Continue reading Can you guess what these “trees” really are?
Can you guess what these “trees” really are?
on Month: March 2019
on Always need to know
on Which way to pray.
The main religion in North Africa (which includes Morocco) is Islam. One of the very important parts of this religion is to pray at 5 different times of the day. When a Muslim (person who follows Islam) prays, they must always face towards their holy city of Mecca.
To help travelers out, some hotels have these little signs.
Can you guess what they do?
Continue reading Always need to know
Back to Rabat
on My co teacher, Lynn, and I had to say goodbye for now to Oujda and our wonderful host teacher, Keltouma because we had to return to Rabat to meet back up with the rest of our TGC (Teachers for Global Classroom) folks and share all that we had learned.
While there, we had a bit of free time. And one of the things I LOVE to do when in different places is just to wander around their grocery stores looking for things that are the same and things that are different from home.
Here is something I found. I wonder how many of my elementary students can figure out what makes the name of this moroccan bag of grain is so funny to an American?
Another thing most teachers like to do is to look in bookshops in different places to see if there is anything interesting to bring back to our students. Looks like we found somethings!
For Miss Spencer’s kindergarten class
on One of my kindergarten classes asked me what I was doing at 12:30 pm their time last Friday.
Hello to Miss Spencer’s class
I am sorry I am late getting back to you. But we have been very busy!
Let’s see, what was I doing about 12:30 pm your time on Friday March 22?
12:30 your time would be about 6:30 pm Morocco time.
We were still in Oujda with our host teacher and we were at a wedding party!
I was learning to dance Oujda style and getting a henna design.
Henna is sort of a temporary tattoo.
Here are a few pictures.
Last day in Oujda
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Who are these folks? You have to read the rest of this post to find out!
We, my co-traveling teacher, (Lynn O’Brien from Lebanon, Indiana) and I were so lucky to be able to spent a week with the wonderful people of Oujda, Morocco. This is not a an area of this amazingly diverse and beautiful country that is seen by many, and it should be!
Way out here in North Eastern Morocco, where you can have at least four seasons in the day, we were brought into the schools and homes of some of the most generous and friendly people on earth. We were invited to share in whatever was going on, and that including two wedding parties!
Today we got the opportunity to participate in a master’s class on Communicative Intercultural Education at Mohamed 1st University. Then we met with an associate dean who is doing work with traditional storytelling; I had the opportunity to talk with him about the possibilities of digital storytelling too.
Later we went to a local weekly market that was overwhelming with color and sound. One of the characters you see frequently is the water seller. There are no public water fountains in this area. These vendors wear a very distinct costume. You can buy a cup of water for yourself or as I learned to do, you can give them money to honor someone and have the water seller “play it forward” so that they give a free cup of water to the next person.
A lovely way to remember someone by.
Teachers teach wherever they find themselves
on 
sign outside elementary school in Oujda, Morocco
“Rise to the teacher and honor them for they are almost a prophet.”
We need to work with these amazing young people who are finding time while studying very hard at University in Oujda to volunteer in this outstanding and diverse science program .
Learning to make couscous
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Shopping for ingredients
Making new friends for Oakdale and UA
on 
Meeting some of the future teachers of Morocco
on Not only are we getting the opportunity to actually go into high schools to meet with current Moroccan students, we are also getting the opportunity to meet with their future teachers who are in advanced educational training.
Thank you to the Ecole Normale Superieure in Rabat for welcoming us.
Notice the bulletin boards there – even though this is in Morocco, it looks pretty familiar to this American educator’s eyes.
Also these Moroccan teaching students know the value of a good universal meme to get the point across.
And here, a fellow Alabamian, Abby Becker, shares some of her alma mater’s (UAB) chap stick and wins more friends.
The real reason we are here…
on is to meet Moroccan students and their teachers and to share experiences. And our first school visit could not have been a more positive example of this. We visited our Moroccan host’s (Meriem Lahrizi) school where her students welcomed us with traditional foods, music, and dress. They also displayed their projects and proudly and willingly talked to us about their work.
Thank you to the students and faculty of Lmssalia High School in Casablance for sharing all their hard work and talents with us
IT WAS AMAZING!.