Global Mindsets-Connecting students around the world
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Join Ms. Freehill on her trAvels and adventures

Bringing Morocco back home to Eagle Crest

6/18/2018

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Morocco slide show presentations open the door for great questions and open dialogue about cultural differences and similarities.

In April, after returning from Morocco, it was a privildge to share my experiences with each grade level. I presented to each grade level ( about 100 students and their teachers at a time.) It was an excellent way for me to share about my fellowship and encourage students to ask questions and have open conversations about being Muslim. It was a great way to share my personal experiences with be welcomed. Students were enthusiastic and curious about my trip. They asked many questions and I could tell it opened up their perspectives and broadened  their understanding of the world around them. It was an excellent opportunity to celebrate the diversity we have at Eagle Crest and offer suggestions for building our global compentencies without even leaving our own school.  
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Slideshow opens the door to Morocco without leaving Colorado. 

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Students in my ELL classes were able to try on Moroccan clothing and sample some Moroccan cuisine. Sharing the message of peace with others builds compassion and empathy.

When my students tried on the the Moroccan clothing, they began to ask questions about the Moroccan traditions and culture. It was a really simple way to allow the children to experience the culture. We generated lists of questions about Morocco and we slowly answered them using my first hard experiences or if I didn't have an answer, we researched the answer on the internet together. Students were excited to learn what life is like for people in other parts of the world. Their enthusiasm communicated a powerful message that bringing global education into my classroom was not going to be a passing fad, but an integral part of my curriculum design. Whenever I teach topics that are relevant to my students, their engagement, motivation and growth are easy to assess with authentic project based learning activities. 
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"Ms. Freehilll, Why did you go to Morocco?"

4/10/2018

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We visited MoRCE-Net, an resource center for ACCESS English programs for high school students in Morocco.

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Recognizing one's completion of an academic activity always was honored with a certificate. We signed, received, and gave out many of these during our time in Morocco. It was amazing how appreciated and honored we felt. 

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 Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca. This is the only mosque non-Muslims can visit to honor and respect their religious traditions.

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These men are selling locally produced almond butter and Argan oil in the Souk or local market place.

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Below are examples of companies which are globalizing Morocco.

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Students share about their clothing, cultural traditions and Muslim faith when we were working in their classrooms. They were proud of their traditions.

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This woman and I talked about the importance of me sharing with my students that Muslim people are peaceful and kind. She worries the media is teaching Americans to distrust Muslims. She encouraged people to learn more about what it means to be a Muslim and to not assume all people are the same.She took a day off as a high school chemistry teacher to meet us. She was an inspiring and hard working person. 

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Meriam, our in country guide and high school English teacher was so helpful and openly shared about her traditions with us. I miss her.

 I have been reflecting on this question for quite a while. It was my connections with the people that made this such an incredible experience. Returning to my own classroom and sharing about my time in Morocco has brought this question into the forefront. In order to answer it, I need to reflect on how this trip has impacted my life for the better. 
Deciding to apply to the Teachers for Global Classrooms Fellowship began with me wanting to continue to be a life long learner. I was searching out new opportunities that would help me to become a more compassionate and globally aware teacher.  I have always sought out hands on ways to continue to develop my personal and professional life. 
   Learning about global education has brought together many of my interests and it has unified my purpose for teaching. I have been able to see first hand the importance of infusing my instruction daily with the four global competencies ( Also see my "home"  tab of my website for a deeper investigation of these ideas.) and it has moved me to share my learning with others in the hopes of making our world a kinder, healthier and wiser place for everyone. TGC relies on its participants' desire to share their experiences and to widen the circle of exposure to its philosophies and ideas. I am excited to continue to reach out and share my experiences with my local and global communities.
  The four global competencies are investigate the world, recognize one's perspectives, take action and communicate one's ideas to others. The goal of going to Morocco was to have a first hand opportunity to do all of these at the same time and then bring back my experiences to my school and help my school community and beyond also learn how to increase their own level of global competency. Our world today has so many amazing cultures and religions. People desire to live in peace and be close to their families.
   As the world gets smaller with globalization, there are many pros and cons that we must address. One of the greatest advantages to globalization is our increased ability to connect and communicate with people using technology all around the globe in an instant. We can form friendships and professional relationships that will broaden our understandings and help us recognize how similar people are. We all have the similar human needs and desires even if our day to day lives are different. Respecting and honoring our differences and being open to learning from them is one of the greatest opportunities we have in the twenty-first century. Instead of looking at the world with a lens of fear, we could open our hearts and instead strive to be kind and respectful of the beliefs and lifestyles others follow world wide.  The United Nations Global Goals have been opening my eyes to how people all over the world are striving to take care of our planet, working together in peace.
   The people I met in Morocco were so gracious.  Everyone we met went above and beyond to assure our time there was filled with opportunities to learn about their cultural traditions and to broaden our understanding of their religious beliefs and what it means to be Muslim in the world today.  Students in the high school taught us about the Five Pillars of Islam and shared some of their favorite holidays and foods with us. Almost everyone was curious if we liked Moroccan food and enjoyed being in Morocco. My time spent in Morocco was heart warming and welcoming. I enjoyed spending time in a Muslim country where I felt safe, peaceful, and welcomed. I want to learn more about all of the world religions since they guide the belief systems of most of the worlds' population. Many people I met wanted me to return a message from them that Muslim people are peaceful and kind. 
On my first day in Morocco I took a walk near my hotel to buy some water.  I felt self conscious and was aware of being a foreigner and a woman. I thought about what it must feel like to be a person of color and how privileged I am to be a well educated white woman.  It is important to recognize one's privilege and take time to reflect on how many people are not treated with respect. We all need to remember to practice love and kindness in all that we do.   
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Moroccan Hospitality...tea, cookies and tagine

4/1/2018

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​       The Moroccan people enjoy gathering together to share food and tea.  Our time in Morocco  was often centered around food and community.  We were welcomed into every gathering with traditional food and drink.  The food was delicious and the tea became a wonderful tradition we all looked forward to at our many different events.  


     Often, the Moroccan people would first welcome us with dates and buttermilk. Dates represent good health and are one of the first foods eaten during Ramadan, the holy month when Muslims fast from sun up to sun down, The buttermilk is also used on Friday when families gather for their traditional couscous meal.  We were invited to our host teacher, Youseel's home to learn how to make couscous. Here are some photos of the process of making the couscous.  The couscous meal can have many different vegetables, but often included pumpkin and fava beans.  The couscous is make from semolina wheat and it is a type of pasta that is very small and granular. It is cooked by adding a small amount of water to it. 

      We were invited to share meals with many people, but the most memorable were going to the farm house of Meriam's family near Casablanca ( our in country guide and local teacher who participated in ILEP) and to my host teacher, Youseef's family home in Agadir. 

     My host teacher enjoyed sharing his favorite meals with us and we were lucky enough to go to some amazing restaurants as well. One day, he took us to an open air restaurant to sample cow hooves in a flavorful sauce with garbanzo beans. I really didn't like the look of this dish, but I bravely sampled it. It was a bit slimy and I really didn't want to eat more of it. I soon realized he wouldn't even eat it. He had just wanted to share some unique local flavors with us.

      Teachers for Global Classrooms scheduled many social and professional gatherings while we were in Morocco. We visited numerous schools from the elementary to university levels. Often we would do a presentation about our educational systems, share about our schools, discuss challenges and successes we face in our different educational systems and participate in cultural fairs or cultural presentations by the students. At each of these events, we would have a tea and cookie time when we would share a small cup of Moroccan mint green tea and some delicious almond and other flavors of cookies.  We were able to sample many different types of cookies and learned everyone makes their tea just a little bit differently. 
When families and friends gather to share food together, they often begin by washing their hands and sitting around a large platter of food. We would begin most meals with a variety of Moroccan salads served in small dishes. Then, we would eat home made bread and tagine (beef, lamb, chicken, or fish stew that is cooked over hot coals in its own small oven) or another popular meal called bastilla ( a light filo pastry around a mixture of almonds, fish or chicken, and vegetable.) When families join for meals together they use their right hand to eat instead of a fork or spoon. The food was amazing and eating was a lengthly and social part of our time in Morocco. It was a great way to learn about cultural traditions and customs. 

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Being multi-lingual is a way of life in Morocco... The USA could learn from their example...

3/30/2018

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Meriem Lahrizi, the TGC in country consultant lectured about the importance of language and culture in Morocco when we first arrived in Rabat. 

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Students above are preparing to interview us about life and culture in the USA.
​Below are student teachers from the University in Agadir who participated in a workshop I gave on using Thinking Maps to improve academic English writing skills. 

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Above, I am teaching a group of students being trained to become high school English teachers.
​Below are the some people involved in the ACCESS language program and the MORCE-Net language program in Morocco.

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    The culture and power of language in Morocco is very important to understanding the amazingly multi-lingual population.  Most Moroccan students and adults are able to read and write in Arabic, speak Amazigh, and possibly read and write in French and more and more often, English.   Moroccans often are a cultural blend of Amazigh, the indigenous people, and Arabic. The French colonized Morocco until they gained independence in 1956 after 44 years of French rule.  The regions of Morocco are separated by geography, such as the snow capped Atlas Mountains and Sahara Desert. This separation impacts the region dialects, but the majority of people speak the national language of Moroccan Arabic and this is the language that is taught in school. Most students are able to communicate in multiple languages out of necessity. 
     Due to the colonization, French is still the language of the educated elite due to the political influence of France in Morocco.  Nevertheless, after speaking with many professionals English teachers, I learned that the people desire to learn English more than French because it is seen as the global language of progress and professional opportunities.  Globalization is definitely impacting ones decisions about language instruction. 
   Moroccan people often said they feel more connected to the Arab world than Africa, nevertheless many Moroccan people are connected to the Amazigh culture as well.  Since Morocco is located on The eastern most edge of the Arab culture and the majority of Moroccan people are Muslims they connect to the values and traditions of Islam. 
     The population is 98 percent Muslim. The other religions are Christian and Jewish.  The culture is a blend of Arab, Berber and other African and European influences. Indigenous people-now find the term Berber to be a derogatory title. People prefer to be referred to by their regional dialects. Many people also speak French due to the colonization from France. Now, it is becoming more important to be able to communicate in English as it is viewed as the global language allowing the world to unify and also the language of education. 
     The increasing desire to learn the English language has motivated many teachers to provide innovative language programs to students. We were able to visit and participate in lessons at many of the different language programs and we also met with regional program directors, students  and teachers.  During all of these visits we answered questions, exchanged ideas and experiences and discussed ways to continue to build our global connections using technology, letter writing and professional development opportunities. 
     These programs, ACCESS centers, MoRCE-Net, and teacher of English as a foreign language teacher training programs are so popular that classrooms are crowded and acceptance into programs is very competitive.  Students work very hard to be successful in these programs because they hope learning English will provide them with ACCESS to scholarships or career opportunities. 
    Up until recently, public schools were instructed in Arabic, but the university was taught in French.  Many students who couldn’t afford private schools, which are taught in French, lacked the language skills to continue their schooling beyond high school. Now, the government is trying to have public schools teach some subjects in Arabic at the high school level.  Students and parents also desire to learn languages that will prepare them for a career, especially in math and science, which is often taught in English or French. Students even went on a hunger strike because there weren’t enough spaces in the program and the university is free in Morocco. The program ended up accepting more students, but now the classrooms are very crowded. 
    Currently, public schools are taught in Arabic and Amazigh in elementary school, but the Amazigh language is an oral language. The government decided rather hastily to include the instruction of Amazigh in elementary schools to try to acknowledge the value of the indigenous culture, but they hastily created a combination of three regional dialects and created a written language. Unfortunately, it has been very hard for teachers and students to implement this written language due to lack of professionalism development for teachers and lack of real world application. The Amazigh community doesn’t see the value in learning to read and write in Amazigh because the parents are more concerned with their children being prepared for employment. Currently, unemployment is a national crisis for the high school and university level students. At the same time, many people maintain their cultural identity to their indigenous culture. At the same time, the role of French and now the global desire for English.  Moroccan Arabic, Haasaniya, and Tamazight are spoken in different places in Morocco. 
      Moroccan culture, education and language are very intertwined in Morocco. It is important to learn about all of them. 
    

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The giving and receiving of acknowledgment when anyone completes an educational workshop was integral in the culture. Above we are signing certificates to give to the participants in one of the university workshops we presented. 

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Above is a sign for one of the universities we worked at. Notice the sign is in Arabic, Amazigh, and French.

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Exploring Agadir with our host teacher Youseef.

3/20/2018

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Each day we have had the pleasure of exploring Agadir once school ends at noon. The school schedule goes from 8 am until noon with a two hour break to go home for lunch. School doesn’t have any food service apart from one boarding school we visited in Rabat. They were so proud of their food we had to taste it and it was some of the most delicious fish I have ever had.
Agadir is a beautiful city located on the Atlantic Ocean. We can watch the sunset here and enjoy walking on a bike path along the beach. Our first day here I saw a man offering rides on his camel to tourists on the beach.
We visited a small fishing village and shared a coffee by the ocean and looked around. Another day, after school we visited this local indigenous people museum called Amazigh. Morocco is working hard to include the language and culture of the Amazigh people. There are three regions of Amazigh People and Youseef, my host teacher, is Amazigh. The majority of local people are as well.
Another day we visited La Medina D’ Agadir, or the ancient city. In the early 1960’s Agadir suffered a horrible earthquake. It destroyed their original ancient city, but the city rebuilt this one as a replica of the original city. They even used some of the materials from the old city. The architecture and design of the city is beautiful. I loved taking pictures of the designs. There also were artistic demonstrations of local crafts to learn about their culture.
We have visited the local soul, or market, two times. Each time, I was amazed by how many different types you things one could buy there from shampoo to furniture. There are also many people selling things for tourists. It is like a maze inside of the souk and it is very easy to get lost. Thankfully, Youseef was an amazing host and helped me to communicate and navigate through the market place.

This is the symbol of the Amazigh culture. It can be seen throughout the region.

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School visit

3/18/2018

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Here are some pictures from one of the most welcoming and amazing school visits. The students communicated their passion for learning and their desire to improve their lives. They truly want to share about their traditions,beliefs and customs. What a joy this has been. I am so blessed to be able to learn from the teachers, principals and of course the students.

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Moroccan High Schools welcome us like royality. We have visited three schools. Each school has prepared a presentation, forum discuss about education, and offered us incredible hospitality. We have learned about the positives and negitive issues related

3/18/2018

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Meeting the students at Assafa High School

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Today we observed Youseef, our host teacher, teach four different English language lessons. We helped the students clarify any questions they had about the grammar lesson. The students follow a prescribed curriculum that focuses on grammar, dialogues, reading comprehension and writing. I teach English language through content, but here it is taught more in isolation. The style of instruction is very teacher centered,but the students worked well with their partner. They made the best of their lack of resources, sharing photocopied textbooks. The students were on task and excited to volunteer their ideas to the class by eagerly raising their hands and calling out,” teacher, teacher...” The female students were more interested and actively participating, but they were all involved and eager to learn. The oldest group presented a Power Point presentation on four special Islamic holidays. Many of the students wanted our email addresses so they could contact us in USA.
We will return to this school numerous times during our week here, but tomorrow we will be giving a workshop on reading and writing strategies for students attending the University to become teachers. I will present on reading comprehension and writing a letter to share one’s concerns about an issue that impacts their lives . We will use a complex text about writing letters to Congress. My objective is to help them understand how to teach students to use strategies to comprehend the text, discuss and argue their opinions, and use leveled language frames to compose a formal letter to share their opinions with an authentic audience.
​Here are some more pictures from the school.
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School is open around this courtyard. There is no security and children relax in between classes outside in the fresh air.
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Students are eager to learn. This is the computer lab for the school. There are 12 computers without internet for the students. Access to materials, books and resources are very limited,but students are still working hard.
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Students participate in physical education.
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Morroco welcomes us with open arms and a warm heart

3/15/2018

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We landed in Morocco on Tuesday after 24 hours of traveling and a fast forward of five hours. We changed money at the airport and stuffed our travel van with our luggage. After checking into our hotel I took a walk around the port and Hassan II Mosque. We have been eating amazing meals, visiting local university teacher training programs, meeting local high school students and teachers, as well as learning some basic Arabic greetings such as sbah l-xir, which means good morning. I have most enjoyed meeting the local students who mirror any high schooler who is driven to succeed and hang out on Instagram.
Last night, we went to a local Moroccan restaurant where they served us a five course meal with formal presentations and tea ceremony. Every moment has been filled with new and remarkable discoveries, ancient beauty and traditions. My gratitude runs very deep.
I deeply admire the people here for being so accepting of others and also strongly connected to their Islamic beliefs and religion. I can tell my time here will pass too quickly. I want to take advantage of every moment. My global education studies I completed this fall have ignited a deep desire to help others build their global competencies by learning more about other cultures and traditions. I hope this blog will help others learn that people all over the world desire to live in peace. y

Local stop sign in Arabic.
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Hassan 11 Mosque in Rabat
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Getting ready for Morocco

2/24/2018

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I have been getting prepared to leave for Morocco in March. I will be spending time with the whole group of teachers in Rabat, the capital of Morocco and then I will travel with two other teachers to Agadir on the Atlantic coast at the base of the Atlas Mountains to spend time teaching in a high school and we will also visit a local elementary school. I am busy designing lesson plans and trying to learn some Moroccan Arabic phrases. I created a Morocco Padlet to provide some resources about Morocco for those who want to learn more about this amazing country. My fourth and fifth grade students are making posters for other students at Eagle Crest to learn more about Morocco. Many of the fourth grade students have also taken time to write letters to the high school students I will be working with in Agadir.  I am excited to build relationships between my students at Eagle Crest and those in Morocco. I am hopeful we will all learn how people around the world have a shared humanity and a desire to live in a peaceful world. 
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I might even get to ride one of these cute camels on the beach. 

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Washington D.C. Symposium

2/18/2018

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These are the teachers from around the USA I will be traveling to Morocco with.
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On February 15th Ryan Ball and I flew to Washington D.C. to participate in the Teachers for Global Classroom's symposium on integrating global education into the Eagle Crest's community and curriculum. We developed a collective short and long term vision regarding how we could increase the global competencies into our school's professional practices as well as integrating its themes into instruction.  I was so excited to share this experience with Ryan Ball and to be able to collaborate with him on a shared vision for our school's multicultural community.
I also met my teacher colleagues that I will travel with to Morocco in March, 2018. It was very exciting to learn more about the Moroccan culture and educational systems. We collaborated and discussed ideas for our guiding questions for our travel. I have decided to interview and research how teachers integrate community and parent involvement into the classroom and school community. I also want to learn about what leadership means to them. 
​The conference was held at the Mayflower Hotel. This hotel was used as the location of numerous inaugural balls. It's location allowed us the opportunity to walk to the White House and other amazingly historical locations on the National Mall.
I also visited the Holocaust Museum. This museum delves into the realities of hatred and racism and how destructive ignorance and misuse of absolute power can be. While it was painful and difficult to witness this history, it reminded me of the crucial need to increase our understanding of global education in all that we teach and learn. People need to learn to understand differing perspectives and cultures to increase our awareness of our own biases and need for greater cultural awareness. 

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    Author Sheila Freehill- ELL teacher at Eagle Crest Elementary School-TGC fellow 2017-18 Morocco exchange.
    Please join me on my educational teacher exchange to Morocco, Costa RIca and other global adventures by following my blog.
    ​I will be sharing about my growing perspectives and understanding of others around the world and how I am embedding a global mindset into my instructional practice.



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