Preparation
When I returned from the DC training at the National Geographic Society's headquarters, my students were very curious about my trip. I'm rarely out of school so when I take three days off in the middle of a school week, they need to know where I was and what I was doing. Simply telling them about it was not enough. They needed pictures, videos, and lots of details. I decided that I needed to get organized with how I shared my journey so I made a presentation explaining everything about the Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship.
The students listened with rapt attention especially when I talked about my expedition ship, The National Geographic Explorer and the smaller zodiac boats that launch from it. This presentation came in very handy when I spoke to journalists about the fellowship. My local newspaper, The Baton Rouge Advocate, covered my story with a large article.
To maximize my students' interest, I decided to have them each do a small research project about a topic that would assist me on my expedition. I got this idea from one of the GTF alums, Karina New, whom I met at our DC training.
The kids excitedly chose topics like puffins, seals of the North Sea, Aberdeen - the city of granite, UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Antonine Wall, seasickness, and so many others. After they researched a little on their topics, they created informational posters on Canva (a digital presentation tool). Now I have a digital folder on my phone full of information that I can access about all the places and things I'll see. The students feel like my expedition partners now, and hopefully, this project invests them in the outreach work I'll do when I return.
As I near the departure date for my expedition (I'm 3 weeks out), I've been doing all kinds of preparation. I had to rent water-proof wellies (boots) for zodiac landings. I had to visit a doctor to talk about scopolamine patches and Dramamine for seasickness. I've never been seasick (even after an overnight ride on a commercial car ferry across the Mediterranean from Athens to Crete), but I've also never been on the North Sea. According to TikTok, the North Sea is trying to kill you. I've also bought some special gear like a phone lanyard so I don't accidentally drop my phone (camera) in the North Sea.
In addition, I've had to plan pre and post-expedition travel with my shipmate, Deb Frietag. We decided early that we would spend a few days traveling in Scotland before embarking on our expedition. We'll go to Glasgow to see the stunning Roman collection at the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow. My principal, Erin Howard, has already tasked me with getting "merch" with Glasgow on it since our school is named after the famous Scottish city. We'll spend one day taking tour to see the Highlands. After the expedition, I plan to spend another day in London visiting the British Museum to see Legion: Life in the Roman Army. This exhibition will end a few days after I see it so I feel so incredibly fortunate - it contains some of the most interesting Roman artefacts out there, borrowed from all over Europe. Most thrilling is the Vettweiss-Froitzheim dice tower that I've written entire Roman Technology class lessons on. I don't want to jinx it, but I truly can't wait to see this object with my own eyes!
As I wind down another exciting, but exhausting, school year, I have much to look forward to, and I'll be sharing it all here!