Arriving Home.

Yesterday we arrived home.  We were greeted at the Memphis International Airport by Debbie's grandson Sam holding this sign.  It was a sweet surprise.  It definitely made us smile and feel welcome.

Debbie and I arriving home at the Memphis International Airport.

 

We had a great time in England but we are very glad to be home.  Talk about Jet lag!

Two flights, one 2 1/2 hours, the other 8 hours, and a 1 1/2 hour drive home from the airport gave Debbie and I had quite a lot of time to discuss what we would do with the information we gleaned.  We will be doing a staff development at the beginning of school.  Also,  we discussed the lack of revision materials for A level Cambridge courses.  Writing some revision booklets seems like a good thing to do.  We would also see subject area bulletin boards in our hallways to stimulate student's interest and to show off their work.  Collaborative projects with other subject areas will also help students understand the importance of each subject.  Such as, Math and Physics collaborating on the math needed to carry out Physics calculations and English and Science making e-books for the elementary students on science topics.

Science billboard at Trinity.

English billboard at Trinity.

We had a great time and learned a lot.  Thank you so much Fund For Teachers.  

Last Day: Cambridge

Today we visited Cambridge, England.  While here we stopped by the Cambridge International Exam Publisher's to find new resources.  It was a fruitful visit for Debbie's and my subjects.  We were not able to find much for English and Math.

Me at the Cambridge Publisher store.

After the publishers we tried to find the Cambridge International Exam offices.  We wanted to ask questions and give our input.  Unfortunately, they didn't want to hear our opinions.   So after finding the office with no result we went back to Cambridge City Center and found The Eagle pub which Watson and Crick frequented when working on the decoding of human DNA.

Debbie and I at The Eagle pub where Watson and Crick worked on their ideas about DNA.

After our academic wanderings we stopped by Jamie Oliver's Italian restaurant and ate lunch.

Debbie and I at Jamie Oliver's Italian restaurant deciding what to eat.

Debbie's Lamb and pasta and my Scallops and squid ink pasta.

We then returned to London to pack and get ready to depart tomorrow.  We went out to eat and I convinced Debbie to eat Steak and Ale pie.  She loved it!!!

I am so ready to see my children and grandchildren.  I just received a text from my daughter Rachel who said "Come Home"!  

Although I love London, I am ready to go home and share our resources.  

Thank you Fund For Teachers for our trip.  

British Museum Visit

Day 7: The British Museum visit.  If you ever make it to London you must go to the British Museum.  We saw the Rosetta Stone, part of the Parthenon, jewelry from 500 BC, treasures from Ur and Babylon.  Magnificent!

Debbie in front of the British Museum.

Debbie looking at an ancient clock.

Me in front of an clock from the 1500's. 

 I have acquired a great admiration for clocks since I read Dava Sobel's Longitude.  It is about the race between two scientists to make a clock that will allow sailors to figure longitude while sailing using a clock.  Now I have visited the Prime Meridian to see Harrison's clocks and the  British Museum to see even more ancient clocks.

Debbie in front of an ancient Roman mosaic.

Egyptian Mosaic

Debbie by the Muse of Comedy.

After a day at the museum we ate supper at the original Hardrock Cafe.

Debbie and I at the Original Hardrock Cafe.

Tomorrow we visit Cambridge University.  Then back home to good ole Corinth, MS.

Rutlish School in Merdot

Today we visited Rutlish School for Mathematics and Computer Science.  This was a wonderful experience.  The teachers here were such good roll models.  They were excited about science education and were not afraid to share with other teachers.  They exude their joy of teaching and science.

We didn't take many pictures because we were so absorbed in the education process.  Rutlish was a wonderful education experience.  Debbie and I could pick out students that were like our own.  Ms. Carmen Beck and Ms.  Mountford were very good teachers who love science and love their students.  We were truly spell bound by their teaching ability.

We were also blessed to spend a class period with the laboratory technicians.  They gave us several resources for laboratory equipment we were looking for.

This school is a wonderful place for young men to attend.  The teachers were dedicated to the education of these wonderful boys.

Rutlish School for boys for Mathematics and Computer Science.

British Museum of Natural History Day

We went to the British Museum of Natural History today.  it would take several days to do it right but we did our best. 

Debbie and I at the British Museum of Natural History.

Oh My Goodness!!! What a wonderful place.  We saw fossils, Audubon's original drawings, beautiful gems, moon rocks, rocks from Mars, dinosaurs and a 12 meter giant squid (only an adolescent).   We also saw a coeleocanth that David Attenborough filmed just a few weeks ago (watch for his documentary).

Debbie and I with the Coeleocanth that David Attenborough had filmed.

We also were able to see part of Charles Darwin's own collection. 

Darwin's Collection

Darwin's pet turtle

We even got to see Charles Darwin's pet turtle. 

After the museum we went to Harrod's and had tea.  We shopped and walked to the nearest pub and ate dinner which was for Debbie fish and chips and for me, roasted chicken and mash.

We are having a great time and learning so much.  We are so grateful to the Fund For Teachers Fellowship.  Debbie and I are planning several things.  One of which is a project for our students and another is a field trip (not necessarily to England) but to a museum that can offer our students a similar experience. 

Trinity School Visit

Today we visited the first school to investigate resources and ask teachers about methods and practicals.  We had a great time and received some great resources. 

We started with Lorna Rawlings' science class.  She provided several new resources that we can use and gave us her email so we can contact her with questions.

Debbie and Lorna in front of the Serenity Garden at Trinity School, Belvedere, London, UK

Students running an experiement for the second time to evaluate how to make it a better experiment.

Great Science bulletin board in the hall of the science department.  Good idea to make students think.

 After we left the Science department we went to the History Department.  There Sally Hemley shared a great deal of resources and we had a great chat.

Sally Hemley, me and Debbie.  Sally was wonderful.  She was sweet and shared ideas and resources.

Bulletin Board in the History room.

Bulletin Board in History department

Another great bulletin board in the Sally's history room.

You will not believe this but the picture below is just one example of the great food in the school cafeteria.  You know teachers really like their food so this was an important part of the tour. 

Veggie Tart, Coleslaw and fresh steamed brocolli.

Roasted Chicken, Steamed Rice and Steamed  Broccoli.

I know, I know you are asking if I only got resources for Science and History.  We were very fortunate to visit the math teacher Jackie Hubbard.  She gave us several resources for our math teachers and an email address of Mrs. Hubbard.

We also were able to get some sources from the English department.  It was a good day, we met some wonderful teachers and have a heavy bag of resources.

Debbie and I at Trinity School in Belvedere, England.

I can't leave without sharing the best part of the day.  We ate the most scrumptious meal that our Simon cooked for us after his long day at school.  We also were able to play with Harry, Jake, Louis, and Sophia.  God is good and we had a wonderful time.

Louis, Jake and Harry.

Our baby Sophia.

Who could resist that face?

We Made It!

Whew!! Day 1 was traveling.  Our first flight was delayed so we missed our second flight but we rearranged it so we caught the next flight.  Note:  If your flight is delayed call the 800 number for the airline.  Trust me, you will get a flight much quicker than waiting behind the 10 other people that are waiting to get their flight changed.

 

Sorry if the picture makes you dizzy.  Blame my husband.

We made it to our hotel, the Holiday Inn Kensington Forum.  Kudos to the hotel staff.  They had our room ready at 10:00 am.  That allowed us to clean up a little before we started off on our first trek.  We hopped on the tube and went to the Tower of London.  I have been to London 7 times now and had never been to the tower.  Debbie had only been to London once before and hadn't seen it either.

That night we fell into bed exhausted.

Day 2 was great too.  We were up at 4:00 am.  Left the hotel, caught the Eurostar and in 2 1/2 hours were in Paris.  That was an experience.  We won't discuss it here but sometime ask Debbie about the train ride and her long gone handbag.  Then we met with a tour group loaded on the bus and went to Monet's gardens.  Debbie and I didn't have a clue how much we had in common.  One of which is our love of impressionist's painting.  Monet is both our favorites.

On Day 3 we took the tube and the train to meet my sweet step daughters and their families to go to the Greenwich Maritime museum and the Prime Meridian.  It was fantastic!  I highly recommend that you read Dava Sobel's Longitude.  It is about John Harrison's work to make a clock that will hold up on ocean voyages and will allow sailors to determine their longitude using time instead of the stars.  It is at the Greenwich prime meridian that Harrison's clocks are displayed.  This is the perfect example of what I want to teach my students.  Harrison used his love of science and put it to an a problem and solved the problem. 

Debbie and I standing on opposite sides of the Prime Meridian.

 

Louis, Emma, me, Sara and little Sophia.

The dome at the Prime Meridian.

The day was wonderful and it is always good to share my love of science with others (especially children).  Louis loved it.

Monday we will be traveling to Simon's school, Trinity School in London.  We are very excited about talking to teachers who are teaching the same subjects as they do and find out what resources they use and what techniques they use to get their subject matter across.

Check with us again in a couple of days.  We have to  pay 5 pounds sterling for every hour we use the internet.  We are saving up our info to put as much on at a time. 

 

This Thursday, May 30th, my birthday, Debbie Madjlesi and I will board a plane to London, UK.  We are the fortunate recipients of a Fund For Teacher's Fellowship that is funding our trip to investigate further the Cambridge University Examination Curriculum that our school implemented two years ago. 

I am very excited because I love the Cambridge curriculum.  It is demanding and teaches our students to think, reason and apply what they learn.  Mrs. Madjlesi and I teach science at Corinth High School which is one of three schools in Mississippi that are part of a pilot program.  

While in England we will visit Cambridge University and three London high schools where we will observe the Cambridge program in action.  We will also pick the teachers brains and gain resources for ourselves and the other teachers at our school in other subject areas.  

I am very fortunate to be able to visit my step daughters and our four grandchildren in England.  I must also say a great big thank you to Simon Godden.  It was Simon that found the high schools we are going to visit.  I am sure it was more than a small amount of trouble to find the schools and then communicate with them about our background checks and such.  We are very grateful to him. 

Please check in later for news about our roaming about London.

Cambridge University

Rutlish School of Mathematics and Computing, Merton