Behind One Open Door...

....Lies many more open doors.  It's a domino effect.  A valuable lesson I have learned from taking the risk of applying for the Fund For Teachers Grant.  Putting yourself out there for rejection but also for the possibility of success is something that can't be taught...but it can be modeled.  And as we get deeper into the school year, our failures and success, our journey of learning is proving invaluable to our students.  Our Fund For Teachers Grant has inspired us to want more for ourselves and our students.  And we have gotten more!

We have been busy since the summer.  We were both blown away by the reflective power of blogging while in Ireland, and we were very determined to bring this into our classroom.  Our motivation to bring in the blog has morphed into a greater drive to learn more about and bring into the classroom 21st century skills.  Earlier this year, we wrote a grant proposal for a classroom set of iPods.  We received our iPods on Tuesday...and the collective excitement from our students was noticeable!  Our purpose originally was to allow students to blog their metacognition of reading.  However, since then, we have thought of many more ways to use this in the classroom.  We also want our students to collaboratively make sense of social studies by creating and maintaining a wiki. We want students to provide each other feedback on their metacognition blogs and wikis.  We are using some iPods on Friday and Monday to have them watch iMovies that we created while we were in Ireland as a research tool.  Our motivation for blogging also inspired us to apply for our district's technology E2T2 grant.  This is a cohort of middle school teachers who had to apply to become a part of it.  Here we are learning aboutt 21st Century Skills...and  how to apply those skills into our teaching, and expectations of our students.

So here we are...starting a new journey of learning that was born from our journey to Ireland.  One open door leads to many other open doors.  I can only imagine what will open to me from this journey!

We are closing this blog in order to open a new blog that will chronicle the journey we take with the E2T2 Grant.  Be sure to follow us, as we journal our learning and our experiences with our students!

Noel's blog:  "Journey Into the 21st Century"  mrsfalksjourney.blogspot.com

Stephanie's blog:  "Thinking about technology"  sgallegostechthinking.blogspot.com

Noel

   

Full Circle

My trip has come full circle and how appropriate that it happened at the end of our journey in Ireland. While walking around the streets of Ennis, my husband and I literally stumbled upon a large sculpture of two hands with uplifted palms. Immediately curious I wandered over to the plaques below the impressive art by Shane Gilmore entitled “Hands”. This is what I read,

“HANDS OF WELCOME
ACKNOWLEDGING THE PRESENCE OF
IMMIGRANTS ASYLUM SEEKERS
REFUGEES FELLOW E U CITIZENS
IN OUR COMMUNITY”

So, while we teach about what pushed and pulled the Irish to America and what life was like for those immigrants in the United States- an ocean away, Ireland is extending her hands to immigrants too!

Stephanie

The Precipice

Today we visited the Cliffs Of Moher. I kept wonder, what is so special about these cliffs...why not the cliffs at Old Head in Kinsale? But when I turned the corner, and on tiptoes, looked over the rock wall they put up to stop people from going over to the edge of the cliffs, I understood why this area draws people from all over the world. Truly, the green rolling hills, and rock walls go all the way to the end, and then whoop...straight cliff. Not for the faint in heart, these cliffs used to provide nourishment for the local people from the beginning of people in the area through World War II. In social studies, we read aloud Nory Ryan's Song, by Patricia Riley Giff. It is the story of a teenager living in Famine Ireland. In the novel, Nory, as a last ditch effort to feed her family, decides she needs to go over the cliffs in her area to collect the eggs of the birds who make their nests in the sides of the cliffs. Though Nory lives closer to Galway in the novel, I immediately imagined Nory on the sides of the Cliffs of Moher when I got as close as I could to the edge. The Cliffs of Moher, as in other cliffs on the Irish cost, became the Famine Irishman's hope for food. To collect eggs, one would tie a large rope around their waist, stand on the edge of the precipice, back facing the ocean, and several men would lower that one person down to find eggs. This was extremely dangerous. Not only were there dangers in the fact you were being lowered down a cliff, and the rope could break at any moment, or your body could be slammed into the rock, but you had to fight off the birds who were protecting their nests. Standing on these cliffs today, I could imagine how desperate a family would have to be to do this.

Today is our last day in Ireland. And as I think about what we have learned, I find myself standing on a precipice of learning. The extent of knowledge we have gained is vast, and will take weeks to unravel. We have photos, this blog, artifacts and video of not just the Cliff of Moher, but of each day. We forward march into the summer armed with knowledge and insight. We are happy we have the summer to prepare everything we have learned. It is bittersweet to leave, I look forward to going home to my children, but I am finding it hard to leave.

Noel and Stephanie

We don't have Internet access in the town we are staying in tonight. Pictures of today will be posted later this week. Though our trip to Ireland is over, the synthesis of our learning is not. We will continue to post entries of our new learning in the weeks to come. Come back and visit our site if you feel so inclined. Stephanie has vowed to learn how to play the Irish flute, so, perhaps we will post video, if we learn how, of her first concert!

The tourist thing!

Today we went to Blarney Castle, and Stephanie and Donald bravely kissed the Blarney Stone! So, now they are both blessed with eloquence! Unknown to myself, the Blarney Stone rests at the TOP of the castle - and those of you that know me, know that heights do not sit well with me. I fought my own battle however and made it to the top of the castle! But when I realized, you had to lie down on your back (held by someone whose job it is to hold people), go a bit over the edge of the castle railing in order to kiss the stone, my life flashed before my eyes faster than it does when driving on these roads, and I decided I needed to get down quickly. So, blessed as Stephanie is now with eloquence...she will finish the work of the blog! (Just kidding!) Though eloquent Stephanie wanted me to write that she is the reigning champion of Hearts!

Tomorrow, we are sad to leave beautiful Kinsale, but excited to travel to Ennis. A travel day tomorrow...then the Cliffs of Moor on Tuesday!

Noel

The Confluence

Yesterday, my Great Grandmother and Great Grandfather held my hand as I walked around the Cobh (pronounced Cove) Heritage Center. The Heritage Center in Cobh (the town has known many names, Cove – until 1847, Queenstown –from 1847 -1920 then the Irish name for Cove – Cobh since 1920) is housed in the same building that was the Port of Call for emigrants leaving Ireland since the early 1800’s. This port became the Famine Irishman’s escape to America. But Cobh remained an important departure point for Irishmen through 1950. In fact, between 1848-1950 2.5 million of the 6 million who emigrated from Ireland left from Cobh. My two Great Grandparents left Ireland from Cobh around the late 1890’s. They traveled separately, and met each other in Albany, NY. As we were driving in to Cobh, I couldn’t help but wonder…did my Great Grandparents see the same ancient wall that I was looking at? Did they see the same trees, some of the same buildings? Upon getting out of the car, and looking over the water landscape, I was overwhelmed with the feeling that they too had seen the same seascape. When I walked through the Heritage doors and down the hall, I smiled, thinking, they too walked through these doors and down these halls. Did the thought ever cross their minds that generations later, someone from their family, from the United States, would be walking in their footsteps? What hopes and fears did they harbor upon entering Cobh and seeing the massive Ocean Liners?

I know that my Great Grandmother, Anna Foley, traveled alone. She was around 14 or 15 when she left Ireland. Was she scared, or was she so determined to change her lifestyle, like my grandmother always said, that fear never crossed her mind? My Great Grandfather, John Farry, traveled with his brother. I believe he was around 19. Did they go to the United States seeking adventure? Emigration during the Great Famine was usually a last resort. And most emigrants went to Canada or Australia. Their landlords sent some to Canada because they couldn’t pay the rent, and yet their landlords sent some to Canada, because they (the landlords) knew the majority of the people wouldn’t survive the trip. We learned from Terri, the curator of the Skibbereen Heritage Center, that some Famine Irishmen would intentionally commit crimes, so that they would be sent to Australia, a common punishment for criminals of the time. The food on the ships was better than the food in the workhouses. However, as in the case of my Great Grandmother and Great Grandfather, many emigrants following the Great Famine, made the choice to emigrate.

Yesterday, we learned that those that chose to emigrate did so for the following reasons: brighter future elsewhere, lure of a better life, land, encouragement from former immigrants and hopes for riches and success. Anna left Ireland because her sister was already in New York and she was looking to elevate herself above the farm life she was leaving. John too left for a brighter future and better life. Though I don’t know if they left Ireland in the hopes of striking it rich, they found each other in New York, and successfully raised a family.

Yesterday I met my Great Grandparents at the confluence of the past and present at the Cobh Heritage Center and we spent the afternoon together in each other’s company.

Note: As in the Skibbereen Heritage Center, we were asked not to post pictures from inside the Cobh Heritage Center Museum on the web. The pictures we did take can be used for the classroom. Pictures posted are those outside the museum.

Noel

Trivia Pursuit…anyone?

Visiting the Cobh Heritage Centre reinforced many of the key facts of the immigrant experience that we teach about, and it was a confirmation that what we are teaching is an interesting and compelling topic. Watching Noel along with many other people researching their own family heritage was inspiring. Humans have a deep desire to know who they are and where they come from. The Cobh Heritage Centre has unique genealogical services to help people trace their heritage. I am not Irish but today I wanted to be. This museum was packed with so much information that I soaked it in and know that someday I will recall this information for not only our students but for my family’s trivia pursuit games.

Some highlights for me today:

-Standing in the spot where Annie Moore and other immigrants boarded an ocean liner made me think about how scared and unsure of the future those emigrating must of felt. Annie Moore was the first immigrant ever to be processed in Ellis Island when it opened in 1892.

-The United States wasn’t the only destination for immigrants. Canada, Argentina, Australia, Britain, and New Zealand, were other places that immigrants sought a better life in.

-“Convict” ships sailed out of Cobh carrying men and women who had been sentenced for crimes ranging from small crimes to murder. Sending criminals out of the country to other places (like Australia) that needed labor seemed to be an ideal way for authorities to get rid of “undesirable” members of society.

-The Lusitania was an ocean liner traveling from New York to Liverpool when a German torpedo struck it during World War One. The ship sank 10 miles off of coast of Ireland. 1,198 people lost their lives in this attack. I had never even heard of the Lusitania before visiting here.

-The Titanic’s last stop before sailing on out into the Atlantic Ocean was in Queenstown (Cobh). A total of 123 passengers boarded the Titanic in Cobh (3 first class, 7 second class, and the remainder in third class) many of these people would not survive her maiden voyage.

-The town of Cobh has had three names: Cobh, Cove, and Queenstown

-The current town of Cobh has a park named after John F. Kennedy.

-I may be able to answer more trivia pursuit questions now when I play against my dad.

Stephanie

Walking In the Past

Yesterday, we went to Skibbereen, one of the worst effected areas during the Great Famine. As we pulled in, it was hard for me to imagine an Irish town of 1840. There were bustling storefronts, tiny, packed, busy roads and brightly painted houses. This town looked as much alive as any other Irish town we have passed through. After a harrowing drive through town (OK, I can’t NOT talk about the road system here…one needs to pray to both Saint Christopher (the Patron Saint of Travel) and Saint Jude (the Patron Saint of Impossible Things) to ensure safe travels on the road system here), in which several times, lives – within the car and pedestrians, – were in question), we made it safely to a car park (a parking lot). Our destination was the Skibbereen Heritage Center, home to The Great Famine Commemoration Exhibition.

We walked through the Exhibit. Read the displays, and listened to the audio-visuals. But the majority of our learning came from listening to an employee and the curator of the Heritage Center. While going through the exhibit, much of what we already knew was confirmed…most Irish people of the time lived in extreme poverty; many people died more as a result of disease than anything else; and the population of Ireland declined rapidly due to the famine, either because of death, or immigration. Once again, we found the power of learning in listening to the experts, who had insight on the Great Famine not listed in the exhibition. From Margaret, the employee, we learned that a professor in the United States has been able to trace the blight DNA to South America. So the blight traveled from South America, to North America, to Europe then finally to Ireland. We learned from Margaret that real research into the Great Famine did not start until around 1950. Up until 1950, people were angry, wounded and couldn’t move past the “blame game.” The Famine was too “recent,” too “real” to really explore. For the first time, in the 1950’s, people were able to look at the Great Famine without playing the “blame game…” people began to look at what happened with an objective eye. The exhibition, and Margaret, both struck a cord with me. Margaret talked about how the famine was caused by a natural disaster, from an airborne blight. It was the response of the British Government, and the response of world governments, and the Laissez-Faire attitude of the political time period, that intensified and ratcheted up the stakes of the blight. And then she said, “Could they (the British and the world) have done more? Yes…” This statement brought me back to a part of the exhibit; it compares the current famine in Sudan to the Great Famine…stating that the famine in Sudan is the Irish skeletons of the Great Famine in black skin. And Margaret voiced what I was thinking, “Can we do more (for famine struck countries)? Yes.”

The curator of the exhibit, Terri, was a wealth of knowledge. And from her, I have started to answer the guiding question “Why does prejudice exist?” Throughout our research in Ireland, there was a question nagging at my core – “Why did the British seem to hate, yes hate, the Irish with such vigor?” To me, it seems that the British truly went out of their way to demoralize and keep the Irish at the bottom of the social ladder. Terri offered some insight. By the 1830’s, Great Britain was deeply entrenched in the Industrial Revolution. The average citizen in Great Britain was working 12-hour days, six days a week, many in poor factory-working conditions. During this time in Ireland, life was more laid back. The Industrial Revolution had not put its hand on Irish shores, and therefore, most people were still potato farming. Though work during the planting and harvesting season was extensive and difficult, this season did not last long. So to an outsider, it looked like the Irish had a lot of time on their hands. Which, to an extent, they did. The Irish filled their time bonding as a community with dance, story telling, drinking and playing music. This was very much a part of their culture. They worked hard, and some even migrated to other parts of Ireland for work when it wasn’t the potato season. But this was unknown to the Englishman. To the 12 hour working Englishman, working in a dangerous factory, the Irishman looked lazy. And from this, we see the seeds of hatred planted and prosper. The image of the drunk, fat, lazy, poor Irishman can trace some of their roots to these English perceptions. And these images traveled around Europe and to the United States. I have started to learn that the world was more interconnected during this time period then I believed. Another example of countries depending on other countries is the fact that for the first two years of the Famine, governments sent aid to Ireland, however, during 1847, the world began to feel “Famine Fatigue”- they were “tired” of hearing about Ireland…and so they stopped the aid…and this proved to be devastating to the people of Ireland, who would not see “the end of the tunnel” until after 1850.

Last, Terri gave us some primary documents, not included in the exhibition. These documents are first hand accounts of the famine from people who visited Ireland in 1847. As we began the historical walking tour of the Great Famine in Skibbereen, we retraced the steps of Elihu Burritt, and American who kept a journal – as we walked the trail, we read his journal, visiting the same places he wrote about. When we stopped at the Soup House (still in existence today, but in a dilapidated state), we read his journal “The soup house was surrounded by a cloud of these famine scepters, half naked, and standing or sitting in the mud, beneath a cold drizzling rain. The narrow defile to the dispensary bar was choked with young and old of both sexes, struggling forward with their rusty tin and iron vessels for soup, some of them upon all fours, like famished beasts.” And as we walked up Bridge Street, one of the poorest areas in Skibbereen during the famine, we read again his words: “As we continued our walk along this filthy lane, half naked women and children would come out of their cabins, apparently in the last stage of fever and beg for food…”

Today, the Great Famine was brought into color as we walked in the past.

Noel

Please Note: The Heritage Center allowed us to take pictures of their exhibits for classroom use only; they asked us not to post these pictures on websites. Therefore, pictures you see today are ones that we took outside the Heritage Center.