Waves of cerulean lapped onto the shore, back and forth, back and forth—carelessly, yet with purpose and intention. Her toes reveled in delight at the mixture of wet sand and water, so distinct from their claustrophobic shoe shell. Change could be wonderfully refreshing.
She had forgotten the rush of flying. Excitement bubbled up in her spirit as she climbed the staircase to the cabin. The plane would be departing momentarily. She shoved her barely-small-enough personal item under the seat, incapable of suppressing a wide grin: she had the window seat all to herself.
Clutching a hot coffee to keep warm, she felt her stomach lurch as they lifted off. The city below began shrinking; soon, perfectly geometric lines of tiny dollhouses dotted the landscape. And then–clouds. Every pattern imaginable. Beautifully emotive cotton ball wisps and fluffs. Daydreaming in the clouds: now she was in her element.
It was dark when she awakened. A voice came over the intercom: “Ladies and gentlemen, we are going to dim the cabin lights. For those of you awake, this is a rare occurrence, but if you turn to your right, you can see the Northern Lights… at eye level.”
She gasped. Neon green flickers danced across the sky, enveloping her in their visual symphony. It was other worldly, this beauty. And at eye level! Not wanting to miss a second, she tried not to blink–but eventually, drifted off again.
The trip had hardly begun and yet, despite the rushed packing and long airport lines, was already worth it.
I used to be confused when people asked where I was from. I lived in several states growing up, have since been to multiple countries overseas, and always loved traveling. It never felt like I was from one place; all of the places were a part of me.
In fact, one of my happiest childhood memories was of long family road trips. There was something so comforting, so cozy, about falling asleep at night in the backseat, sounds of traffic whooshing by, soft tunes on the radio, and my parents murmuring as I slipped into dreamland and they drove on through the night. Where am I from? I don’t really understand the question. I have a traveling soul.
Traveling isn’t only in my blood: it is a fundamental building block of teaching another language. Language and culture are inextricably tied and it is difficult–dare I say impossible–to understand another language sans its culture, or without traveling.
Several years ago, I came across Dave Burgess’ book, Teach Like A Pirate. In the book, Burgess asks if you (the teacher) have any lessons that students would actually pay for. Are there any lessons that students would line up for at your classroom door and pay an admission fee to attend? While he qualifies this–the goal here might be one or two a year (not every day)–it is a great question to ponder as an educator, to take a hard look at your curriculum and general presentation skills. How engaging are your lessons? How might you improve?
Now, if you are a teacher and read this after a rough day–or week, or month, or year–at work, you might start questioning your career choice, as I have many times before. Actually pay for? Yeah, right! No student would ever pay for one of my lessons! However, on a good day, you might see that while perhaps not the norm, it is a noble goal to strive for, nevertheless.
I love exploring and traveling and sharing this excitement with my students. So in class, students don’t just talk about going places–we actually travel! Well, via simulation, at least. Let me invite you into our world. One of my favorite lessons of the year is The Day We Do All The Things. This day is planned about 24 hours in advance (I’m one of those 11:59.57 types), and particularly after a student makes an offhanded comment about wanting to travel. Okay, well let’s go!
I prepare plane tickets, complete with realistic times, dates, and airports (thank you, Snipping Tool!), and hand these out along with faux currency of our final destination. One year, we spent a week creating crazy-realistic looking passports beforehand, with student photos pasted in and a world map as the background. Needless to say, travel involves some paperwork!
At the airport, students go through ‘customs’, taking off their shoes, handing over their passport, walking through the creepy scanner, etc. (quítense los zapatos, pasaporte, por favor) We rearrange the chairs to resemble an airplane cabin, and I put on my ‘stewardess hat’ to enhance the simulation, rattling off emergency exit information in the target language, gesturing here and there, and handing out goldfish and juice pack snacks. iPad movies are available in Spanish only.
Upon arriving at our final destination (there may be layovers and feigned turbulance, if time permits), students travel as a group outside the classroom to the “bus stop”, carrying their [real] backpacks and passports and water bottles, only to find that QR codes have been posted around campus, which reveal short videos and photos of the country when scanned. They race off (age dependent) in small groups, scanning codes and oohing and ahhing at cultural landmarks and monuments.
One year, I coerced the math teacher for the older grades to wait in a school van at the front of the school. I said, “Hey guys, I think the bus station is over there (as we walked in a seemingly random direction)–nah, let’s just take a taxi instead!” And I had the entire class actually get into the van with the other teacher (paying her with fake euros) and we drove around town for 5-10 minutes. I pointed at a building and said, “Hey, look! There’s the Prado!”
After we returned to school and fourth graders went back to their regular classroom, one of the girls lingered. “Señorita?” she said, “That was THE BEST CLASS EVER”–and proceeded to pull a dollar bill out of her pocket to pay me. I had to spend ten minutes convincing her to keep the money and explaining that I couldn’t accept it; but–wow.
I guess I’ll stick with teaching for a while longer.
QR Code Search- Spain & Mexico!
- Mercado in Spain
- The Men Risking Their Lives for Barnacles
- Human Towers of Catalunya
- Covered Streets of Granada
- Regions of Spain Map
- La Alhambra (photo)
- Museo Soumaya Art Museum (photo)
- Chichen Itza at Night (photos)
- Amate Paintings (photos)
- Molinillo tradicional (video)
- Danza de los Voladores (photo)
- Cave of the Crystals
- MUSA- Mexico Car (photo)
- Frito Bandito (commercial)
- Coco- Official Trailer
- Radish Festival
- El Prado- Museum
During the flight…
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