Blog Post #1 - Why Morocco?

 Last summer I had an amazing experience traveling to the Philippines as part of the Teachers for Global Classrooms Fellowship program. I experienced life in another country, learned about the culture, saw the world from a new perspective and made life-long friends.  When I returned to school in September, I was determined to give my students the opportunity to investigate the world and communicate with students from other places.  I joined iEARN, a non-profit organization that links schools and students from around the world in meaningful projects.  This past spring, our 6th grade students participated in an iEARN project called "A Day in the Life" in which they photographed their homes, neighborhoods, food and school and shared these photos with students from Morocco, Egypt, Yemen and Algeria, as well as other classes in the United States. The 6th graders had the opportunity to view the other students photos and captions, and comment and ask questions within the closed forum provided by iEARN.  A videoconference with a group of students from Egypt was one of the highlights of the project.  iEARN's Annual Global Education Conference and Youth Summit is in Marrakesh, Morocco in July 2017, and thanks to a grant from the Qatar Foundation, as well as support from my school district, I am able to attend the conference and will be heading to Morocco on July 14th!