The other night almost all of the teachers who traveled to Spain this past February got together for a little reunion. It was great to see travel friends I haven’t seen since our trip. Getting together also reminded me how lucky I am to be in a school district that supports and understands how important global education is to our students.
We started the evening at our school’s library. Everyone had a chance to share
different ways they brought the trip back to their classroom. There were iMovies, Power Points and other presentations that immediately brought me back to our trip. It was fun to see the trip from other teacher’s perspectives. Not only did it remind me of all the fun we had, but some pictures were of things in a way I hadn’t seen or of things I had missed. That is what I love most about collaborating, you get to see things through a different lens. A stand out moment for one person may not be remembered by someone else. When you get together to share, lost memories are found again.
We continued sharing and some great ideas came up. Some of my favorites were making an informational book on Spain, pen pals with Spanish students, art projects and printing out blog posts to keep in the classroom. Sharing ideas and hearing what other teachers did with their classes got me excited about the trip all over again. It also made me so grateful for the supportive school and district that I teach in. Not everyone was met with open arms upon return from Spain. Knowing what a huge impact this and other trips have had on my students, it saddens me that all school districts don’t support these trips. It is so shortsighted to not support teachers in growing both professionally and personally to they can share real life experiences. Travel gets students to think global, teaches them to be more tolerant of people different from themselves, and gets them to ask questions about places outside of their own world. Not to mention teachers can connect travel to just about any subject imaginable. Why wouldn’t a district want to support this?!
After sharing classroom lessons it was time to relax and catch up on life. That is just another perk of these travel trips. You start the trip with a group of strangers, and by the end we are like we’ve known each other for years. There is nothing like a travel friend. They experience things with you no one else does. They remember that one time you almost missed the bus, or that amazing little alleyway that led to a breathtaking view. Moments that you try to explain to others, but you just had to be there. It is so much fun to relive some of the best moments from traveling with people who were there. Hopefully it won’t be too long before our next reunion.
Katy
