Less than 1 Week

So, I have less than one week before I begin my adventures in India.  I am very excited about working with fellow teachers and sharing ideas and strategies as well as stories.  As I count down to departure time, I realize I am going to miss spending the summer with friends and family, but I know it is going to be worth it to have the experience of a lifetime.

Packing List so far (let me know if you think I forgot anything):

• Yearbook
• Photobook
• 5 t-shirts
• 2 shorts
• 5 boxers
• 5 ties
• 2 slacks (linen)
• 1 pair of jeans
• dinner jacket
• 5 socks
• School supply gifts
• Biology books/supplies
• loafer shoes
• 3 white short sleeve button shirts
• postcards
• visa
• passport
• chalk
• a few items to pass out as souvenirs
• camera and lenses
• laptop

I figure I can get a lightweight jacket and an umbrella when I get there (or maybe find one cheap at the thrift store this weekend). I think I have one somewhere, but finding it may be another matter.  

Selection and Notification

So it began a few months before 28 March, 2013, but the 28th is when I received the email stating....
"Congratulations on your selection for the 2013 India Summer Teacher Program!"  That put an end to wondering if I was accepted or if I had to make other plans for the summer.  I am 1 of 10 very lucky teachers in the United States accepted into the program this year.

And so, I began to plan for what I expect will be one of the most exciting and challenging events of my life.  In a program sponsored by the US State Department and the American Councils for International Education and Fulbright, I will be working with an Indian counterpart for five weeks teaching in Kolkata, India.

I will be teaching at the Loreto Day School, Sealdah on A.J. C. Bose Road.  I will be teaching classes 6, 7, 8, and 9, so it will be a bit of a change working with the younger students.  I hope it is not like my "wonderful" times teaching middle school in Cerritos a few years ago.  I survived, but man teachers of middle school deserve hazardous duty pay!!!

I will be teaching some topics that I have not covered in a long while, but looks like it will be fun.  Everything from magnetism to organ systems of the toad and man, to animal and plant circulation.  I am looking forward to sharing some strategies and techniques with my counterpart and learning some new ideas and methods for involving the students in their own education.