2011 Fellowship Deadline is Friday!

The 2011 Fund For Teachers Fellowship Deadline is this Friday January 28! I strongly urge anyone who qualifies to submit an application. Dream big. I did! :)


www.fundforteachers.org



I admit I spent quite a lot of time on research, writing, and submitting my proposal.  Yet with determination, there is definitely still time to write one (or finish one you have started).  Last year after all the effort, I decided that even if I did not get in, it was worth it for the joy of dreaming and deciding what would be best for me. I vowed to try to find another way of financing this dream. I am very, very, very gratful to the Fund for Teachers and all the individual donors who made this possible. Sometimes I still can't believe it happened. I'm not crying because it's over. I'm STILL smiling because it happened. :) I have made lifelong friends, learned extremely valuable methods that I have already begun to incorporate in my classroom, and I have close connections with professors in Norway and memories in Denmark and Finland.

International Museum of Children's Art

This summer, I posted about the International Museum of Children's Art in Oslo and how it was one of my favorite museums . . .ever. I wanted to share this video from their which takes you inside. Since photography was not allowed, this is a great way to catch a glimpse of what I experienced. But of course, nothing replaces walking around, reading children's explanations, and getting a chance to really analyze and enjoy the images as you wander and discover all the inspirational wonders.

Brand New Rick Steves episode of Oslo!

While I was in Oslo this summer, Rick Steves was filming a new season, including a just-aired episode about the fjords and one about Oslo. I almost cried with nostaligic longing as I watched on my new DVD. Rick went to so many of the places we went with the Oslo University College program including the new harbor, the fortress, opera house, Vigeland sculpture park, viking ship museum, folk museum, National Gallery, Munch Museum, ferry rides on the Oslo fjord, and even the cemetary by our dorm in St. Hanshaugen . . . and the quaint, hill leading down through Akers River park towards trendy Grünerløkka, where we always walked to visit our other classmates. What a wonderful compliment to our special time there! In just 3 weeks, Oslo felt like home and I hope to spend more time living there one day. Rick Steves inspired my travel philosophy, I wove his words throughout proposal, and I ran into him in Helsinki during the second part of my fellowship. So cool. Thanks Rick! And thanks to the Philosophers for the wonderful memories.