January 31st to February 2nd
January 31st
Meeting with Head of the Upper School Susan Feibelman
Meeting with Dean of Students for Y9 and his team As a Head of Year in my school I found it very interesting to participate in this meeting. It was great to hear them discussing about student issues, how they followed up on them, and how the Dean dealt with the coordination of it all. It was my first glimpse of the idea that matured along the trip, that students, teachers and parents (and their issues) are the same here and there.
Meeting with College Counselors College counseling is not very big in Argentina, we have a very small percentage of student pursuing careers in universities in the US, where the process has many more complications (just the number of universities is daunting). I was then very intrigued about this aspect of the job, and I learnt from them, also about the university system in the US.
School tour by one student Packer is an amazing school, built throughout many years, so it is kind of labyrinthine, yet functional. The student that showed me around was extremely helpful and well mannered, I could really get a good idea on the whole organization of the school. I also took the opportunity to talk with him about his school and life in it, so he gave me some good inside information. AP Physics class with Science Chair My first experience in a science class in a US school. Not too different from classes in Argentina. I happened to drop into a theoretical introduction to a topic, fluids. Though the teacher seemed proficient, it did not strike me as a particularly outstanding lesson. Dinner with ESU Education Staff A great dinner, with great conversation! This is one of the most valuable things I got from this trip, getting to know fantastic people I could talk to about interesting things: education, life abroad, trips. It was an excellent start!
February 1st ESU Staff Carol Losos welcomed me in Hoboken and escorted me to my first meeting. Hoboken Charter School (Hoboken, NJ): Public (~100 students) Meeting with School Principal Ria Grosvenor
ILS Class Senior A most interesting class on economics, part of a Forum program, where a topic was taught from the point of view of different disciplines on alternating classes. I was given the opportunity to participate in the class and discuss with the teacher and students about particular economic issues of my country, which were related to the topic. Great discussions, and very good moderation from the teacher. The students were very motivated, and it clearly looked as if this way of teaching a topic really worked for them. Biology Class Y9 with Science Chair This was a revision of a test. The teacher was a natural, and handled the class very well, though in my opinion he lacked certain tools that could have made the activity more meaningful for students. This was a good opportunity to get to know a Charter school, and how it was organized. Hudson School (Hoboken, NJ): Private School (~200 students) Chemistry Class Y10 with Head of Science Meeting with Head of Science Physics Class Y9 The head of science at this school, Ari Raisa, is, without a doubt, a fantastic science teacher. I got to talk to him a lot, and observe two of his classes. I got many ideas from him that I am using right now in my classes with positive results. Staff meeting I had the chance to participate in full school staff meeting. Being a small school, there were not many teachers. I was introduced and later asked to talk a bit about my school and my country, with a short Q&A after that. They were very welcoming, and we got to discuss many topics, including counselling and overall school organization. Certainly, visiting the Hudson School will stay in my memory. I liked a lot of things about it, the personalized attention, the small groups, the warmth of a small group of teachers that clearly knew each other very well and liked working there. It really seemed a great learning atmosphere. |
