Our last Thursday in Amherst

This morning, we listened to more colleagues. Sandra showed us how she would teach the Cold War to her students, Svitlana spoke about women's leadership, Nguyet chose the Women's Liberation Movement (this does not exist in Vietnam), Julie made a case study on Redefining success for teachers & students in low socioeconomic areas.
Then came Olima with a lesson plan on Etiquette-free America, followed by Abby who presented the Human Rights in a slideshow named "Let Freedom Sing". Jose Luis explained how he would teach Emily Dickinson's poems based on nature. Then it was my turn with my own presentation about the same poet's work in an elementary and an advanced class, comparing the poems to impressionists paintings.
Our friend Alistair surprised us with a very useful introduction on the difference between "fun" and "enjoyment" in the classroom, followed by a presentation on the organisation and powers of government in the USA.
Alphonse would inform his university students about the Democracy in America and through Cooperative Learning make them reflect upon this and compare it with the democratic system in his own country. He was very passionate about this case and I thought it very courageous of him to undertake this mission.
Larissa studied (our own dear) Amherst, a small US community and prepared several lessons about this topic.
Beatrice also chose Emily Dickinson and her poetry and analysed "Wild Nights! Wild Nights!"
Stella assembled information about Sacco &Vanzetti and we listened to Joan Baez sing "Here's to you, Nicola and Bart".
Finally, Victor showed us a presentation about Eskimos whom his own people are related to and a lesson plan to teach his students how to use internet resources. Then, he showed us some information about his home country.
Rosetta Cohen attended the session as did Jennifer Philips from the State Department.

Then it was time for a little slideshow I had prepared as a souvenir for the group and a thank-you for the staff.

In the afternoon, we went to the mall, one of the few places where the temperature is bearable thanks to the airco. Snjezana, Paola and I went to the hairdresser and it made us feel better.
In the evening, we decided to plan a pizza party at the dorm for everyone who wanted to join. We bought some drinks and the boys collected the pizzas (huge and delicious). Kaori dressed up in a summer kimono and later, when Dai arrived, he also put on a traditional costume. We were really impressed.
Stella had the fabulous idea of bringing in the cd-player and the party could start. And did we dance .... till our feet were black and the kitchen floor was shining ! Abba and Michael Jackson were our absolute favourites and the highlight of the evening was certainly the moment Victor joined in and showed us the Jakutsk dance style.
It was after midnight when we went to bed - of course our hair was ruined - but we had so much fun!