As I prepare to travel to Finland in...yikes!... just two days, I've set up this blog so that people can travel along with me from the comfort of their computers. I'll start with the story of how my trip to Finland came to be.
My maternal grandfather was from Finland. He was chased out of the country in 1945 while fighting in the Continuation War - a war between Russia and Finland for territory. He made his way to the United States where he joined the US Army Infantry and met my grandmother. I knew about the story of his escape from Finland (pretty exciting, chased out the door fleeing on cross country skis to a boat for Sweden) as I grew up.
I was very, very close to my grandfather. He often picked me up from school, and I stayed with my grandparents while my mom was at work. We ate some Finnish foods like "little pancakes" and pulla. He taught me some Finnish words, like "mina olen pieni tytto" which means "I'm a little girl" and how to count. I was always proud of our Finnish heritage.
Fast forward to my adult years. I worked at a school in Baltimore where all faculty members were given a grant to travel over the summer after seven years at the school. I had every intention of staying at that school, and so I regularly daydreamed about how I would spend my summer grant. I wanted to go to Finland where they have very innovative, cutting edge libraries. But, it was not to be, I left the school after only five years and never got my Finnish trip.
Last year, the school where I now work raised a significant amount of money for teacher professional development. We were encouraged to think outside the box and be creative with our proposals to use these funds. Several faculty members were using the funds to travel internationally. I saw a window opening for my trip to Finland! I did some research and talked to a school librarian in Lacey who had a Fulbright grant to Finland several years ago. My focus shifted a bit based on what I learned.
1) Finland has one of the top school systems in the world.
2) In the summer no one would be around in the schools.
3) Very few schools have a school library.
4) Many schools are using Microsoft technology, especially since Microsoft bought Nokia several years ago.
I wrote up a proposal to visit Finland during Spring Break to observe their use of technology in the classroom. And it was approved! So here I go! Off to Finland in two days. I'm visiting schools in Salo, Espoo, Tampere, and Oulu. I'm also visiting the public library in Salo and Helsinki. Several of the schools I'm visiting have been recognized as Microsoft Showcase Schools and/or have Microsoft Innovative Educators working there. One of the schools has a public library housed right in the same building as the school. I planned the entire trip myself, it is not part of a tour. I found many of my contacts via the Microsoft Educator Network and emailed them to see if I could visit.
My maternal grandfather was from Finland. He was chased out of the country in 1945 while fighting in the Continuation War - a war between Russia and Finland for territory. He made his way to the United States where he joined the US Army Infantry and met my grandmother. I knew about the story of his escape from Finland (pretty exciting, chased out the door fleeing on cross country skis to a boat for Sweden) as I grew up.
I was very, very close to my grandfather. He often picked me up from school, and I stayed with my grandparents while my mom was at work. We ate some Finnish foods like "little pancakes" and pulla. He taught me some Finnish words, like "mina olen pieni tytto" which means "I'm a little girl" and how to count. I was always proud of our Finnish heritage.
Fast forward to my adult years. I worked at a school in Baltimore where all faculty members were given a grant to travel over the summer after seven years at the school. I had every intention of staying at that school, and so I regularly daydreamed about how I would spend my summer grant. I wanted to go to Finland where they have very innovative, cutting edge libraries. But, it was not to be, I left the school after only five years and never got my Finnish trip.
Last year, the school where I now work raised a significant amount of money for teacher professional development. We were encouraged to think outside the box and be creative with our proposals to use these funds. Several faculty members were using the funds to travel internationally. I saw a window opening for my trip to Finland! I did some research and talked to a school librarian in Lacey who had a Fulbright grant to Finland several years ago. My focus shifted a bit based on what I learned.
1) Finland has one of the top school systems in the world.
2) In the summer no one would be around in the schools.
3) Very few schools have a school library.
4) Many schools are using Microsoft technology, especially since Microsoft bought Nokia several years ago.
I wrote up a proposal to visit Finland during Spring Break to observe their use of technology in the classroom. And it was approved! So here I go! Off to Finland in two days. I'm visiting schools in Salo, Espoo, Tampere, and Oulu. I'm also visiting the public library in Salo and Helsinki. Several of the schools I'm visiting have been recognized as Microsoft Showcase Schools and/or have Microsoft Innovative Educators working there. One of the schools has a public library housed right in the same building as the school. I planned the entire trip myself, it is not part of a tour. I found many of my contacts via the Microsoft Educator Network and emailed them to see if I could visit.
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