Blogs on International

As part of Connected Educator Month, I wanted to share something about the value of being a connected educator -- the value for your students. It's great that we, as educators, are connected to one another, but what does that mean for the students?

I'm the proud daughter of a lifelong public school teacher, and one of the things my mom loved best about being an educator was the opportunity to travel in the spring and summer. She brought artifacts, photographs, language, and lessons from every place she traveled back into her classroom, and her students were richer for it. Now retired, my mom made a goal of visiting every continent, and she goes to schools in nearly every country she visits, enchanting the children there with bubble bottles, pencils, and her trademark stuffed-animal backpack purses.

So I know that teachers are natural adventurers. I'm sure you don't need convincing to see that whether you have the resources to travel internationally or just take a short local trip, traveling can be enriching both personally and professionally for educators. Just watch the videos in this week's playlist for some ideas!

This is the second part of a two-part blog entry. Read part one.

I guess I should not have been surprised by the rigid structure in Chinese schools when I visited the country. After all, I was in a nation that is one of the most capable at taking someone else's idea and efficiently reproducing it. To do that, each individual has to be willing to do what he or she is told to do and not worry too much about self-direction. To put it simply, the Chinese are, as a nation, very well schooled in doing what they are asked. This fact, and the resulting ability to make things to order efficiently and in great quantities, has led to China's current economic boom. The country makes so much of the stuff we buy.