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First Day of Class
Today was the first official meeting day of class. Dr. Ruie Pritchard led us in a getting acquainted scavenger hunt activity and provided us with an overview of the course while Tanya Watson provided some background information of the study abroad program. Mike Cook presented our first writing lesson and we were left to create a "Where I'm From" poetry piece to share and later upload on our class Moodle site. I am very excited and fortunate to take part in this experience! -
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Integrating Writing and Technology - A study Abroad
England will be our classroom! We will visit literary and historical sites and use these to prompt our writing. We will look for Platform 93/4 in King's Cross, walk in the footsteps of Jane Austen, sit down with Shakespeare at the Globe Theater, experience a dab of Dickens' London, to name a few of our excursions. And we will share these with international students. -
Expressive: Dr. Elliot Engel - All things English
We started the day getting reacquainted with an alliterative adjective activity led by Dr. Pritchard. We were introduced to Dr. Elliot Engel who presented a very enlightened and humorous background on the history of the English language. He is the author of "A Dab of Dickens and a Touch of Twain,” the assigned text for this course. In his book he captures the literary lives of several English authors in a delightful manner leaving the text an enjoyable yet informative read. -
Poetic: Poetry with Dr. Sally Buckner
Dr. Buckner shared a potpourri of poetry ideas with the class as we endeavored to find our inner poet. I especially enjoyed the 'frame' poem format and will be able to easily implement it with my 5th graders. Donna Morrow and Megan Poole presented an overview of the TPACK model and provided several technology modes in which to publish our work. We shared our homework assignment (Expository Essays) in peer groups followed by Dr. Gareth Cordery who informed us of things to see and do in London. -
Travel to England
We departed Raleigh/Durham International on time. It was a 7 ½ hour flight – arriving at Heathrow in London around 6:30 am the following day (the time here is 5 hours ahead of home). I was exhausted from the lengthy (direct) flight but thrilled to be in London for the first time. What a wave of emotions! -
Surrey University - Guildford, England
We arrived at the airport early this morning excited and anxious to take on our course work at the University. After what seemed hours in customs and a 40 minute commute via the Bee Line bus service we arrived at the University of Surrey, Guildford, UK. We were assigned our rooms and later met for a tour of campus (classroom, launderette, eating facilities, etc.) and excursions to Tesco (similar to Wal-Mart) and town. Exhausted and on my last leg, I was ready for a soft inviting bed. -
Surrey University:
After an early morning traditional English breakfast (of soggy egg yolks, ham bacon, fried toast, tomatoes, and beans), we were briefed on campus Health & Safety from University safety manager Paul Daniel. Dr. Pritchard introduced us to Bio Poems, and Dr. Kevin Oliver shared a Google Maps activity demonstrating ways to catalogue our journey while in England. We were then sent out in the pleasant welcoming English weather to photograph sites around campus for our first technology assignment -
Surrey University: Expressive Writing - Online Tools - Pubs
Today Dr. Gareth Cordery shared with us an interesting take on English Pubs. Afterwards we were sent out in groups to explore numerous pubs in the area and asked to capture our experience using an online tool. My group (Tanya, Keshetta, Julie, and myself) chose to visit the George Abbott, one of Guildford’s oldest pubs. It was here that we had lunch and a warm conversation with a 'regular'(frequent pub guest) named John. He was humorous and shared several interesting stories with us. -
Dickens' Museum - London Museums
Today was our first excursion into London. We bravely took on the London rail system traveling by train from Guildford to Waterloo Rail Station (London’s main hub). From there we transferred to a double-decker city bus and a brief walk to the Dickens House Museum. We enjoyed a self guided tour through the museum as Dr. Cordery was gracious enough to provide commentary throughout our visit. The sites were breathtaking. I was awed by the panorama. It will take days to process it all! -
Winchester - Portsmouth Harbor Tour
Today we took an excursion to Winchester by way of the Bee Line bus service. While there we visited several sites including Winchester Cathedral, castle ruins, Jane Austen’s house, a quaint old book store, and experienced the daily lives of locals while interacting with them through conversations, lunch, and market. From there we were off to Portsmouth. -
Winchester
Castle Ruins. Tanya thought it would be a good idea to climb to the top of the castle and let down our hair, However, by the time we got there, the castle was all in ruins. -
Portsmouth Harbor
The second stop of our excursion today was at the historical Portsmouth Harbor. We went on a guided tour of the harbor and learned a great deal about the Queen’s Royal Navy and her battleships. This was calm and refreshing idea. We now have to capture our experiences using one of three writing modes and incorporate it into a multimodal format. -
Surrey University: Online Tools
Post Cards Home - Today we met as a class to recapture our moments and group excursions. We organized several post cards and pamphlets from our visits as Dr. Pritchard introduced us to several short expressive writing models (anagrams, T. Scott Fitzgerald, and Ruth Firor ) to try our hands at for writing post cards instead of the traditional "wish you were here" saying. After lunch we worked with our groups on an expository dream room piece in Google Docs, and Dr. Oliver introduced us to PREZI -
Oxford with International Students
After meeting with the International Students in front of the Austen Pierce building we boarded a coach and were off for a day trip to Oxford. We exchanged conversation with each other, gathered ideas for our class projects, and completed surveys a few international students had prepared for their studies. The remainder of the day was spent touring the “city of dreaming spires,” taking in the architectural beauty of Oxford’s numerous universities. -
Mayfield Lavender Farm
Julie's dream comes true. Today Dr. Pritchard, AnnMarie, and I braved the English highway and took a car ride with Julie to surrey Downs to explore the Mayfield Lavender farm. It was a beautiful day to experience the therapeutic aroma and relaxation the lavender fields provided. In addition to the inviting lavender rows, we were delighted to experience, to our surprise, the soothing taste of lavender cupcakes and cookies. The moste difficult part of the day was getting Julie to leave. -
London: Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's Cathedral
Today Megan, Tanya, Keshetta, and I took a train to Waterloo Station where we meet up with Gareth and Donna. Gareth provided an informative personalized tour of numerous iconic London monuments and escorted us to Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's Cathedral, and the London Museum. It was an exhilarating adventure and well worth the swollen feet we were granted at the end of the day. -
Austen's Chawton Cottage - Greyfriar's Pub
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Lunch at Greyfriars Pub
Today we spent the morning in Chawton, Hampshire and enjoyed a light ploughman's lunch at the Greyfriars Country Pub located across the street from Jane Austen's home. Although the atmosphere was warm and inviting, I'm not sure they were prepared for the amount of drinks our group would need filling. -
Surrey University: Summary Forms - Script Writing
Today we met back in the AC Building as a class. Donna shared a writing activity using six word phrases and addressed issues concerning copyright laws. Dr. Oliver introduced ToonDoo, a cartoon based web 2.0 resource, for publishing writings. We then spent the remainder of class clarifying writing mode expectations for Weebly postings and working on projects. -
Surrey University: Personal Journals
The morning started with a light drizzle as we met again in the AC Building for our morning session. Dr. Pritchard went over some housekeeping items concerning packing and our trip home. She introduced journaling ideas to the class and several of us committed to use this method for an expressive mode. We met in Guildford aboard the Alfred LeRoy for a lunch cruise on the River Wey. After returning to class we continued sharing a piece from our Weebly page and completed the course evaluations. -
Greenwich: Royal Observatory
Today Keshetta, Tanya, and I decided to take a journey to south-east London to find the Prime Meridian. After several transfers and directions from the locals we found our way to the beginning of time and the location where the Eastern Hemisphere meets the Western Hemisphere at 0 degrees longitude. We were also able to take a glance at the O2, London's state-of-the-art concert arena. -
Queens Theatre: Les Miserables
Tanya, Megan, Keshetta, and I enjoyed the musical performance 'Les Miserables' at the Queens Theatre in London. It was awesome - a must see for all! It was an amazing way to spend our last evening in London before leaving for home. -
Travel Home
Flight home - oh so bittersweet.
