I had the time of my life at the Fulbright orientation. In essence, the Distinguished Fulbright Award in Teaching allows 21 American teachers to live in India, Singapore, Finland, South Africa, Argentina, Morocco, Israel, and Mexico to conduct educational research and build collaborations between countries. In return, 19 teachers from those countries come to the U.S. to do the same. This is a different program from the Fulbright Teacher Exchange, and instead of trading classrooms, we conduct educational research while in our host country. My project is to research how Finnish teachers teach their students scientific problem solving skills, especially in the area of climate change.
It was a bit emotional - meeting so many talented and inspired teachers who want to encourage goodwill and build a more peaceful world; I was really touched to be included in such a group. I especially loved my new Finnish teacher friends who I will be seeing when I live in their country from January - June; they're talented, creative, intelligent, and reflective, although Finnish culture has taught them to be quite humble about their depth, character, and accomplishments. :)
