Pride and Passion

As we were being given a personal tour of a 200 year old farm at Molly Gallivan’s cottage I was enchanted and taken with our guide, Stephen O’Sullivan, and the passion and pride he exuded. As a 5th generation Irishman who can trace his roots to the early Bonane region.

In our expedition we use the young adult novel "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff as an anchor text for our students. I kept catching myself making connections to the book and wondering if the main characters had lived similar to this. I made sure to capture lots of video and pictures. We had the idea of creating an illustrated guide to go along with our novel to enrich the literature and transport the students back to the setting of the book. I know it may sound simple but many of our students don't know what a potato plant looks like or what a thatched rook was.

One visual image I can't get out of my head is the remains of a famine house that we stood smack in the middle of. Stephen shared that it wasn't uncommon for 12 or so people to live in a house the size of a small kitchen in the United States. I was shocked to find out that the English landlords would tax the Irish farmers more if they had windows. This is why you will see houses with doors that are cut in 1/2 and the top part opens to act as make shift windows. The concept of a 1/2 door shows true ingenuity at work.

As we were guided around the farm soaking (literally...from the rain and figuratively...from the wealth of knowledge) we came to a neo-lithic stone row that Stephen discovered on his property. The stones he found are significant as they are believed to be placed in this unique spot to connect to other stones in the region at certain parts of the year. The stones date before the time of Christ and are believed to be a way that the Druids and Celts created their calendar around the alignment of the sun and the moon.

It doesn't take one long to realize how excited this discovery was for Stephen. His passion for learning about the stones and this time period was contagious and made me want to do some research for myself. Stephen is a wonderful example of a life long learner and one who is willing to share what he has learned with others. Life long learners do exist outside of the classroom and it was refreshing to meet someone who has used his knowledge for good. He is a chair person for a council who has invested time and money into preserving the heritage of Bonane.

I know we are only at the beginning of our trip but the expereince we had with this alone was irreplacable, thanks in a large part to Stephen's passion and pride for this amazing country, it's history, and the people of Ireland. Many thanks to Stephen, his wife, and the staff at Molly Gallivan's Cottage.

The Unexpected

A walking zombie that is how I felt on the afternoon of Monday June 7 after arriving in Ireland. I knew that I would be tired from traveling, and by loosing seven hours to my day. I did not anticipate, nor imagine, how exhaustion could effect my very being. I knew I was tired, but perhaps I didn't truly appreciate my tiredness, until we went into a Pub for lunch around 1:00, and as I was sitting listening to the conversation, I found myself in tunnel vision, and the next thing I knew my head snapped down and up. I had fallen asleep sitting in a Pub. We got back to our house, and I took a 2-hour nap which kept me up for a few more hours. A walk around the area we are staying in yielded a ruined fort. Loosing the battle to nature, the fort resembles a skeletal impression of what must have been an impressive building in its prime. Across the bay, stands a larger fortress, also decaying, though still very impressive. Both fortresses, we later found out from the locals, were built as watchtowers as the area we are staying in not only became one of the main places for immigrants to leave during the famine, but was also an area that lent itself to attack by enemies of the English. However, exhaustion took over, and I was in bed at a respectable 8:30 a good 12-hour sleep helped to relive some of my tiredness.

Our trip continues to surprise us, and for me, the most unexpected surprise is the friendliness, and willingness of the local Irishmen to treat visitors like part of their family. We were involved in a 4-car crash yesterday morning, in front of a small inn and pub, on a back road in Ireland, on our way to Kenmare a small, beautiful town in Count Kerry. We were hit from behind, hitting the car in front of us that hit the car in front of them. Luckily, no one was hurt. But even in this time of turmoil, the owner of The Welcome Inn and Pub, an elderly man, took care of everyone by asking all involved if he could make a cup of tea for them. Such a small gesture that hold tremendous significance. My grandmother is Irish. Her parents immigrated to the United States in the late 1890's. My grandmother, and my mother, always used to make tea for us when we were young and we sick. Tea, it seems, has great healing powers for the soul that is. We also received great kindness from the police (or Guard as they are called here), the tow truck drive who gave us a lift, and answered our tourist questions, and the rental agency. Everyone was kind and helpful.

Our day of kindness did not end there. We had reservations yesterday afternoon at Molly Gallivan's Traditional House and Farm. This is a farm that existed 200 years ago. As part of the farm, the owner will take you on a tour of the farm, and in the evening, you can reserve a spot to join in on a performance of an American Homecoming. I called the owner, Stephen, and told him about our accident. We wouldn't be in Kenmare on time to make the tour, but Stephen was adamant about making sure we made it to the evening dinner and performance. He assured me that he would work around our arrival, and he then mentioned that if there was anything he could do to help, we were to let him know. He even offered talking to the rental agency, because as he told me, He's Irish and all and could speak for me. This touched me deeply, this is a man whose never met, we've corresponded by email, but he didn't know what I looked like and yet he was willing to support me.

We did finally make it to Kenmare. We are staying at the Shelburne Lodge. I had called the owner earlier to tell her we would be late because of the accident. She greeted us with open arms, and sat us down in front of the fire, for yes, a cup of tea! We were then off to Molly Gallivanís. Kenmare is beautiful. While County Cork has rolling hills, sometimes steep, but always green, County Kerry has a more dramatic landscape. Jutting mountains with exposed rock and liken and sharp deep gullies. Molly Gallivanís Cottage is tucked away in narrow valley. The cottage is stunning. Resorted to its original state in the early 1990ís, this cottage is made of the local rock and has a thatched roof. This is they type of house that the typical Irish farmer would have lived in during the famine years. We were welcomed with open arms, and sat down to enjoy an evening of traditional Irish stew and entertainment. During the famine years, many Irishmen left their homes to travel to the United States to make money to send home to their families. On the night before they left, the villagers held an American Wake. This was a celebration of the member who was leaving, but it was also a farewell. It was an evening of coming together as a village, extended family to say goodbye. This was called an American Wake, because often times, these farewells were forever. However, on the rare occasion people did come home to Ireland, the villagers once again threw a celebration, this time, calling it an American Homecoming. And it was this homecoming that we experienced last night.

This much I learned. Deeply rooted within Irish culture is the love of story telling whether it be recitation, story telling with rhyme and rhythm, song, or just spinning a tale, the Irish use the power of story telling to bring family, friends, community members and strangers together. The Irish welcome all into their house, and as we sat by the fire last night, listening to the songs and stories of the past, I felt connected to the audience members and the performers. The Irish use the art of storytelling to explain hardships, celebrations and to describe important events and people in their lives. The stories we heard last night were funny, prideful and sad. We heard songs of immigration and what surprised me is that the songs had no malice in them towards the United States and ancestors leaving. In these songs, I got the impression that the Irish see the famine years and the subsequent immigration because of them, not as a time to be angry at, but they accept this part of their history but they accept it with a sense of sadness and longing for those of the past who had to leave their homeland. Yes, this was also unexpected.

We are returning to Molly Gallivanís today, to seek more knowledge.

Noel

Compassion defines the Irish People

Compassion is a character trait that we strive to exhibit and build in our students. In many ways compassion was shown to Noel and I today. Where else would you have a pub owner come out and ask if we would like a cup of tea after we were rear ended by a young Irish girl? Everyone has gone out of his or her way to help us or offer a word of encouragement. The owner of Molly Gallivan’s cottage has even offered us a tour of the farm today since we missed the one yesterday. Compassion defines the Irish people.

Nothing spells out comfort food like Irish stew and homemade apple crisp with ice cream. After a very eventful day, with the car accident, dealing with the rental car agency and wondering if we would even make it to Molly Gallivan’s cottage, we did and I am so glad we didn’t miss it.

We were quickly transported back 200 years to an old traditional farm. Our group was truly made to feel like part of the family. We ate our lamb stew in a small thatched roof room and then onto an evening of a re-enactment of an Irish man who had immigrated to America and who was returning home to visit. Traditional Irish dancing and songs filled the night air as we sat around the fire joining in on the celebration.

My mind immediately began to spin on how we could incorporate this type of event into our own classroom. In my mind I started to see how our students could create a similar event to express their own stories and learning via recitation.

Stephanie

The Journey Begins

We are all checked in and waiting for our plane. I keep thinking how grateful I am for this chance to enhance my own learning. One desire Noel and I have as teachers is to make learning for students more authentic. We have been trying to get our heads around to this for awhile now. I am hoping this trip will help provide us with many moments of inspiration. Something tells me that the Emerald Isle will do just this.

Finding Never Land

Almost giddy with excitement...I can barely live through the next day and a half. We leave June 6, and by 7:00 AM (Ireland time) Monday June 7, we will be in the Shannon Airport, trudging, I am sure off the plane...and letting our adrenaline fuel us through the day. And though we physically start our journey on June 6, we've been on this journey for a lot longer. Preparations for traveling for the both of us has been tough. We are mothers of young children, and therefore have had to not only get ourselves prepared, but prepare our children and their caretakers. We are leaving for eleven days. And the stress of putting everything in place has been tantamount. I can not imagine, the stress that Irish immigrants must have felt trying to prepare to leave their homes, most likely, forever. I am only leaving my children for eleven days, some Irish were leaving their families for months, years, and perhaps forever. It must have torn at their heartstrings to do so. There is nothing, that I can foresee, that would take me away from my family for that long. I am sure that almost everyone would say the same thing. Life must be near unbearable to have to separate family members. But that is exactly what Irish families found themselves having to do. What courage these immigrants had... to know that they must tear themselves away from all that they knew, loved and cherished, in order to keep the family alive. Preparing for this trip alone, has increased my admiration and empathy for the Irish immigrants of the past.

It's been a long time since I have been a "foreigner" - someone new to a place- unfamiliar with local customs, beliefs and ways. Is this how the Irish felt upon waiting for their ship to leave the harbor on their way to the United States? I can't but imagine what I am feeling is similar to how some immigrants must have felt...adventure, excitement, anxious and even unsure. But unlike the Irish, I will be coming home. If I feel lonely and out of place, if I miss my children and my bed...it will only be for eleven days. This is not forever. But for most Irish, these are feelings that they would also feel, but they wouldn't be able to alleviate their pain by "flying" home for a visit.

My children have been enjoying the story of Peter Pan for months now. In the Walt Disney version of the story, when Peter is teaching Wendy, Michael and John to fly, he tells the three to think of wonderful things....Wendy thinks of a mermaid lagoon, Michael thinks of an Indian warrior and John thinks of a pirate cave. When the children reach Never Land...it is exactly like the three Darling children imagined it would be. But I can't think but wonder, would Never Land have been the same if the three children were not Wendy, Michael and John? Does Never Land become what you want it to? Did the Irish find their Never Land in the United States? I know, from the history books, that the streets of America were not paved in gold, as some immigrants were led to believe. But, did they find what they sought? Will my trip to Ireland live up to my expectations? Will I fall in love with the geography of the land, the people, the customs, traditions and the sheep and cows in the road...just like I have heard that I will? Will I find what I seek... Is Ireland the Never Land that I imagine it will be? Just like the Irish must have had to do when they left their harbor, I will have to trust in the fact that Never Land does exist, but perhaps not my exact Never Land, and that going into the unknown will change my life.

Noel

The Meat and Potatoes

What is our purpose for going to Ireland? What do we hope to achieve? What's the meat and potatoes, our essential learning, for our work in Ireland?

We have three guiding questions that act as our compass for learning in our Immigration Expedition in 7th grade: Why do people immigrate? Why does prejudice exist? and How does the American Dream exist today? In part of our grant application, we wrote:

"...we have selected two case studies that help students analyze the issues of immigration and prejudices- Irish Immigration and Mexican Immigration. ...we can teach our students about the potato famine, we can relate events in chronological order and we can discuss cause and effect. But we lack raw emotion. By traveling to Ireland to explore and experience the calamity of the potato famine, and the mass migration out of Ireland, we hope to bring to our students a better "reality" of what it must have been like for people to leave their home country. We want to explore the culture of Ireland in the 1800s to better understand how that led to American stereotypes, and ultimately how those stereotypes led to prejudice. ...we can better guide them through their journey in addressing why prejudice existed and ultimately why it still exists today in our own school and community.

Harvey Daniels, the leading expert in literature circles, once said, "In order to look in the mirror, one must first look out the window." This is the approach we will take with our students. We believe that in order to plant the seeds of change within our students, we must first address the macro idea of immigration. Irish immigration will be used as our case study in which students will follow the journey the Irish took in realizing the American Dream. Ultimately, we will use the Irish experience as the link to current immigration and cultural issues within our community today, asking students to look in the mirror when examining Mexican immigration.

Our goals for our students are to develop a sense of compassion, empathy and awareness to groups of people who successfully struggle to overcome extreme poverty and hardships to achieve the American Dream. We want our students to develop a sense that the American Dream is accessible regardless of what economic and social level they were born into and that hope exists because of the stories of the immigrants who came before them. Through a cross cultural comparison between Ireland and Mexico, students will understand how an immigrant group of the past overcame prejudice and achieved the American Dream and how an immigrant group in the present is striving for the American Dream today."

Our hope is that our research in Ireland takes us through the same journey of learning we will ask our students to take. Because Expeditions are centered around guiding questions, we have transformed our trip to Ireland into our own Expedition. Thus, our guiding questions for our trip are:

Under what conditions did the Irish immigrate during the Potato Famine?
Why does prejudice exist?
How did the American Dream exist for famine Irishmen?

Ultimately, our purpose is to seek answers to these questions. We will publish our learning throughout our journey, but our final product/demonstration of what we learn will be a published photo essay. This is the meat and potatoes of our Expedition to Ireland.

Noel

And the Oscar goes to...

OK, so this is hardly the caliber of an Oscar...our winning of the grant was not a broadcast on national television, no one critiqued what I was wearing the day we heard we were selected for the grant (at least not to me) and there were no prepared speeches. But...we first found out we were selected for the grant among friends and colleagues and the news was delivered by our principal. It felt right. Two other teams from Minturn Middle School applied for a grant to travel, and they too were awarded grant money from the same organization. We celebrated together - for each other - and for our little school in the woods. Just about half of our staff will be traveling around Europe and the US on a Fund For Teachers grant this summer. How extraordinary is that!? I felt honored to be among such a high caliber of teachers.

Having not received the grant for two years, I understand how competitive the Fund For Teacher Grant is. There are currently 165 EL Schools in 29 states. There are 4,075 teachers within the EL network. 12 groups within the EL network received funding for their research from Fund For Teachers. 3 of the 12 groups come from Minturn Middle School this year! I am still in awe that I fall within the rank of these amazing teachers. Not just teachers at MMS, but all EL teachers who applied for a grant this year. I now understand what actors mean when they say they are honored to have been nominated for an Oscar within a group of highly talented actors!

We received formal, written notification of our acceptance a few weeks ago. I was at the Post Office, on my own. I opened the letter...by myself. There were no overwhelming sounds of applause, cheers and hoots and hollers. BUT, I felt like there were. I still do. So, I'm changing my mind. This is the caliber of the Oscars! And the Oscars go to....Noel Falk and Stephanie Gallegos, Kari Bangtson and April Slagle, Tracy Teetaert and Cindy Cassidy - 3 of the 12 2010 Fund For Teachers Fellows!

Check out the Fund For Teachers Link that lists the 2010 Fellows. Under schools, click on Expeditionary Learning Schools. There you can read about all cool places teams and individuals will travel to this summer! www.fundforteachers.org

Noel