Thursday, January 30, 2014

#tarteineurope was born...

If you've seen any of my tweets lately, you may have noticed I am out of town.

I'm currently traveling with my wife as she is in Europe for work. This seemed like an opportunity of a lifetime for us both to be in Europe and have the opportunity to see three different European countries in a short timespan.

You also probably know that the school year is in full swing and that by being out of the country, I'm obviously missing work.

This didn't really sit well with me since I pride myself on being available and responding quickly to those in need.

Having said all of this, I worked with our district technology coordinator, Josh Hall, and our WITs (Wildcat instructional technologists) in my district on ways we can make this personal experience for my wife and I a global and collaborative learning experience for students and staff back home in my district.

That was when #tarteineurope was born as the official hashtag of the trip.

Basically, as I travel and experience new things in Europe, I will tweet out images and short Vine videos. Simple enough...

We are encouraging students and staff at all levels to use the information I am sharing as they need it and as warranted with what they are currently doing in their classes.

So far we have had a 3rd grade class work on a 'where are you' mystery experience and we've had a high school geography course talk about the geography and terrain of the Netherlands.

Here's hoping this experience for my wife and I will be a wonderful learning experience for many others and encourage students and staff to appreciate our global differences, as well as possibly encourage others to travel abroad and experience this for themselves.