February 9th to February 12th
February 9th Flight to St. Louis – Arrival and pickup by Nancy Stewart, dinner with them. February 10th Albers Elementary School Use of technology at different levels, from kinder to Y6 This very small Elementary School gave me a taste of two things I had not experienced thus far: it was an elementary school, with the possibility of exploring uses of IT in very young students, and it was in a rural setting, which also changed the composition and diversity of the classroom. I saw some great teaching taking place in the lower years, both motivational and engaging, and using IT in the classroom in a way that was engaging and educational. O’Fallon HS: Public HS Meeting with Science Chair Y11 Physics Class Robotics Class - Eric Curry Media Center The highlight from this visit was certainly Mr. Curry's robotic class. I think I'd never seen such a motivated class, with students (all 20+ of them) engaged in independent parts of the project, with initiative and a powerful drive to be the best. This, I learned later, is, not surprisingly, a consequence of Mr. Curry's dedication and encouragement. The Media centre was very well organized, with people in charge that had clear ideas on how to move forward and make it work even better. The Lewington's were very kind to host this meeting for the ESU, also giving me a chance to talk to everyone there, about Argentina, education, and then field questions of all kind. It was entertaining, and mostly a great exchange of ideas. I felt very comfortable, as in every other instance of me talking with ESU members. February 11th UMSL – University of Missouri St Louis. Meeting with Hal Harris and Carl Hoagland This meeting, accompanied by Nancy Stewart and Ruth Bryant, turned into a good discussion on education, ideas on incorporating technology, book recommendation and so many other things that made it a most interesting morning! Lunch with Ruth Bryant, Paul Azarra, Barbara Lewington and Nancy Stewart I believe I've mentioned this already a thousand times, but it's worth repeating. The most interesting things I got from this trip had to with conversations over lunch, dinner, coffee, or whenever, with lots of interesting people. I had a lot of fun, and learned to the point of saturation, from these experiences, on the sidelines of the formal arrangements. This was certainly one of those occasions, having excellent fried chicken! Fundraising from Maryville University Play at Black Cat Theater - Round and Round the Garden. A great entertainment, I had lots of fun, and also gave a good chance to talk to the director of the group, sharing experiences in acting and directing. She even invited me to become part of her ensemble, but I think I'll have hard time getting to rehearsals! February 12th Tour of St. Louis with Paul Azarra Paul was kind enough to show me around St. Louis, while we shared conversations on its history and on various other issues. I really enjoyed the morning with him, and I thank him deeply for having spared the time to do this! You can see some pictures of the town I took while on this mini tour on the right side of this page, but also on the full list of pictures. |
