The thing about people...

One of my underlying philosophies abut people is: everyone wants to be happy. Everyone wants to have love and companionship, some level of comfort and the feeling of security, a sense of purpose. But most of all, everyone simply wants to be happy. I do and I am most certain that you do too. So why do so many people work so hard to destroy others' sense of happiness. Not everyone of course, but far too many. But perhaps even worse, why do we do the things we do that impair our own feelings of well-being and happiness?

So here's where I say forget everything you ever thought (stereotyped) about people from New York. While there on my layover before coming to Russia, I was a newbie in the Big Apple trying to feel my way around -- as well as how to get around! Every single person I came into contact with was really super nice and very helpful.

"Excuse me, am I headed the right direction to get to Central Park?" Or, when I was staring blankly at the signs in the subway trying to figure out if I was about to head in the right direction back to JFK, people, every on of them, where helpful and -- well let's just say it: Kind.

Thank you!

Thinking about it these days, people actually have to make the conscious decision to be helpful versus scornful. I don't think that rudeness is a natural state for our mere human condition. I think we are all born with an innate sense of joy and sharing that is one of the things that helps us to be happy.

I would have to say that my first real cultural experience for Russia on this trip started on the flight to Moscow. It was evident that the Americans onboard the plane were very small in number. During the initial announcement by the flight crew, the speaker clearly articulated that the flight crew was able to fluently speak five different languages (English, Russian, Portuguese, Spanish & German). Or in their words, "We are able to help you in any way we can" and hence; we'll do our very best to communicate with you. Right there, on this plane, it was a small world: People traveling for business, people traveling for pleasure or vacation, and some people traveling out of tragedy. And as articulated by the flight crew, the ability to communicate with us was at the essence of them being able to help us to, to fulfill our needs, to make our journey ever so more comfortable and happy.

A short while after take off, I struck up a conversation with a Russian man sitting across the isle from me. I say Russian and he would probably be telling this story calling me an American but really, aren't those just labels? With my broken Russian and his broken English we were able to learn a great deal about each other. He and his daughter were headed back home after having to travel to the states to attend her fiancé's funeral. Her future husband, an American, a former marine, and an engineer, died in a motorcycle accident. There I was with no way to artfully communicate the sadness I felt for their loss.

As it turns out, he had been to Arizona to study at a John Deere facility. Now he is the general manager for an energy technical service company that conducts energy audits for buildings. He was fascinated to learn about my energy efficient straw bale home run completely by solar and wind power. It is a small world.

I guess much like my experience in New York City, I will be very interested in observing how people interact with each other here in Russia. In this world of cynicism, short tempers and distrust, how will simple acts of kindness emerge? How can we all be a part of each others' happiness? Learning to break down the barriers that divide us -- to be willing to unlearn the things we have inside of us that hinder our ability to really see the world and our fellow human beings -- is a good start. Then we can finally begin to truly communicate, to engage in our own and others' happiness.

It was up to you, New York, New York ...

After surviving the red-eye flight from Salt Lake City into New York (and I do mean survived [best left for another time]), John, another teacher in the program from Spokane, and I had about a ten-hour layover at JFK. Of course, we couldn't have a long layover in The City That Never Sleeps and miss out on that opportunity, so we checked our bags and hopped on the metro. I hit Time Square running and almost photo-bombed the Good Morning America. From there, I walked through Central Park. (Had to get out and move around to offset all that time in the flight seat0. From there, went to the American Museum of Natural History and honestly was a little disappointed in the museum. Several of the Earth Science exhibits weren't working or were just plain dated. And I really was interested in all the stuffed/taxiderm'd animals in the various halls of mammals. The planetarium, however was a big hit with a progam by Dr. Neil Degrass Tyson on the darkness and evolution of our Universe (hint: dark matter and dark energy). That and the dinosaur exhibits were the highlights of the museum.

From there, had to jump into a pizza place to get me a slice. Hmm, New York giant pizza by the slice. And then it was back to JFK for the Aeroflot/Delta trek across the Atlantic. Delta: Bravo! Definitely a class act.

I recall Central Park in (fall) spring!

Outside the AMNH

An early ancestor to our chickens???!!!

A fine slice of white pizza with mozzarella!

Russian Dinner: Georgian-style

We had a great meal out for our first night in Moscow. Sponsored by the State Department's IREX program, the 11 other American teachers and I were served up an eclectic mix of spices infused in each course from the Russian southern province of Georgia. The restaurant itself was a most interesting mixture of multi-level architecture and fascinating tile mosaic murals. Ochen' vkusno! (tasty)

Outside the "Café Mart" a view of an illuminated Russian Orthodox Church.

Finally made it to Moscow! Our hotel (amazing!) is right across the river from Red Square and the Kremlin. After two days of flights, ready to take a nap before we all get together for a quick meeting and dinner. 

A lot of people out on Red Square. Many families. Beautiful weather. When we landed the pilot announced it was 1 degree C. Glad I brought my heavy pea coat!

citizen of the world! ...

Here I am, citizen of the world, approaching Salt Lake City on my first leg of an amazing adventure that originated in little ol' Huachuca City, Arizona, and that will lead me to Russia.  Citizen of the world? It seems a paradox. Last I checked, no one carries a viable global passport. Everyone of these travel documents is issued by, or approved by, nation states. So every one of us, including you and me, embodies this paradox. We are not global citizens. Yet, our only hope is to think and act as if we are. We are all connected.

So why am I going to Russia?

I've been asked this question a lot lately. Besides the obvious answer -- I was accepted into this awesome US State Dept. program that promotes global classrooms by involving teachers in creating an atmosphere for engaging students in investigating global issues, creating empathy for other geographical and cultural regions, learning to communicate their ideas effectively, and creating action plans for putting all these new realizations in to practice --I believe the real question is: What do I hope to gain by immersing myself in the Russian educational culture? In other words, what is the essential question I am hoping to answer during my visit to Russia?

Of course, I am hoping to learn as much as I can about the Russian school system as compared to the Arizona school system. I am hoping to share teaching ideas and best practices with our fellow Russian teachers. But more than all that, I am hoping to learn about the "value" of education as evidenced by Russian students and their families. I specifically will be looking for evidence of student engagement in Russia as it compares to my experience with students her in Sierra Vista.

As a high school teacher in Southeastern Arizona, one of my fundamental frustrations in the classroom is the very distinct lack of engagement by so many American students. It is as if they have no sense of how important a good education is for their continued success. It is as if far too many parents of our students see their child's schooling as merely a babysitting service for them while they are at work. How much does "hope" play into student engagement? Do our unengaged students see no hope for their futures or what an amazing education can do for their futures? Has the Arizona Department of Education put so many bureaucratic constrictions on student success that the govt. itself has drained the educational system of hope?

Maybe this sounds harsh, but in all the debate we hear about "bad schools," "bad administrators," and "bad teachers," we never hear anyone bringing up the role of the students themselves or the parents in improving education. I think it is about time we do.

So there you have it. What is student engagement like in Russia compared to here in Arizona? What is the value of a good education to Russian families compared to many of the Arizona families I have had the privilege to come and know over the years? These are my essential questions I will be researching during my visit to Russian school over the next few weeks. Wish me luck -- and a little hope!

Getting ready for Russia!

We've been having amazing conversations in my classroom regarding my fast-approaching trip to Russia. My students are really beginning to ask great questions as I've been prodding them for the type of information they would like to learn about their Russian teen counterparts. Big themes that have been coming up include: What do Russian teens like to do outside of school? What is their family life like? What kinds of things do Russians say about Americans or what are they taught about America? What do they like on their pizza? (a very popular question!). And, what kinds of music do they like to listen to?

In preparation for my trip, my students filled out index cards describing themselves and what life is like for a teenager in Sierra Vista, Arizona. On the backside of the card, they each wrote a probing question they would like to ask a Russian teen about what their life is like in Khabarovsk. I'm very excited to be able to take my students' questions directly to the Russian classrooms and I hope it will be a great catalyst for discussions and an exchange of ideas between our two schools.

I also am hoping to shoots some short video interviews with my students to share with my Russian hosts as well as get our school's IT guy to finally allow me to set up Skype in my classroom so both classrooms can communicate with each other directly. Cross your fingers!

Since this is a program linking global competencies in our classrooms it begs the question:

What are global competencies?

One step closer to getting to Russia!

We just found out this week that all of our travel visas have been approved by the Russian consulate! So now we are one step closer, but still have so much more work to do before I leave. For the next couple of weeks, I will be collecting photos from from school and from around Cochise County to augment presentations I will be making about my teaching experiences here in southeastern Arizona, and my home state.