New Projects in the Works
Dr. Tom McGowan
June 21, 2021
After the Dominican government’s decision to allow students back into classrooms (effective June 1, 2021), Bishop Moisés Quezada adopted a more cautious approach, continuing virtual teaching/learning this summer with Episcopal colegios opening fully in the fall. The summer program will feature innovative projects that promote students’ technology, research and English language skills. Our Education Mission Team will play a major role in the development and assessment of these projects.
Teachers at roughly a dozen Episcopal schools will guide student teams as they discover more about their neighbor to the north, the United States. The series of projects, titled: Una Nacion, Grandes Estados, Estados Unidos de America (One Nation, Large States, the United States of America), culminates in a celebration of learning in mid-July. Project teams will share their “findings” in presentations that include written reports, music, artistic creations and drama. Not only will students gain knowledge about a country that influences their lives, they will enhance abilities to speak/write English, utilize technology for research and have a good time in the process.
A visual representation of the summer learning projects giving a sense of states to be examined and grade levels doing the investigating.
The summer initiative kicked-off this past week with a Zoomed planning session in which curriculum developers shared their vision for the program and responded to questions from Education Mission Team members as well as from administrators and Rectores responsible for participating schools. The meeting lasted several hours as the program design was polished and made ready to go.
Virtual meetings can follow established routines, like opening with a beautiful rendition of a well-known hymn by a marvelous singer.
Participants salute each other with a heart symbolizing caring and joy at meeting once again.
Our conversations produced a blueprint for the summer’s activities, complete with competencies for students to meet in their presentations.
Education Mission Team members stand ready to field questions and make comments for their Dominican teacher colleagues throughout the planning and preparation process. We will serve as judges at presentation time, identifying student teams whose excellent performance merits recognition.
Stay tuned for progress reports as the summer progresses! Bendiciones+