International Sabbatical Blog of Bruce Carver

Bienvenue-Bienvenidos-Welcome!

This Sabbatical Blog may serve as a conduit to Falmouth High School community and area colleagues, friends, and my dear family. It is meant for educational purposes to discover the modern culture and historic elements of each nation that is visited.

Please note the below itinery is a general outline noting the basic themes centered around each sabbatical excursion.

Summer, 2004 parle francais en France
June/July Biking Brittany with The Experiment in International Living (EIL)
June 23-28, 2004 Attend Brattleboro, Vermont EIL Orientation Group Leader Training
June 29-July 28, 2004 Paris and Brittany, France
Serve as EIL Group Leader to eight experimenters (program participants). Design a three day Paris City tour with a cultural orientation. Then, immerse in two weeks of homestay in Brittany followed by two weeks of biking and snorkeling across Brittany and her majestic coast. Surtout le Mont Saint Michel. Just for fun, VISIT Brittany website at www.brittany-bretagne.com
August Emerson & Dickinson's Candies, Old Orchrd Beach, playing host to the francophone Quebecoise!

Fall, 2004 mejora el espanol en la America Central
September & October, 2004 Antigua, Guatemala Language School and Homestay
November & December Tour of Central America: from as far south as the jungles of Costa Rica and as far north as Mexico City. Discover the ancient cities of the lost Aztec, Mayan and Incan civilizations. Step into the jungles and remote villages of Central America. Learn of agricultural exports among other interdependent activities between nations. Return to Portland, Maine for the holidays.

Winter, 2005 Aligning the Standards and Personal Reflection (Location To Be Announced)
January/February/March Curriculum & Assessment Development based on field collections in cooperation with Falmouth High School world language colleaues and members of the World Language Southern Maine Collaborative. Purpose: Aligning the World Language curriculum to state mandated standards (native speakers, viewing and listening for understanding). Finalize graduate school application and prepare for hike. Time dedicated to personal select readings and required advance readings per graduate program syllubus. Enroll (as necessary) in pre-requisite courses to prepare for graduate school. Edit digital images for use in curriculum development and future presenation.

Spring, 2005 fais du hiking a travers des Pyrenees -- trepa por los Pirineos
April/May/June France & Spain: Discover the Pyrenees on a centuries old prigrimage journey of personal reflection along El Camino de Santiago de Compostela (The Way of Saint James). The backpacking pilgrimage begins after a tour of the Bordeaux region in France, crossing the Pyrenees into Northwestern Spain along the Bay of Biscay into the Galicia Province.

Summer, 2005
June/July/August
Will it be Graduate school in Compostela, Spain?, or a Fulbright-Hays Comexus Summer Seminar as teacher-scholar to Costa Rica & Mexico (studying indigenous peoples)?
September--Compile selections to include in Guidance Resource Manual for the World Language & Culture enthusiast. Edit digital images for use in curriculum development and re-entry presentation.