Week 42: Living in Virginia

Living outside of DC has its advantages and disadvantages. I commute to the District every day. It’s not a long commute, about 30 minutes on a good day. Traffic in DC is heavy, parking is scarce and expensive so lots of people use public transportation to get to the City (New Yorkers would say there is only one City and that’s not DC!). Because of that, buses and metro run frequently during the week, but at weekends they get really slow. So I tend to spend weekends in Alexandria instead of going to DC. I live in an affluent neighborhood where people know their neighbors, where even I know my neighbors. Passers by say hi to me even though I don’t know them. This is a neighborhood watch area and people often get together, like at the potluck by the community pool this past weekend. 

Week 41: Working in DC

My working hours are flexible, I can come to my office on the 10th floor anytime between 8-9 am and leave anytime between 4-5 am. I like that because I don’t have to rush in the morning and worry if I’m going to be late even though I leave early, before rush hour really begins so I'm at the office at around 8.

On the bus there are the same people every morning, most of them with their heads buried in their phone screens. The metro is more crowded than the bus, but early in the morning it’s not too bad. I like when the Yellow Train suddenly pops up from the underground tunnel to cross the Potomac River. The early morning view of the Jefferson Memorial and the Washington Monument is absolutely unbeatable. 

I get off at the White House.  This area is a bustling business district with high-rise office buildings with lots of restaurants. Tens of thousands of office workers work there. When the weather is nice, everybody eats outside in the parks – sitting on the grass or on a bench, it doesn’t matter – as long as it’s cosy and with colleagues from work. Food trucks that are especially popular with Washingtonians. Every day there’s a different offer of food  – food as diverse as this city, or as this country – Ethiopian, Jamaican, Mediterranean, just name it, Washington has it all. 

Especially popular with office workers is Farmer’s Market near the White House where local produce can be bought. I like it too, and my favorite is kale and green apple smoothie made of local produce. 

It may be over 30 C outside, but inside the buildings it's rather cold. Air conditioning is set so low that you need a sweater (and sometimes even a heater).

Week 40: Shopping

I've been in the US for 9 months now and people often ask me if it's cheaper or more expensive to live here in the US or back home in Croatia. Of course, there is no yes/no answer to this question, so here's a brief comparison of some of the bare necessities or so.

Clothes, shoes, accessories - you can find some great bargains every where every day, not only at sales. Actually, there are sales  almost all the time - next week for example, all the shops will have a three-day Memorial Day sale. If there are no holidays on the calendar then shop owners would just introduce a three-day kick off sale, whatever that may mean. Then there are outlets where you can buy some ridiculously cheap things, with discounts of 70%, like my new green bag below.

Fruit is much more expensive than at home, for example, 1 orange was 1 $ at one of the grocery stores this winter, whereas at home I can buy two pounds of oranges for 1 $. Milk is almost the same and so are the other groceries. Bread is more expensive, except at Walmart where they sell one loaf a $. Cosmetics are much cheaper here: decorative products, skin care, perfumes, everything.

Cars are much cheaper and gas is ridiculously cheap. Right now gas is sold at 2,59 $ a gallon. Car rental is easy and affordable - we recently rented a Mazda 6 for three days, paid 160 $ with all the waivers included, drove 400 miles and filled it up only once for which we paid 30 $.

Americans do love their cars.

My Croatian salary is three times lower than the salary of my American peer. So yes, she can afford much more than I can. Her purchasing power is higher when it comes to eating out, too - restaurants are more affordable for her than for me.

However, things get tough for her when it comes to  health care and higher ed. A doctor's bill can easily come up to several thousand dollars! How can a family afford to send their child to college, I have no idea at all, when a year in college costs 40,000 $ and more (and this is for tuition only). Higher ed and  health coverage are unfortunately out of reach for many.

Week 39: Professional Affiliation

After submitting all my class assignments, making the apartment ready for inspection, packing all my things (for some unknown reason there was much more stuff than when I first arrived in the US) and taking special, loving care of my newly acquired certificate signed by President Obama, I embarked on the second part of the Fellowship program - professional affiliation. PA is the culmination of our year - it is a professional development opportunity to meet and exchange information and share experiences with our American colleagues. 

I'm fortunate to be doing my PA at CoSN - Consortium for School Networking:

But CoSN is much more than that! CoSN is the amazing people who I have a pleasure to work with and learn from. They're all very knowledgeable, willing to share and very supportive. So over the next six weeks I'll be learning about educational technologies and the certification of education technology specialists, about global leadership and the digital leap, about connected learning and leading with social media and mobile technologies I'll be meeting and working together with district leaders and CTOs (chief technology officers) from all over the US. And upon my return home, I hope to share the knowledge I gain with my fellow teachers from across Europe.

5 Great Mother's Day Songs and Activities

Many people don 't completely appreciate just what a mother is and does until they become parents themselves.  

Over the years many songs have been written to celebrate and praise mothers for the major roles they have and continue to play in our lives. 

Here are five songs  that focus on the different roles mothers play in our lives. All of them include a variety of listening, reading, writing, and discussion activities. Some songs even include a few grammar activities.  Enjoy them on your own or with your class.  



1.  The Mom Song:   

Several years ago, Anita Renfroe, a suburban mother from Atlanta Georgia wrote down all the things she catches herself saying to her children every day. 

She arranged them into a long list and set them to the music of Rossini's William Tell Overture. Finally, she performed the song at her church on Mother's Day

TASK:

Before you listen: 

• Make a list of all the things your mother told you to do and not to do when you were a child.  For example:" " Don't eat with your mouth full." 

•  If you are also a mother, make a list of all the things you have told your children to do and not to do.  
  

 While and After You Listen: 

• Listen to the song  as you need to. 
• As  you listen, think about which of these expressions or words sound familiar. Which ones match the ones on your list.
• Write down the  words or expressions your own mother used.  
• Listen again with the words on the screen. Do this several times. 

Discuss: 

1.  Do you think mothers from different cultures are the same or different?  Why? Discuss what
all mothers  have in common and what some of the differences might be?  . 

2.  Discuss the role and behaviour of mothers across several generations. For instance, if you
are a mother, in what way are you different than your own mother. How is she different than herr mother? Try to list ways and examples as you can.  

3.  If you are a young person, would you raise your children in the same way your mother raised
  you, or would you do things differently? If so, what specific things would you do differently and
  why? 

Writing: 

1.  Write a composition on the similarities or differences between  mothers in two different
     cultures

2. Write a composition on the differences between mothers of two generations: between you   and your mother or between your mother and her mother's generation. Support your points with specific examples. 

3. Write a composition on the differences between the way your mother raised you and the way you plan to raise any future children you might have. Be specific about what you would do    differently. Gives reasons and examples to show exactly what you mean. 

#2:  The Best Day by Taylor Swift 

Taylor Swift is a famous country singer who became a major success at the age of 15. At the age of 16, she wrote this song as a love letter to her mother, Andrea Swift, who usually traveled with her while she was on tour. 

The song itself is from the point of view of a child and adolescent, and  focuses on the small things that mothers do that we often take for granted. 

Swift, says that  she wrote the song as a "secret " Christmas gift  for her mother.

She adds that when she began playing the song on Christmas day, " my mother had no idea it was me singing for the first half of the song. But, she just broke down crying when she realized I had done the whole thing to surprise her. It was a really cool moment." 

Swift can no longer play this song when is on tour because her mother always breaks down in tears backstage every time she plays it. 

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#3 : Mama by B.J. Thomas 

When I was growing up, this song by Bl,J. Thomas was very popular, particularly around Mother's Day.   The slide show on the video represent what the 1950s and 1960s  looked like in North America so well that they could be about my own childhood. 

I have included several activities for this song: a listening gap fill, a vocabulary exercise, a grammar activity and discussion questions.  Enjoy.   




#4:   A Song for Mama by Boyz to Men 

This is a very sentimental song about the importance of mothers.  Do any of you feel this way? 
 

  # 

5: Good Mother by Jan Arden 

The video from this song is different than the others. Listen and watch. Then answer the following questions with a friend, member of your own family or a group. 

1. How does this video along with the song make you feel? Why?
2. Why do you think Jan Arden chose to use this particular video to illustrate this song?
3. What message is she trying to communicate?
4. Does it work? Explain.
5. What message is Arden communicating in her song?  

A Few Thinking or Discussion Questions: 

1.  What do each of the songs have in common?  Give examples.
2.  What are some of the differences between the songs? Give examples?
3.  Which of the songs best represents what a mother is for you? Explain.
4. .Which of the songs did you like best? Why? 
5.  Which of the songs did you like least?  Why? 
6.   If you could write a song for or about your mother what would it say? 

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Week 38: Signed by the President

This is my last week at Penn State. I'm writing this post in my apartment where there's nothing there, except the inflatable mattress that I bought upon my arrival here in State College 38 weeks ago. It's been an amazing experience.

The highlight of the week was the Year-End Banquet, which started with a video message by President Jimmy Carter, who congratulated the Fellows on a successful completion of the program year. Dr. Michael Adewumi, Vice-Provost for Global Programs at Penn State University also congratulated us and Mayor of State College, Elizabeth Goreham, proclaimed that we are now citizens of State College.

Receiving Proclamation

Emily Heddon from the IIE awarded the certificates signed by President Obama to all the Fellows. Here's mine and I'm especially honored and proud to have received it. I'll cherish it forever.

It was a great honor to receive my Penn State Certificate from Dean Monk, who is the Dean of the College of Ed. 

My PSU Certificate for Teaching and learning with technology

Brinda gave a wonderful emotional speech on behalf of all the Humphrey Fellows and after that the Community Service Awards were announced. I was thrilled when Talat announced that "the first prize for extraordinary community service went to .... ME! 

Herizal and Wafaa were also awarded for community service. All the three of us did our community service at the Mid-State Literacy Council, where we enjoyed working with English tutors and international students.

After the ceremony we took lots of photos and selfies and then had our last  potluck in my apartment. 

Tomorrow as we're leaving for other parts of the US,  we'll say goodbye to our coordinators, Leila, Talat and Jane,  to all our friends who we have met here and who have made our stay here a wonderful experience. I'm grateful to every one of them. Goodbye Penn State, goodbye Pennsylvania, I will never forget you.

And to my Humphreys: Be there on Tuesday 1pm  no matter where you are. 

Week 37: Reverse culture shock

The academic year is drawing to a close and our flights home have already been booked. These 8,5 months have passed in a flash. When we came over we talked a lot about culture shock and how to minimize its effects. Now they're telling us about the reverse culture shock and how to minimize its effects. I somehow don't believe that I'll suffer from  culture shock when I get back home - because it's HOME that I'm going to!