As I readjust to Eastern Standard Time and 24/7 air conditioning, I’ve thought a lot about what it means to be an American citizen. Many of the conversations I had with German and French couples eventually broached the topic of immigration, whether intentionally or accidentally. During the times my feet felt like they might fall
By far my favorite academic excursion we did was the visit to the German Realschule in Ludwigsburg. Before the visit, I was quite confused by the German tracking system when Pierre first discussed it with us. The way his presentation sounded, it seemed like a school caste system: you get placed into a school based
Before leaving for Germany, I was warned by many to be on guard and to not smile at anyone. Germans don’t smile on the street and everyone will hate that you don’t speak German. Germans are strict and harsh; you won’t find any room for error while there. This was even addressed at my excursion
When we had the chance for some free time today, a few of us ventured out into the ADORABLE medieval town of Esslingen to explore. I think I can safely say that after spending five hours there, I could easily drop everything and move here in an instant. The town is beautiful, kind of like
During excursion day, my INEMA partner’s focus was on how our organization helped refugees. While we experienced some cultural differences towards how the organization ran their advocacy programs, we agreed that one of the most important parts of helping refugees was forming a sense of community within their populations. Yes, of course economic assistance and
Today’s lesson really stuck with me, as it did with the other Education people I believe. One of the other classes I am also in right now is Classroom Behavior Management and one of our tasks was to observe professional educators’ management styles. I enjoyed Chris’ style, as I’m sure his students do, too; Chris
While on the plane, I’ve been reading The Far Away Brothers by Lauren Markham. Even though I’m not even halfway done with it yet, it presents a view of immigration, and its impact on children particularly, in an unobstructed way. I’ve really enjoyed the book so far and would recommend it to each of you taking
One of the things we discussed in our groups tonight was how small, grassroots organizations take steps to initiate a new project, like those mentioned in One Nation Indivisible. Oftentimes it’s small organizations or a few people that take an idea and run with it, hoping for the best and praying no one shuts it
I’ve been thinking a lot about mental health and how it relates to immigration and refugees for this class. One of the concepts I keep coming back to is toxic stress and its relationship with school achievement. If a student is under immense stress from family or unsafe home situations, it’s not feasible for them