International Inspiration

This week's favorite thing is being at a school that is so internationally focused.  Bliss Charity participates in the Comenius Program, a project supported by the British Council to help schools connect with European partners for the purpose of exchanging knowledge and understanding.  It is a wonderful way for schools to build intercultural relationships for students and teachers, much like the Fulbright program.

This week Bliss welcomed teachers, parents and students from Sweden, Romania and Greece.  They visited our classrooms and attended assemblies.  They also had the chance to do some sightseeing with their British host families.  I had the opportunity to go out to dinner twice with the international teachers and it was wonderful!

I had some great discussions with the Greek teachers about their system of education and I received a whole packet of beautifully written letters from a Romanian class.  I can't wait to have my students write them back!  This wasn't the first visit by foreign students or staff.  Earlier in the year we also had students visit from Poland and a teacher from Switzerland was observing at the school for several weeks.  It was a special treat to hear him read the story of "Heidi" aloud to my class!

This whole experience has taught me so much and this week was an opportunity to learn even more from teachers across Europe.  There are so many different ways to work effectively with children and it has been fascinating to hear about some of these differences, and the many things that we have in common.