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April 9, 2009
Three Cups of Tea Curriculum Project
A group of New Hampshire educators has been collaborating on differentiated projects and lesson plans for Three Cups of Tea. I wish there was a way to somehow share the energy through the blog that is in the room when these educators are together! Watch our blog over the next few weeks as the creative ideas are shared here. We hope you find the blog to be a great resource as you teach, and that you will be inspired to share your own ideas here! This is only the beginning...
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2 comments:
For all of you who have been using Three Cups of Tea in your NH classrooms, please know that Greg Mortenson is and has been aware of your efforts and innovations and is most interested in what has been going on with you and our NH 3 Cups project!
I had the honor and the privilege of having a few minutes to meet with Greg Mortenson last week (Mar 27) and believe me, I was so happy to be able to give him the personal letters that some of you had given me.
A bit of history here......going back to late 2007, when I first had discussions with our amazing Heather Cummings about integrating 3 Cups into NH curricula by way of donating books to interested teachers....I began a correspondence with Alan Walker at Penguin Press.... who is probably our biggest "supporter" and the best friend our project could have.
After you all began using the books in your classrooms in '08 in such various and interesting ways....and with such enthusiasm, Alan asked for a synopsis of our project...to show to Greg Mortenson. I was happy to provide one. In the months that followed, I have updated Alan, mostly out of sheer pride, referred him to our blog and described many of the innovative ideas you have all brought to your classrooms. He has often commented to me that Greg was always very pleased and interested, and yes, "excited" to hear about your work.........but for me to hear the same from "Dr.Greg" himself was incredibly gratifying. I hope you feel that way as well!
The occasion of my brief "meeting" with Greg Mortenson was a small private reception held directly prior to a major fundraising luncheon at which he was the keynote speaker. This "Love of Literacy Luncheon" is held every year in West Palm Beach, to raise awareness of Palm Beach County's literacy needs and provides vital funds to support a multitude of literacy programs serving the community. "Dr. Greg"'s reputation as a New York Times bestselling author and a promoter of global education and peace drew a sold-out crowd of over 800.
Those of you who have heard "Dr. Greg" speak in MA and other venues will not be surprised to hear that his audience was on the edge of their seats through his entire talk. Again, as you would expect,he put special emphasis on the importance of service and service projects for young people. There was a group of young Americorps volunteers present and he singled them out for praise because among other things, they choose to actually "live in poverty" while performing their service,and thus have an better understanding of the lives of those they serve. Most interesting was his description of how his new middle school"young reader" version of Three Cups was created. He became quite humorous in detailing how closely he and his team listened to the comments and suggestions of "all of you " who read the adult version..."and I think we did every single thing you asked for!" As always, everything was stated in such positive terms....instead of saying ...."we listened to all your criticisms of and problems with" the adult book....it was phrased as "your suggestions and comments". It's subtle, but notable, as always.
Additionally, I would like to use this space to tell you that earlier this week I was interviewed by phone by Christiane Leitinger, Director of the Pennies for Peace program of the Central Asia Institute, as preparation for an interview she is doing with the NEA Today publication, which she tells me reaches 3.2 million readers. They are going to be doing an article about Greg Mortenson in October or November, so they asked her to contribute some information about "unique and inspiring" projects that have arisen. She chose several that she knows of....and of course our NH project made the cut. Of course!
Although Christiane warns me that she has no idea whether the information about our project will actually make it into the article,..... in part, in whole or at all .... it's nice to be asked, is it not? It was great fun to share with her some of the wonderful work done in NH
As you all continute to build your own bridges, promote cultural understanding and global awareness, and inspire your students by your own example... you have become part of something that seems to have taken on a life of its own.
This makes perfect sense to me, as, (to paraphrase Blake Allen) it is you who are the "changemakers".
Paige Oristano
Hello, my name is Paige Foulks. I have been in communication with Paige Oristano in the recent months and in order to avoid confusion, I will be posting on the blog as Victoria. I first learned about what the NH teachers were doing with “Three Cups of Tea” after stumbling upon the summer before this school year started. I was in the process of interviewing for high school teaching positions at the time and was interested in developing a unit for “Three Cups of Tea.” I was offered and accepted a position at Irvington Community High School, a charter school in Indianapolis. I received approval to teach “Three Cups of Tea” and began working. I did not get as far in the novel as I would have liked this year (snow days shortened the time I had allotted to finish the novel), but I feel like we hit the most important parts. My students gave a short presentation to the rest of the school about the book and presented “Pennies for Peace.” The students set the goal to raise $500. During this presentation, I realized how important the message of Greg Mortenson’s story is to our students. One girl asked, “Why would we ever donate money to our terrorists?” When this question arose, it was truly a “teachable moment.” Our “Pennies for Peace” drive ended at the end of February and we ended up raising $503. Every student realized just how much every penny mattered. I have recently received permission to teach the novel again next year and hold another penny drive. I am excited to continue working with this book and I have really enjoyed reading this blog and I hope to adapt some of the NH teachers’ ideas into my own classroom in Indiana. The work that you are all doing is amazing. It is truly an inspiration for a new teacher like me! Thank you!
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