I raced home after class at 4:30pm-ish, because I thought it was going to downpour--and then the sun came out an hour after I got back! Every day, there has been sun, even if just for 5 minutes. (I've never actually watched that TV show, P.S.)
This week will be the first full, regular schedule week for us at Penn. Everyone seems to have decided on courses for the semester and it's really interesting to hear what everyone is taking. While I was rather disappointed to hear that some courses I was looking forward to won't be offered in the Spring, I hope there will be others that will pop up and fit well with my focuses.
The program requires two half-course-unit classes that are just for IEDP students--the Proseminar (mostly focusing on lecturers and preparing for the Policy Brief that is like the Master's Thesis for the program), and the Fieldwork seminar (helping to prepare for the skills we'll need for the internship next summer). We also must take EDUC 514, which is "Basic Education in Developing Countries" and usually one research methods course. Because I'm trying to complete the program in one year (the recommended length is 1.5 years), I will be taking five course units meaning SIX classes. (If you take four classes, the fifth one is "free." Who would turn down such a deal??)
It's really refreshing to take classes with non-IEDP students. Most of them are in other GSE programs, but bring a different perspective to bring to the discussions and also just a different energy to the class. Also for me, I love to be around other educators! My "Forming/Reforming the Reading/Writing/Literacy Curriculum" course is in the Reading/Writing/Literacy program, and everyone is a teacher, has taught, or plans to teach. It's such a different environment than the other courses focused on development. Today I had (finally!) the Basic Education in Developing Countries class with Dr. Ameena Ghaffar-Kucher and about half the class is from other programs. Plus it was in the collaborative classroom in the Van Pelt library meaning super high-tech and many fun walls to write on! Dr. GK is very involved with students and even has a "draft exchange" option where you can send her something you're working on and she'll send you some of her work to edit and give constructive criticism. I always depended on getting feedback from peers and professors when I was at Smith and it is great to have someone here that also values giving and receiving feedback.
Besides the required classes, the literacy curriculum class, and an Intro to Stats class, I also am taking Early Childhood Development in International Contexts, taught by Dr. Michelle Neuman. For me, reading for the class is something I look forward to! I did the reading today when I don't have the class until Friday! And I didn't even pay attention to the page numbers. However, it does make me super nostalgic for my students in Guatemala and Honduras, and also worried about their futures. One "Indicator" of how students will succeed in school is how many books they have in their homes. Children with books at home are likely to get three more years of schooling than kids without any books. (UNICEF. (2012). Inequalities in early childhood development: What the data say. Evidence from the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys. New York, NY: UNICEF.) I can't help but think about my 5 and 6 year olds in Guatemala City and the total lack of books. Juan Pablo was one of my star students and when his mother invited us for lunch, he proudly showed off his falling apart/second-hand/colored on books. Besides him, I don't remember seeing any other books in other students' homes, besides school books.
Whew, see what Early Childhood Development does to me? It's so nice to be excited for a class. It makes it difficult though, because I don't want to miss even a minute of some classes (which could lead to some bad bladder situations).
I'll leave with a picture of the group work/discussion we had during the last Fieldwork seminar as we got into the nitty-gritty of development work.
And a picture from the picnic we had at Rittenhouse Park on Saturday morning. There are some talented cooks in our group (alas, I am not one of them!).
This week will be the first full, regular schedule week for us at Penn. Everyone seems to have decided on courses for the semester and it's really interesting to hear what everyone is taking. While I was rather disappointed to hear that some courses I was looking forward to won't be offered in the Spring, I hope there will be others that will pop up and fit well with my focuses.
The program requires two half-course-unit classes that are just for IEDP students--the Proseminar (mostly focusing on lecturers and preparing for the Policy Brief that is like the Master's Thesis for the program), and the Fieldwork seminar (helping to prepare for the skills we'll need for the internship next summer). We also must take EDUC 514, which is "Basic Education in Developing Countries" and usually one research methods course. Because I'm trying to complete the program in one year (the recommended length is 1.5 years), I will be taking five course units meaning SIX classes. (If you take four classes, the fifth one is "free." Who would turn down such a deal??)
It's really refreshing to take classes with non-IEDP students. Most of them are in other GSE programs, but bring a different perspective to bring to the discussions and also just a different energy to the class. Also for me, I love to be around other educators! My "Forming/Reforming the Reading/Writing/Literacy Curriculum" course is in the Reading/Writing/Literacy program, and everyone is a teacher, has taught, or plans to teach. It's such a different environment than the other courses focused on development. Today I had (finally!) the Basic Education in Developing Countries class with Dr. Ameena Ghaffar-Kucher and about half the class is from other programs. Plus it was in the collaborative classroom in the Van Pelt library meaning super high-tech and many fun walls to write on! Dr. GK is very involved with students and even has a "draft exchange" option where you can send her something you're working on and she'll send you some of her work to edit and give constructive criticism. I always depended on getting feedback from peers and professors when I was at Smith and it is great to have someone here that also values giving and receiving feedback.
Besides the required classes, the literacy curriculum class, and an Intro to Stats class, I also am taking Early Childhood Development in International Contexts, taught by Dr. Michelle Neuman. For me, reading for the class is something I look forward to! I did the reading today when I don't have the class until Friday! And I didn't even pay attention to the page numbers. However, it does make me super nostalgic for my students in Guatemala and Honduras, and also worried about their futures. One "Indicator" of how students will succeed in school is how many books they have in their homes. Children with books at home are likely to get three more years of schooling than kids without any books. (UNICEF. (2012). Inequalities in early childhood development: What the data say. Evidence from the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys. New York, NY: UNICEF.) I can't help but think about my 5 and 6 year olds in Guatemala City and the total lack of books. Juan Pablo was one of my star students and when his mother invited us for lunch, he proudly showed off his falling apart/second-hand/colored on books. Besides him, I don't remember seeing any other books in other students' homes, besides school books.
Whew, see what Early Childhood Development does to me? It's so nice to be excited for a class. It makes it difficult though, because I don't want to miss even a minute of some classes (which could lead to some bad bladder situations).
I'll leave with a picture of the group work/discussion we had during the last Fieldwork seminar as we got into the nitty-gritty of development work.
And a picture from the picnic we had at Rittenhouse Park on Saturday morning. There are some talented cooks in our group (alas, I am not one of them!).
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