Hello there!
I must apologize again for the lack of content here. I have been going nonstop since getting back stateside last week. But never fear, I still have many posts sitting in drafts, waiting for final edits and postings. Hopefully I'll have a little time to work on those this weekend.
In the meantime, I've added a slideshow of my pictures to the sidebar. Unfortunately, they're not captioned so some may not make sense. But I figured you would still like to peruse the images. I'll post again when I get the captions added.
I still can't believe summer has ended for me! My time at Oxford feels like a dream, so I'm looking forward to sharing more of my adventures with you in the coming weeks!
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Why are you here?
…is a question I heard more than once as I was meeting people during the first few days of classes here at Exeter College. As it turns out, a majority of the teachers here not only teach English as a second language, but are not native English speakers themselves. And when I say "majority," I mean all but three!
Multiple times I had to patiently explain that I, too, am an English language teacher. It just looks a bit different from the way they do it.
Now, as our time together is drawing to a close, it's interesting how people who were strangers only 10 days ago are now dear friends. And it's even more unbelievable that many of us may never see each other again! But thankfully we always have Facebook!
Here's a picture of most of our group before we went on a walking tour of Oxford last week:
Multiple times I had to patiently explain that I, too, am an English language teacher. It just looks a bit different from the way they do it.
Now, as our time together is drawing to a close, it's interesting how people who were strangers only 10 days ago are now dear friends. And it's even more unbelievable that many of us may never see each other again! But thankfully we always have Facebook!
Here's a picture of most of our group before we went on a walking tour of Oxford last week:
Location:Broad St,Oxford,United Kingdom
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Greetings from Oxford!
It's 12:30 in the morning and I'm so sleepy, but I just couldn't let another day pass by without checking in! Since I arrived on Sunday it has been nearly nonstop, but I'm having such an amazing time!
There are about 50 students and 10 tutors (that's what they call the teachers leading the seminars and workshops), representing about 25 different countries. On my very first evening, the group at my table was comprised of a Romanian man, a Lebanese woman, a Japanese man, a French woman, an Austrian woman who has lived in Norway the past 30 years, and me, an American. Talk about multicultural! Besides the amazing teachings I'm receiving, the best part of being here is meeting people from all over the world who share my passion for teaching and learning.
I promise to share more about what I'm learning, but in the meantime here are a few shots of what the last three days have been like.
This is the chapel at Exeter College, where I am studying:
I wake up to this beautiful building outside my window every morning!
The Fellows' Garden in Exeter College, where we enjoy the sun during our lunch breaks:
Hamlet outside the Bodleian Library:
I have many more pictures to share, but wifi is spotty so I'm having difficulty syncing my pictures from my phone to my iPad. I hope to remedy that soon, so please keep an eye out for future posts!
There are about 50 students and 10 tutors (that's what they call the teachers leading the seminars and workshops), representing about 25 different countries. On my very first evening, the group at my table was comprised of a Romanian man, a Lebanese woman, a Japanese man, a French woman, an Austrian woman who has lived in Norway the past 30 years, and me, an American. Talk about multicultural! Besides the amazing teachings I'm receiving, the best part of being here is meeting people from all over the world who share my passion for teaching and learning.
I promise to share more about what I'm learning, but in the meantime here are a few shots of what the last three days have been like.
This is the chapel at Exeter College, where I am studying:
I wake up to this beautiful building outside my window every morning!
The Fellows' Garden in Exeter College, where we enjoy the sun during our lunch breaks:
Hamlet outside the Bodleian Library:
I have many more pictures to share, but wifi is spotty so I'm having difficulty syncing my pictures from my phone to my iPad. I hope to remedy that soon, so please keep an eye out for future posts!
Location:Broad St,Oxford,United Kingdom
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
What is Fund for Teachers?
Fund for Teachers is an organization that awards teachers grants to pursue self-designed professional development and enrichment anywhere in the world. And I mean ANYWHERE. Washington D.C., Washington state, Alaska, Hawaii, Spain, Finland, Iceland, Vietnam, Germany, Italy . . . and these are only some of the places listed on the first page of the 2012 Houston Fellows list!
Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine being one of the 67 Houston area teachers given funds and told to pursue my dream! But I'll have to share more about that in a forthcoming post . . . In the meantime, here's a video that will share more about Fund for Teachers and their mission to cultivate a generation of teachers who are passionate learners and desire nothing less than to pass that passion on to the next generation.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Why "My Unexpected Journey?"
I borrowed the title for this blog from Bilbo Baggins. Or I suppose J.R.R. Tolkien, if we're going to be technical.
In the last pages of The Return of the King, Frodo finishes adding his adventures to the book his uncle Bilbo began years before. One of the many titles Bilbo gave his book was "My Unexpected Journey," and that title seemed to perfectly fit this new blog! Traveling from Texas to the UK this summer will be quite a journey, and studying at Oxford is quite unexpected! It's honestly a dream come true!
In the last pages of The Return of the King, Frodo finishes adding his adventures to the book his uncle Bilbo began years before. One of the many titles Bilbo gave his book was "My Unexpected Journey," and that title seemed to perfectly fit this new blog! Traveling from Texas to the UK this summer will be quite a journey, and studying at Oxford is quite unexpected! It's honestly a dream come true!
Greetings from Texas!
Welcome to My Unexpected Journey!
I'm delighted to have you follow along as I spend the summer in the United Kingdom, thanks to Fund for Teachers and their generous donors!
The main purpose of my journey is to attend The English Language Teacher's Summer Seminar at Oxford University. As the ESL Coordinator for my school, Aristoi Classical Academy, I am largely responsible for creating and building an ESL program from scratch, and I am excited about learning and implementing new strategies from the international experts at Oxford.
Please stay tuned for more about Fund for Teachers, Aristoi and my UK adventures!
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