Arrived in San Francisco and this is a view from my room!  Then headed off to the first meeting - an orientation on the trip to Japan.  We will be doing a lot of school visits while there and also have a homestay with a Japanese family.

Dinner was spent talking with some of the teachers from Japan and the U.S.  Learned one of my first Japanese words:  Itadakimasu means Thank you for the meal.  I will try to post a new word each day.



Student questions:  What is Sustainability?  What are we doing at Howard Gray to be more sustainable?  (answer these in the comment section below)

Off to San Francisco

One week till the San Francisco Joint Conference where I get to meet the U.S. and Japanese teacher participants! We'll be working on lots of activities around sustainability and learn about what other schools are doing around the U.S. and in Japan! It will be great to share our experiences at Howard Gray, but more so to learn about the activities and lessons that the other teachers are using in their classrooms.

I will be speaking at the conference about our sustainable garden at Howard Gray and the ECO program. We will also have the opportunity to visit the CuriOdessey Park and learn all about hands-on science and animal activities that they offer at this unique location. Another exciting activity during the conference is a dinner at the Consul General of Japan in San Francisco.

Going to Japan

Can't believe I was picked as a participant in the Japan-U.S. Teacher Exchange program for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). What a fantastic opportunity to work with other teachers from the U.S. and Japan on ESD curricula and enhancing school programs worldwide! This will give me the opportunity to bring global awareness into my classroom and further build up our program in ECO.

The first part of the program starts off in San Francisco for a Joint Conference with all the ESD teachers. We meet for four days from April 29-May 2nd for introductions of the program. Then were off to Japan on June 19th! This will be an amazing program for both myself and my students!