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Showing posts with the label Taught by Finland

Leaving Finland

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Lake Jyvasjarvi I have never lived anywhere for 5 months other than Jyvaskyla, Finland. As my Fulbright journey concludes, there is so much to still digest. It will take months, if not years, to truly assimilate all the learning. Before I left Southern California, I wrote about the what I would miss the most from home and what I  looked forward to experiencing in Finland. It is safe to say I met my goals. Top 7 Goals 1. Discussing Education Helsinki Workshop Through professional development programs, Fulbright Finland connected teachers with scholars and researchers, for the purpose of putting inquisitive minds together. The Making Democracies Resilient to Modern Threats seminar provided participants with fascinating research and presentations. 2. Nordic Model Bus station in Espoo What does an efficient and earnest country look like?  It looks like Finland. Yes, people pay higher taxes, but get so much in return. I for one appreciated the well-main...
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Getting in Rhythm with Finland

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It has been 18 days since I landed in Finland, but it feels like much longer. Leaving Los Angeles, and leaving my public, urban middle school (what’s up Lions?) I was moving at the speed of 100 miles per hour. Here, I have had the incredible luxury of s l o w i n g  d o w n , as I mentioned in my last post . Cultural exchanges take time. Time to understand why people live their lives the way they do. Why certain practices exist. Why some values are more important than others. With 18 days under my belt, I am barely scratching the surface, but progress is being made. It comes with understanding phrases spoken to you. Or learning how to pronounce words correctly. Or walking in snow and ice and not biting the dust. Humorous take on pronunciation of certain Finnish letters I’m getting used to little to no direct sunlight and am surprised at how much it has affected my mood. In the darkness, you have to push yourself to be active, to make some kind of progress. ...
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FULBRIGHT: Countdown Day 3

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What I Want to See Student Break Time https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/06/how-finland-keeps-kids-focused/373544/ For every hour of instruction, Finnish students receive 15 minutes of unstructured break time. What do they do during this time? How much is spent outdoors? Do teachers influence student choice? Are there gender differences in break activities? I want to know. Here  is a great article by ex-pat Timothy Walker on this topic. He also writes a great blog called Taught by Finland.  where the intrigue with Finland first began. I hope to meet him there! What I Will Miss Friends and Family http://i0.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/014/159/bitmoji-tshirt.png On the one hand, I have the best friends one could ever hope for. On the other hand, many of them will have a chance to come visit me in Finland! I will miss my family, and my husband's family, especially our children.
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