Featured Location
Building Relationships Across The Atlantic
This picture may not look like much, but it has a good story. The chalkboard is in an English classroom in Kaolack, Senegal. My cooperating teacher there, Aly Ndao, posted these questions for his students:
Latest Posts
Reaching the End
It’s a cliche, I know, but it will be difficult to explain my experience in Senegal to someone who has never been there, especially most Americans. I know that an American looking at my photos might see dusty roads, trash in ditches, and half-built cinder block structures, and make assumptions…
Read More
Days 10 & 11
Teachers everywhere share many of the same concerns. We have too many students and not enough time. We battle distractions. We wish there was less testing. We wonder whether there is more we could do to prepare our students for their future. On Tuesday morning, my colleague Luke and I…
Read More
Days 7, 8 & 9
I woke up yesterday (Sunday) morning in this “glamping” tent in the middle of a wildlife refuge to the sounds of birds, frogs, monkeys(?) and who knows what other creatures. Like many remote places around the world, there was little to no Wi-Fi signal at Fathala (https://www.fathala.com/) There was also…
Read More
Days 4 & 5
Today we left Dakar behind and traveled a few hours into the countryside to Kaolack, where six of our group will stay for the next week. It was a bit stressful, to be honest, leaving behind the now-familiar city for a whole new set of sights and sounds. Although the…
Read More
Day 1 – Dakar
Gewe — pronounced “griot” — means “one who speaks” in Wolof, one of the predominant local Senegalese languages. It’s a good word for today, as our cohort of 15 teachers from around the U.S. listened to three incredible gewes and were reminded why it is so important for us to…
Read More
Building relationships across the Atlantic
This picture may not look like much, but it has a good story. The chalkboard is in an English classroom in Kaolack, Senegal. My cooperating teacher there, Aly Ndao, posted these questions for his students: “What do you think is different about life in Senegal and Minnesota?” “How much homework…
Read More
Global experience starts with a ‘YES!’
When I received an email last April about applications for the Young Economic Summit program, there was no question I wanted my students to participate. I’ll be honest – they had me at “Free trip to Germany.” I didn’t really think through the drawbacks, like planning for a sub (for…
Read More
Amman, Jordan
I visited Amman in March of 2019 to run a two-day College Board AP Economics workshop for teachers from all over the Middle East. About half were Americans teaching abroad, and about half were from the countries where they taught. We had great conversations about culture and politics – and…
Read More
Munich, Germany
I visited the school below, in Munich, as part of my TOP program in August 2013. The school was very high-tech, and the students were very direct and well-spoken. It was interesting to learn about apprenticeship programs and meet young people who were excited about very diverse career paths, like…
Read More
Chontala, Guatemala
The next two photos are from my trip to Chontala in Fall 2010. The school had very few supplies and only served elementary children (older students have to find a way to attend school in a larger town), but the teacher we met was incredibly warm and excited for his…
Read More
St. Petersburg, Russia
In 2006, I was co-leader of a second People to People trip, this time to St. Petersburg. We visited a variety of schools, and I taught a lesson about the Great Depression and the New Deal at an all-girls school focused on the humanities. When I left St. Petersburg, I…
Read MoreLoading…
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
MARTHA RUSH 