Camel MarketGuelmim is the Camel Capital of Morocco so I had to go to a camel market. Mohamed told me not to get too close though. The last picture is of Camel Tagine which is a dish common to Moroccans. No it did not taste like chicken, more like a cross between beef and deer. It was really good though. Hanging Out with Great PeopleMohamed just opened his home to us and that was so cool. We met his colleagues and friends. I teased Mohamed and called him "The Mayor" because he seemed to know everyone. My experience in Morocco was great because Mohamed went the extra mile and wanted Chester and I to feel at home and welcomed in Morocco. He is such a great ambassador for his country and became a good friend in the process. Morocco Is FascinatingAt the end of the day, Morocco is just like any other country I have visited. They are proud of where they live and are eager to share all the great things there country possesses. I found things familiar and unfamiliar which is what makes travel so special. I wish I would have been given more time to explore the country and experience the different cities and cultural sites but this trip was more about bridges cultures than sightseeing. While it may sound hyperbolic, I experienced a once in a lifetime event that I will share with others as long as I am alive. Morocco is a place I will visit again and meet up with those same people once again and rekindle those relationships. In the meantime, I will continue to stay in contact with my new friends and continue to learn.
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Moroccan Schools District are set up in a similar fashion as school districts in the United States. There are schools, districts, regions (counties), and states (provinces). This conference was scheduled for all of the English as a Second Language Teachers in the Province to come together and talk about instructional strategies. Dr. Chester Tejada and myself presented throughout the day on instructional strategies that focused on Kagan, Wormeli, Marzano, and Lemov and also on technology strategies. We challenged teachers to try at least one strategy in their classroom. What a great group of educators to collaborate with and the feedback was tremendous. What a skilled group of educators. Panel DiscussionChester and I were honored to be front and center in a panel discussion with all of these educators. There were questions comparing the US and Moroccan educational systems and also just basic pedagogical questions that were thought provoking. Presentations Are So Much FunPresentations work best when I can talk about what I actually do in my classroom. Chester and I did just that. We actually took presentations that we had used in conferences in the US and merged them into this presentation. The picture on the left is of a Socratic Smackdown example and the teachers really had fun with that. Some purposely distracted while other interrupted to show how students may act. Most importantly, we all learned some really cool things about teaching from each other. This was such a fun day. These are some pictures from the conference but I do want to focus on the first picture of the two ladies in the first picture. They are young teachers and were so complimentary of the presentation. I told them thank you of course but also told them the best teacher was actually my wife. They were so surprised that I said that and asked if they could speak with her sometime. As a result of this conversation, one of the teachers and my wife have met on Facebook, did a video call, and email each other. The power of Global learning.
Global CollaborationsWhat good would a great experience like this be if I couldn’t share it with my students? With the help of my student teacher, Broc Kreitler, we set up a Global Collaboration call with the students from Morocco and my student in at Ste. Genevieve Middle School. The Moroccan kids were shy at first but they soon realized that my students were excited to talk to them and learn about their culture. It was a great opportunity to meet new people and learn about new cultures. When I came home, my students had a thousand questions about my trip and what I learned. But they also were very excited to talk about the students they met on the call and to find if they were similar to how they represent themselves on social media and on the Padlet. I really like Global Collaborations because American students are so insulated from the rest of the world and I want them to experience new people, places, and cultures. My students participate in Global Collaborations throughout the school year but this was the first one where I got to be on the other end of the collaboration with my students. It was a great experience for everyone!
SchoolAt the end of the day, if you are a teacher, you want to see the schools because that is where the kids are and that means there is energy. Moroccan students are just like Americans students for the most part. Some are focused on studying and getting good grades, some want to have fun and be silly, and some just enjoy the social interaction that schools naturally bring. The biggest difference was the Moroccan students willingness to allow me to be part of their school. I WAS THE SELFIE KING!!! There are about 50 more selfies that I did not upload but you get the basic idea. Moroccans are welcoming people and were definitely interested in learning more about the United States and my students. More than anything, these students were just fun!!! I enjoyed getting to meet them and truly missed them when I left to go back home. They reminded me so much of my own students so the connections was definitely there for me! Being in Morocco reminded me of something that I focus on with my own students. Look at each student in the pictures above. Each of those sets of eyes sees the world just a bit different than the other. All of them have hopes and dreams. All of them what to be significant and important to someone.
While I have focused on the students I do want to mention the great teachers and administrators in Guelmim. I genuinely liked to talking to them because they were so open to conversation. Sometimes their English wasn't the best and my French is not that great but we learned to communicate because we wanted to find out about each other which is what Global Exchanges are all about.
ColleaguesThere are so many great things about travel and I plan to address some of them in the next three or four posts. The first one is about shared experiences. Dr. Chester Tejada was my partner in Guelmim and our host teacher was Mohamed Bettaoui. Both of these guys were so great to hang out with during our visit and made the experience so much richer. While we all have different backgrounds and we teach different things, we all had common characteristics: a passion for teaching, a love for students, finding new ways to present lessons, a curiosity of cultures, and a huge respect for what each person brings to the table. Everyone was willing to try new things and collaborate. The people I met through TGC are truly Global Innovators. Regardless of discipline, they are trying things in their classrooms to bring students all over the world together. I felt like I was in a Global Teacher Petri Dish! People are bringing instructional strategies that they are doing in their classroom. Teachers are talking about challenges they face and stories of success. It was really a special time. Talking to teachers who have the same passion for Global Education as I do may have truly been the highlight of my trip but you are starting to figure out already that their are a lot of highlights here.
Overall, I have expanded my Professional Learning Network (PLN) further than I ever could have imagined with new colleagues in Morocco and with colleagues throughout the United States. What a great experience to be in Morocco with passionate educators. When my host, Mohamed Bettaoui, told me he was going to take me to a 400 year old Casbah I was pretty excited. These soil-based structures don't last very long so that in itself was pretty awesome but the curator also had made a museum out of it so that was even better. It is located outside of the city of Guelmim, which is about 5 hours from the Sahara Desert. This place did not disappoint but not for what was inside but for the person who gave us the tour.
I am a teacher of World History which means I talk about Rome...a lot! Rome is everywhere and no matter where I go on a trip it seems that there are Roman Ruins to be found and Morocco was no exception. Volubilis is a UNESCO World Heritage site and for good reason. If Volubilis were in Europe, you would pay over 20 Euro Roman ruins of this magnitude but in Morocco the price was 50 Dirham or about $5.00 USD.
What is so interesting about historical sites like this to me is thinking about people who have stood where I stood or walked where I walked. In this case, I am standing in the same spot as Cleopatra's daughter...how amazing is that! Roman centurions walked where I walked and talked about what was going on throughout the Roman Empire. Volubilis was similar to Hadrian's Wall in that it was an outpost of the Roman empire so defending it was difficult. This was not a great assignment for a Legionnaire but for me, it was heaven.
The best part of Volubilis are the mosaics. There are so many and the details are amazing. Most places would have already dug them up and placed them in a museum but these are exposed to the elements. They are in the same place as when they were laid 18 centuries ago.
Volubilis was my favorite place to visit in Morocco. I teach Roman history so to be able to show Mosaics from this part of the world will really be a great addition to my Roman unit.
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AuthorRhett Oldham teaches World History and American History at Ste. Genevieve Middle School. ArchivesCategories |