Thursday - Workshop Day

Back to school on Thursday. Conducting 8 hours of teacher inservice is part of the terms and conditions of my grant, so that was te agenda for this day. Chris Bode at Aurora High School has done a superb job helping me prepare the technology and agenda items. I was a bit nervous but it went well. We were in the multimedia room (tables, chairs, 1 computer and a projector and smart board) with around 15 teachers from the English department in attendance. I shared technology uses in the classroom for around 2 hours, then after a break we looked at constructivism in the literature classroom for another 2 hours. The teachers asked many questions about American schools funding, teacher licensure and our facilities. I shared the video that Evan made and they were very impressed. Their teachers all have a bachelors degree and are required no further training or education. They were amazed at how much university classes cost and concerned about the disparity of schools between rich and poor communities. I think these are concerns for everyone.

I sat in on Marwa's last class - answered questions and gave them gifts from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They were thrilled!

We then drove over to the Biblioteque Alexandria. It is built on the site of the original Library of Alexandria and it is beautiful. Opened in 2003, it features very modern architecture and an open feeling inside. At night it is lit with fluorescent lights that are beautiful. We began by meeting Naveen, another of Marwa's college friends, who works at the library. She has asked me to present my technology workshop to their staff of continuing education department. We met with a library director and went over the agenda. It was quite intimidating. I will conduct this workshop at the Library on Sunday. After this meeting, we were given a guided tour of the library and the museums. I did not expect the museums and they were phenomenal. We began with a private tour (thanks Naveen) of the rare documents museum with original manuscripts dating back to the 200-300s! Then we spent a bit of time in a museum of Alexandria history through paintings and photographs. There were also museums of modern sculpture and a famous Egyptian movie set and costume designer. We ended with a museum that honors former President Anwar Sadat. He is a hero who brought peace and was assassinated because of it.

We then met up with another ILEP exchange teacher and his host from Cairo. Keven is from Minnesota and is visiting with Farout who lives in Cairo and teaches math. Keven is hilarious and we had a great visit on a cafe deck overlooking - yes, the Mediterranean.