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In the fall of 2015, Dan went to a seminar from a visiting professor who discussed the Fulbright program.  He came home and asked me what I thought about it.  I had worked on an application in 2012, but ended up not submitting it.  At the time, K-12 teachers went on exchanges.  The teacher from another country swapped positions with you for a semester.  At the time, we decided this was too tricky.  We live 30 minutes from my job, and I travel to 4 different schools.  It would be hard to provide good support for someone at every school, even if I happened to be selected under those circumstances.

In the meantime, the program has changed.  Now US teachers travel to participating countries and research teaching methods used there while taking leave from their home schools.  Sometimes, they gather information to use to create lessons based on that country’s culture or unique background.  The bonus to this is that, under most circumstances, your family can accompany you while you are gone.

Dan and I discussed and decided to apply.  I bounced research topics off of him as we looked at which countries were available.

The available countries for 2016-17 were:

Chile
Finland
India
Mexico
Morocco
New Zealand
Palestinian Territories
Singapore
South Korea
Taiwan
United Kingdom
Vietnam

Our first cut was to knock off the ones I am not qualified for because I don’t speak Spanish and the English speaking countries.  I mean, if I’m going to travel to another country I want to learn to speak another language in the process!

Finland
India
Morocco
Palestinian Territories
Singapore
South Korea
Taiwan
Vietnam

Then we crossed off the countries that I have never had a student or it is very unlikely.

India
Morocco
Palestinian Territories
Singapore
Taiwan
Vietnam

Third, we crossed off the spring only placements and places I have already been.

So that left Morocco, Palestinian Territories, Taiwan and Vietnam.  I really wanted to do something with 2nd language writing.  I loved teaching writing as an English teacher.  I participated in the National Writing Project (NWP) site at UTA the summer before I began teaching and it made a really big difference for me.

So, looking over the type of projects that the countries requested, and thinking about places that I have had the highest number of students for that language group, I decided to apply to Morocco and the Palestinian Territories.

The application asked what I would be studying and how it would affect my teaching when I return, as well as, what impact my research would have on my district and my local area.  I submitted my application the first week of November 2015.  I really thought that would be the end of it.  All of the material states that many people apply for this and only a small percentage are chosen.  They encourage you to reapply again if you aren’t selected.

I was notified on April 5, 2016 that I have been selected to go to the Palestinian Territories for the Fall semester of 2016.  Dan will be teaching hybrid classes before we leave and while we are there.  The kids will be going to a local school while we are there.  Lots of details to still work out, but this opportunity is amazing!

Right now (summer 2016) I am working to find schools in the area that teach an advanced level of English so that they will be also teaching writing.  Also, I am looking for anyone who has done research on English writing with Arabic speaking students in the area or has an active oral history program.  Here in Mississippi, at USM, we have an active oral history center which I hope to use as a model for my research.  They have already provided a lot of resources and pointed me in the right direction.

My next step in the process is orientation in Washington D.C. August 7-10.  The Fulbright team will work with us to let us know what our expectations and requirements are. The rest of my process is, well, in process so this post is:

To be continued…