I’m Going to…

For the first time in my adult life, I’m going to be traveling somewhere where I didn’t have any input about where or when I would be traveling. As some of you know, this year I was accepted into the Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms program through the US Department of State and IREX. This program is a year-long commitment, beginning with a 10-week online class about incorporating Global Competency into student learning. A ten week course did not seem at first that it would be that difficult, but the course is pretty involved. The good thing is that it is also very interesting and inspiring work, transforming the way we think about student learning. We get to interact with educators from across the country who are all passionate about teaching in innovative ways and about helping their students become change makers today. The ten weeks, while very busy, also went by quickly.

The next step is a Global Education Symposium in Washington, DC in February. There, we will get to meet the other fellows in person, learn more about global learning, and also get more information about our international experience.

Which brings me to the exciting news…where am I going for the international component of my fellowship? I had no say in this whatsoever, other than on my application indicating which regions I would be interested in going to, and which time of the year I would prefer. They took this and other information into consideration, then placed each fellow in a cohort going to various locations around the world. They did not tell us when we would know our placement, other than that it would be by the end of December. I’ve been checking my email obsessively all week waiting for news.

Yesterday (December 21), people in our fellowship started posting that they were headed to Ghana or Morocco in March. I still hadn’t heard anything, so continued to wait.

This morning, I was excited to open my email and find my placement! I’m going to Colombia in July!!! I’ve never been to Colombia, and I’m excited to see how it is similar or different from neighboring Ecuador, where I traveled over 10 years ago for my ESL endorsement. I do not know exactly where in Colombia I will be going yet or what we will be doing, although I do know we will be partnered with local teachers while there. I expect that I will find out more information at the symposium in February. Until then, I’m looking forward to reading more about Colombia to build up my background knowledge!