Final Report--Professional Development Day-August 16, 2010

On Monday, August 16, 2010, the first professional development day of the 2011 school year, I was delighted to continue with our Global Connections Program with our new Thailand component. My presentation covered the highlights of the summer 2010 Thailand Teacher and Principal Exchange Program, the lessons I learned, and my suggestions for direct applications to continue the collaboration during the school year. My goal was to show how the school and community will continue to benefit from my participation in the exchange program.

The highlight of my presentation was the use of this blog, created during my summer trip to Thailand. The blog was created to demonstrate the use of Web 2.0 tools to teachers and staff, and the opportunities to integrate the blog into district clasrooms during the first days of the new school year. Learning how to utilize a variety of Web 2.0 tools is a major goal for this school year for both staff and students.

Prior to showcasing my blog, I excitedly shared my experiences by using photographs taken during the visit to Thailand as a vehicle for discussion. The photographs were organized around each day of my visit, which started on July 12 with my arrival in Thailand, and ended on July 22 when I returned to the United States.

Discussions with teachers and staff focused on the differences and similarities betweens schools in the United States and Thailand. I described the panel discussion between administrators and teachers from both countries, and the emphasis on No Child Left Behind and school funding. I also discussed instructional practices and plans to link the schools in Thailand and the Brooklyn district through blogs and artifact boxes to be exchanged in the mail.

My descriptions of schools in Thailand, their academic standards, class size, number of teachers, and student respect for teaching and learning provided excellent comparisons for teachers in the Brooklyn School District. Teachers were fascinated by the Takraw presentation, and the skill required to play what we call volleyball using feet and no hands.

After staff were given an overview of the education system and the culture of Thailand through the first phase of our program, staff members were then allowed time to reread and/or read the blog for the first time and to post comments.

Integrating School Improvement Activities in our Thailand initiative:

In an effort to raise student scores, our district is participating in a several grants that require implementation of strategies that support Higher Order Thinking Skills. As part of this initiative, the strategy QAR, Question-Answer Relationships, was selected to assist us with this endeavor. This strategy is based on four types of questions: Right There, Think and Search, Author & Me, and On My Own. As part of the preparation, staff members were given several handouts explaining the question types and key words used to assist them in creating questions that required higher order thinking skills for their students. After practicing the development and getting feedback on their questions, each staff members was to develop 8 questions, using this strategy, from the narrative and pictures used in the Thailand blog, based on their subject area. At the completion of the activity, teachers shared their questions and received peer feedback as well.

Teachers will use these questions with their students during the first week of school. Students will be given time to read the blog on Thailand and post their comments. In the process, the questions will be answered to further promote Global Connections with our students and the people and culture of Thailand.
As Next Steps, classrooms at Lovejoy School will create Artifact Boxes of items depicting the culture and education system of Lovejoy, IL and the United States. We will share our boxes with students in Thailand. Students there will create boxes to be shared as well. This activity will further enhance the understanding and acceptance of different cultures in our world.

Teachers were eager to follow-up on the visit by Thailand Principal Areerat’s visit to the United States last spring. Student and teachers began their exploration of education and culture in Thailand during her visit, and prepared Power Point presentations, bulletin boards, dramatic presentations, dances, and a community reception, to name a few of the activities. My visit to Thailand in the summer of 2010 will allow teachers and students to continue their collaboration throughout the 2010-2011 school year.

The Brooklyn community has benefited from the exchange program. The community can aspire to meet the expectations of schools in Thailand, including the need to develop learners as quality citizens and good people that are self-reliant and perform at capacity. Schools in Brooklyn can become holistic and integrated in learning in economic, social, religious and political cultures. The Brooklyn community can emulate Thailand and, while committed to traditional values, still provide a dynamic educational environment that helps students develop a capacity for learning and personal growth that will last a lifetime.

I would like to thank the staff at American Councils for International Education for all their work in administering the 2010 Thailand Teacher and Principal Exchange Program. Their time and effort has certainly provided a life changing educational experience for me that I hope to be able to share with my learning community in the Lovejoy Schools in the Brooklyn School District as well as with the other local partner schools in the Granite City, Madison, Venice School Districtswho assisted in the April hosting experience.

Acknowledgement: The Educational Seminars Program is Sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State, and is administered by American Councils for International Education: ACTR/ACCELS. ECA and American Councils are not responsiable for the views expressed herein.