June 16th

Today I carpooled with two wonderful participants to Charlotte at 7 am.  I hope that I got everything I needed…don’t you love that feeling that makes you recheck your house repeatedly? I had to keep reassuring myself that I had my passport multiple times.  On the way to New York, I had the great privilege of reading an amazing student, Pruett Norris’ book, Dreams:  A Trilogy.  Pruett worked extensively this year to start writing his own book with superb word choice, clarity and generous details.  I promised Pruett that I would read his book, so here’s a picture of me starting to read this amazing book.   Cheers, Pruett (as Pruett likes to say)!

Pruett's book

Landing in New York

Our flight left JFK airport left at 5:10 pm (Eastern Standard time) Saturday and landed in Denmark at 7:15 am Sunday.  I slept pretty well on the flight, yet I know the six hour time difference is going to catch up with me soon!

Brrrr....-47 degrees F

Flying near Iceland

Seat buddies

So, we have decided that we are going to hit the ground running and stay awake and visit as much of Copenhagen as we can.  We plan on visiting Tivoli Gardens this week (recently ranked top five amusement parks you should visit in your lifetime), and then go to an amazing museum (free of charge!).  I absolutely love this group of teachers’ enthusiasm, attitudes and humor.  So far, this trip is off to a great start!  I hope everyone is enjoying their summer break/vacations. :)

Orientation in Chapel Hill-May 3-4

Chapel Hill, NC- ciy-data.com

UNC Center for School Leadership Development

Our e-book with detailed information about our trip. 

Thirty-two teachers from all over North Carolina met in Chapel Hill, NC to learn about our itinerary, passports (I have mine...woo-hoo!), customs in Denmark and were provided time to learn about other teachers.  I am too excited about this trip and this amazing group of educators going on this journey!

Mette Juul Sorensen

One Danish speaker, Mette Juul Sorensen, gave us a good deal of information about our travels.  Here are some of the highlights:

·         Kindergarteners speak/learn English in Denmark.

·         Denmark can be very expensive-small cars essential (55% tax rate)

·         More farming in western Denmark- very different than Copenhagen.

·         Viking helmets don’t have horns!   Having a Viking heritage, Danes very much enjoy traveling abroad.  Danes try to find, “What is out there?”

·         Denmark is in the middle of Scandinavia- perception of being perfect/center of attention. :)

·         Even today, the flag must be taken down before sundown, or others will think you are saluting the devil…whoa!  There is such a strong pride for the flag in Denmark.

·         Enjoy spices and tea in Denmark due to the exploration in India and Africa.

·         Denmark isn’t very proud of their role in the slave trade…people didn’t like to talk about it for centuries.  The slave trade is taught in schools in Denmark today to educate students of Denmark's history.

·         1849-King signs the Constitution of Denmark.  The constitution has only changed four times to date (King-just a figure…Prime Minister real leader of the people)

·         Schools have more vacations in Denmark-February-Ski Vacation.  Christmas-Danes stay home with family.

·         Copenhagen means- trade by harbor…harbor so important –leads to travel and exploration

·         Hans Christian Andersen was a distinguished writer (fairy tales) who wrote: “The Little Mermaid”-her statue is in Copenhagen Harbor.

        Sydney Opera House was designed by Danes.

·         October-March: Danes spend a lot of time inside their homes due to cold temperatures and little daylight.  So, Danes spend a good deal time on architecture to enjoy their homes to the fullest.

·         Danish Companies- Novo Nordisk (pharmaceutical company #10 in the world), LEGO (yes, the ones you build with!), Maersk (trade).  All of these companies are led by families.

·         Denmark is known for amusement parks- Created in Denmark 1843

·         Students call teachers by their first name.

·         Denmark is the number one country in the world to produce organic food. 
After ninth grade, Danes will choose one of the following things to do: Gymnasium high school (not recess at all!), business school, HTX (engineering) or trade school.

In Denmark DON’T:

1.       Ask “How are you?”

2.       Try to speak their language.

3.       Fail to signal in the bike lane-about 18 million bikes in Denmark!

4.       Wear your sweatpants in public.

5.       Smile at their children (or dogs). 

6.       Act like a human at the grocery store- very fast-get what you need and go-no conversation.

The Exchange students

So many questions! :)

Here are the four high school exchange students' names

The four exchange students from Denmark came to share their experiences in Denmark compared to their two short weeks in North Carolina.  The fourth grade students had numerous questions for the exchange students.  The fourth graders were so engaged throughout this session!
A few common themes were:

• Everything is bigger in N.C. (cars, stores, houses, etc.)
• N.C. doesn't have as many bicycles or trains as Denmark
• Wal-Mart is enormous-Martin almost fell over when he went inside the store :)
• Most students in Denmark take a year off after high school to travel.  If students further their education at a university, the student gets paid instead of paying tuition!   Wow!
• Most of the students knew several languages-Danish, English, Swedish and German to name a few.
• Denmark has made a lot of attempts with sustainable energy (a lot of wind farms, etc.)
• School lunches in N.C. filled them up but left the exchange students feeling tired
• Denmark has numerous imports and exports due to the expansive shipping industry
• Denmark has a lot of pigs, and pork is a common meal
• The Denmark students loved the mountains in N.C.  Where they're from, the land is very flat.
• The students were sad to leave their host families and really enjoyed their stay here :)

*A special thank you to Catherine Jackson for picking up the exchange students from the high school for our interesting and informative session!

Research time!

Researching away!

"Flying" to Denmark on Google Earth

All fourth grade students took at pre-assessment on North Carolina and Denmark and the average (mean) score was 53.54 out of 100.  I asked students to help me know more about Denmark by helping me research before my trip, and they were so enthusiastic to help!  So...small groups of students were given an index card with a topic to research.  One example of a topic was, "What is the population of Denmark?"  Students had either a lap top or books (on Denmark or North Carolina) to find more information.  When students answered their topic, they wanted to do more research on Denmark and North Carolina.:)  After this research, we came together as a whole group and helped each other discuss any misunderstandings, watched a video clip (we loved the Danish national anthem!), went through a PowerPoint, "flew" to Denmark on Google Earth and completed a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast North Carolina to Denmark.  After completing our discussion, the group completed a post-assessment where the new average (mean) was 92.40 out of 100 .  I was so pleased with the growth (38.86 points) in learning about Denmark and North Carolina.  We have built our background knowledge on North Carolina and Denmark, and we are now ready for the exchange students!

Our results!  Students completed the "both" section on their own paper.

Denmark Bound...

http://i.infoplease.com/images/mdenmark.gif

I recently received the Beattie Award that allows me to travel to Denmark this June.  I will travel to schools, businesses and more!  In May, I will travel to Chapel Hill, NC to meet other teachers taking this journey and to learn more about our upcoming experiences planned in Denmark.  Before I leave, I plan to learn along with my students and compare and contrast North Carolina and Denmark.

Tomorrow, March 27th, I'm very excited to explore Denmark and North Carolina further with all the fourth grade students and teachers at our terrific school.  This is the PowerPoint presentation that we will use to guide us through our investigation.  On Wednesday, March 28th, four exchange students from Denmark will visit our fourth graders to discuss Denmark and North Carolina from their point-of-view.  Isn't that cool that we have exchange students at the high school from Denmark?  I am very excited about this eventful week, and I haven't even traveled to Denmark yet! :)