Well, this has been a hell of a few weeks! (in a good way...)
First of all, last week me and my hubby we went to a community project in the north of Portugal. The main goal of the visit was to see how well we deal with life in a community and also to learn with them a few tricks of the trade. Why, you ask? Because they are a holistic learning center, that bases their activities on what the student (in this case, fully grown adults!) wants to learn.
So, while we were there we learned to prune trees - olive trees to be specific - we learned how to build walls using natural materials and we learn how to felt, using none other than the wool from the neighboring sheep.
First of all, last week me and my hubby we went to a community project in the north of Portugal. The main goal of the visit was to see how well we deal with life in a community and also to learn with them a few tricks of the trade. Why, you ask? Because they are a holistic learning center, that bases their activities on what the student (in this case, fully grown adults!) wants to learn.
So, while we were there we learned to prune trees - olive trees to be specific - we learned how to build walls using natural materials and we learn how to felt, using none other than the wool from the neighboring sheep.
This was very (VERY!) interesting for me because I got to experience first hand how it is to be back in to the learning role and to deal with all the feelings that come together with it. The excitement of learning something new, the frustration of seeing others doing so much better than you and the fulfillment of seeing your hard work paying of - even when you didn't actually get to see the end result, as it was the case with the wall building activity.
But all in all it was an extremely fulfilling experience for me, both in a personal level and in a professional one as well. To finish of the week in absolute perfection, I got to go watch a conference cycle that was being held, by sheer coincidence, in a town only twenty minutes away!
But all in all it was an extremely fulfilling experience for me, both in a personal level and in a professional one as well. To finish of the week in absolute perfection, I got to go watch a conference cycle that was being held, by sheer coincidence, in a town only twenty minutes away!
The people I met at this conference were some of the most inspiring in terms of education in Portugal and they really and truly gave me hope that someday my dream will come true. It is already coming true in some form or another and this is what's most exciting to me!
I got to meet the right arm of one of my role models in education in Portugal. His name is Filipe, he's the founder of ERES and I got to speak to him, exchange ideas with him AND get his contact to visit his project - which by the description seems to be exactly what I had envisioned for my own school in a few years time.
I also got to meet and share ideas with parents and go-getters that want to move this country forward in terms of our educational system from the outside in!
AND, the most exciting part, is that I might actually be a part of the team that will take the model of ERES and build something similar in this little town called Marvão. I am so hopeful the project comes through and becomes a reality in the near future!
To make a good week even better, when I got back home I had a meeting where I got "invited" to speak at another conference cycle that is being held in my hometown every Thursday, to talk about this project of mine, my views on education and help parents understand a little bit more of what it is we do in school with their children.
Oh, and all of this happened while I was doing an on-line course about the school that was run by my role model (Escola da Ponte) and its "twin" project in São Paulo, Brazil, Escola Projeto Âncora. I learned so much about the strategies used in both schools and the ideas that work as a foundation for both institutions that it got me even more inspired to continue with my project and visit them sometime in the near future.
As if all of this was not exciting enough already, I was deeply honored to have an email today on my inbox from the team of Projeto Âncora, inviting me to go visit them!
I am so thankful to all those who crossed my path these last couple of weeks and who keep inspiring me to dream and fight for these dreams to become a reality!
I got to meet the right arm of one of my role models in education in Portugal. His name is Filipe, he's the founder of ERES and I got to speak to him, exchange ideas with him AND get his contact to visit his project - which by the description seems to be exactly what I had envisioned for my own school in a few years time.
I also got to meet and share ideas with parents and go-getters that want to move this country forward in terms of our educational system from the outside in!
AND, the most exciting part, is that I might actually be a part of the team that will take the model of ERES and build something similar in this little town called Marvão. I am so hopeful the project comes through and becomes a reality in the near future!
To make a good week even better, when I got back home I had a meeting where I got "invited" to speak at another conference cycle that is being held in my hometown every Thursday, to talk about this project of mine, my views on education and help parents understand a little bit more of what it is we do in school with their children.
Oh, and all of this happened while I was doing an on-line course about the school that was run by my role model (Escola da Ponte) and its "twin" project in São Paulo, Brazil, Escola Projeto Âncora. I learned so much about the strategies used in both schools and the ideas that work as a foundation for both institutions that it got me even more inspired to continue with my project and visit them sometime in the near future.
As if all of this was not exciting enough already, I was deeply honored to have an email today on my inbox from the team of Projeto Âncora, inviting me to go visit them!
I am so thankful to all those who crossed my path these last couple of weeks and who keep inspiring me to dream and fight for these dreams to become a reality!