0000

We are now able to use rss feeds to make our blog podcastable. Now you can listen to me in a MP3 format. Basically you can put me as a track on your ipod...yippie! I know you are excited! This is all brand new to me, as of today. I just started to use my itunes - shocking, I know!

Stonehenge & Bath

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Cox) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 22:36:00 +0000

Today, we loaded up in a coach at 6:20 a.m. and headed of to Stonehenge with our driver, Pip.(haha Ashley) Needless to say, it was another day of steady rain. After everyone but Pip had taken a nap, we arrived at Stonehenge in nearly 2.5 hours. Naturally, my umbrella proved to be broken as I opened it for the first time of the day!

The Stonehenge audio guide was interesting and it really was amazing to be standing so close to such and old and mysterious site! Unfortunately the weather made for a lack of good lighting for inspiring pictures.

After everyone in the group was saturated from the rain, we loaded back into the coach and it wasn't long until most of us were onto nap II of the day. In nearly two hours, after Pip had to ask for directions, we arrived in Bath. Bath is a "posh" town, as it's development was based on the wealthy coming here on holiday for the hot springs, which were first used by the Romans thousands of years ago. The Roman Baths were very interesting and the audio guides here were very useful. There was a museum part with artifacts, replicas, and sculptures and the actual baths to learn about. Check out more pictures at my picasa!

British Community College (AKA High School)

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Cox) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 17:06:00 +0000

I had the opportunity to visit a school in Plymouth which houses students ages 12 through 18 in what they call years 7-13. The particular high school we were at was in the part of town where lower economic families tend to live.

We had a very welcoming liaison who hosted Tina, Kailey and I for the morning on Monday and lunch and afternoon classes on Tuesday. The British school system is very complex with many slight differences to ours. The biggest differences are in the way teachers can go about getting their training, religion lessons in schools funded by the government, and the way students are grouped and passed through each grade. They do not require an individual to pass any certain grade. The focus seems to be more in the experience of being a member of the group.

Just like in the states, I got the impression after watching that different classes that teachers have different approached to classroom behavior techniques... some weren't as effective as others! They only had 8 school days left until "summer holiday," which is about 6 weeks. Thus, students were excited and were not always focusing like they should have!

The students were very excited to meet and here people from "America" speak. One young boy asked me, "Is it true that american girls fancy British boys?" I got all sorts of similar questions. Most students didn't know where Michigan was but several if the students know about Detroit. The Brits think we are "gangsters" and that we all carry guns, thanks to lovely Hollywood. We are doing podcasts that will tell you more about our experiences in the schools. The nine of us in the program were broken into groups of three to visit the schools. My group will be visiting a primary school Thursday.

Eden Project

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Cox) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 16:19:00 +0000

Eden Project is a an amazing place where environmental concern meet education and art in hopes of inspiring people to be more aware of the world around them with hopes of working together for a better future.

Patty, Kristin, Stephanie and I went there, along with Alison and Robin on our first Sunday in England. To get there, we took an hour train ride, followed by a twenty minute bus ride into the project. round trip, including admission, was 23 pounds (about $26USD). We were near the St Austell station in Cornwall. The country side views on the way were beautiful. The trains were much nicer than I had expected. Even the upholstery seemed to be more intentionally select and "posh" compared to my expectations formed by experiences on american trains.

Once inside the rainforest biome, we explored the largest rainforest in captivity. Very impressive! Check out my picasa for more pictures! We also enjoyed exploring the Mediterranean Biome.

The Weather on Sunday was beautiful for the majority of the day. After our wonderful lunch, perhaps the best so far in the UK, it started to rain for a few hours but there was plenty inside another building to keep us busy. Art displays and educational stations as well as sculptures fulled the building they call The Core.

Inquiry Project #1-Digital Story Telling

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Cox) — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 23:26:00 +0000

For our first week of class, we have been learning how to use several programs and we have been reflecting critically about culture. This movie is a culmination of my new skills and observations throughout the past week. Enjoy & let me know what you think!

A wet Saturday

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Cox) — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 20:02:00 +0000

After a great nights sleep, I was up for exploring Plymouth, yet again. Plymouth's weather was raining and windy nearly all day today! Patty, Kristin, Stephanie, and I went to get information about future travels, stopped in shops. We attempted to go to a fishing village near by but it was too stormy for the boats. Then we attempted to go to the aquarium, but it was extremely crowded! So we had no other choice but to go to the Plymouth Gin Distillery for a tour and tasting. The gin was much better then I remember, and we got to enjoyed a gin and tonic, which was included with the tour! Very educational. After that, we made another stop at the mall. Primark is our new favorite store! We picked up some affordable subs, and I was back to exploring and experimenting with technology! Wahoo!

Happy 4th!

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Cox) — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 19:41:00 +0000

Ironically enough, we had a lovely Independence Day celebration in the country in which our founding fathers broke away from so many years ago!

Patty and I interviewed two local city workers in the City Council building today. We talked about how they get water in their home and what they do the in their personal time with their families. We got audio footage that we will be including in our digital stories that are do Monday. I am learning how to use imovie as I make mine. I am looking at how the natural resource, water, is treated differently by people here than what we are use to. The picture below is us with the city workers.

The closest pub to our dorms hosted a 4th of July Celebration for us! They have gotten to know the people from summers past in our MSU program and they really like getting all decked out for us! They made us pizza and chips and had great drink specials! The "spirit mixers," a.ka. bartenders, got dressed up too! It was a fun night of spirits and dancing!

Horlicks & Magnums

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Cox) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 22:00:00 +0000

Today was a day where a picture can say a thousand word seems to be appropriate! And here is why....

I have been in Plymouth now for four night and have slept nearly 10 hour...total!! So I decided tonight, although I haven't felt tired in days, I need to sleep. So, we walked to a 24 hour shop and I asked for a sleep aide type of pill and the first store had no type of "sleep tablet". We then walked to another 24 hour shop and I asked the lady behind the checkout for a sleep tablet. She said "oh no beloved, we do not have anything that strong. You must go to the chemist in town for those drug!" She then suggested "Horlicks." Of course, I had no idea what this might be so she pointed me in the direction of a product with a slogan of "sleep better, feel better, just add hot milk." Come to find out homeopathic medicine is big here which is great in my opinion. I was leery, but after reading the label and seeing that it's ingredients matched what would be in Special K cereal, I decided to try this Horlicks. I have drank it and will be updating you in the morning. I hope to sleep like a mummy tonight! Thanks to Stephanie for this ultra attractive picture!

We (Patty, Stephanie and Kristin) also purchased a icecream bar that we had never tried, Magnum. Magnum was a delicious natural vanilla been center covered in a decadent chocolate with a high quality wood handle. The handle seems to have been branded by a wood burner using a proud type face, it reads MAGNUM .

Previously today, we wen out to town in search of answers from the locals about culture. Each of the 9 of us have a different area we are focusing on and I am loo

king into the use and value put on the natural resource, water! Fascinating, I know! Stay tuned because I am making a short movie on it that will be up on the web by Monday.

One of the other girls, Tara, is looking in to what the locals know as tombstoning. The video says it all! Please turn your head to the left before viewing for the time being!

room for refining...1st imovie trial

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Cox) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:14:00 +0000

The sleepless saga continues! However the learning curve is exponential!

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Cox) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 23:58:00 +0000

The good news..instead of my brain suffering from the spinning and confusing I felt after the first few days, I feel more like my brain synapses are making connections so quickly that it must look more like a dancing Christmas tree light show in there! As you may notice my blogging is getting spiffier and I am better learning how to teach myself some of this Web 2.0 technology! Robin and Allison have been amazing at clarifying all different levels of my confusion and I even have taught what I learned to others. There is hope! Suggestions and tips are still greatly encouraged!

I am very enthused about the ability I have had to intertwine visually related experiences into many aspects of technology and our course discussions. I feel like BLAA has gone internationally! Basically, BLAA (Becoming Lifelong Advocates for the Arts) is a group that I was an active officer and co-co-co-founder of at MSU. BLAA is all about educating other educators and the general public about the potential of art in schools & communities, as well as exploring unusual and interesting art making techniques, and seeking out any art that better helps us become better educators. The photo below is of BLAA officers, minus one, wearing our shirts that we silk screened using an inexpensive alternative process. Anyways, we had a photo assignment that you can check out through Robin's blog. Just click on the slide show and look at out images. Try to guess what adjectives we were trying to convey. Her blog does a great job explaining various objectives about our learning from day to day.

Out in the town!

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Cox) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 09:29:00 +0000

On Monday afternoon after Jp's town tour, Patty and I decided to just go with the flow and see where our observations and interests would take us. I never imagine we would have such an amazingly spontaneous adventure on our first night!! Check out my picasa to see all the fun! We started by "using it" in a department store. I loved all the design of the furniture department. It leaves JC Penny's furniture looking like big lots! Then, we went to stores with sale signs. This is a big time for seasonal sales here. I got a new perfume, Red Poppy, for 4 pounds or $8. I have used Red Poppy as a room fragrance because my room smells of a stale boy rather than a oasis for rest. Anyways, back to the adventure! We then walked down Armada Way, known as "town" by our local friends, towards the hoe. We then had a English cider, Strongbow, at an oceanic food and spirits stand with outdoor seating.

After further exploration, we saw preteens playing on a flat rooftop that was nearly eye level to the hill we were walking on. We were commenting on what they were doing and how it really didn't seem safe as we walked by. Not long after we passed them, we heard a strange shattering sound and immediately turned to see one of the two girls had broken and fallen in a sky light!!!!!!!!! We saw her grasping on the the edge of where there had once been a skylight!!!! Keep in mind this is our first day in this country and although we speak the language we hardly knew what the culture and policy was for something like this. Furthere more, I don't think I know what would have done if I was at home in the states! The other girl quickly ran to her and we slowly started to walk that way as we pondered what we should do. It all happened so fast and soon a small mob of locals seemed to crawl out of the ocean to help further. After all, it was right by were the sailboats were docking and other people were swiming in wet suits. We are unsure what the building was but it seemed like it could have been a changing house or restroom!! Can you imagine making a "deposit" and having the skylight shatter and a girl come dangling though above you!??!?!?! As you might imagine, after we found out she was alright and just shocked at the past events, Patty and I got a serious case of the giggles that have not gone away!!!!

The night gets better!! We got fish and chips that locals recommended. I got a "Tribute" beer to drink and Patty got a "Carling" at a pub called "The Watering Hole." We drank our brews outside in a patio area and it just happened to be that it was time for two musicians to start up. We ended up making our first local friends with the two. We talked to them during their break about many stereotypes and cultural differences amongst us. They also gave us tips about what to do when in the area.

Still spinning in time zone purgatory!

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Cox) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:02:00 +0000

My Monday was a wonderfully lengthy adventure, as I was to see Tuesday's dawning before I finally got some eye shut sometime after 4. Then, off to met for breakfast at 7:15!

We saw our first rain Tuesday afternoon as we got out of our first technology sessions. Our mission for the night was to represent an evoking emotional adjective in a photo. Then, edit it using picnik. Tomorrow in class we are doing an activity with the image so today it had to be a secret. Can you guess what adjective I am going for?

Starting courses

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Cox) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 23:22:00 +0000

Sunday night I slept great! Monday at 7:15, everyone from my program met with JP and he showed us the way to breakfast, which was delicious. Then we went to the building that we have class in, we got a little tour and we were ready to start learning! After the first day it has already been so insightful for me! It confirms just how much room there is for me to grow through this program. It makes me excited, however my head is still spinning nearly two days later. We are making wikis, creating blogs, sharing photos with Picasa, using igoogle and doing tech sessions with the more experienced students. I went to Web2.0 session today and learned about super cool things we can do for free that will benefit classrooms and personal challenges with this dominating new craze. We are also having analitical group discussions about culture and how different people learn in different ways. All very interesting! I am enjoying myself while trying to keep my head above water in this technological quest. After lunch on Monday, we went on a city tour, led by JP. We were totally the tourist group snapping pictures at every turn of the head! Check out my photos at picasa.