One Month Completed

Four weeks ago today, I arrived in Helsinki -- time is just flying by.

Progress
We have all the logistics done and in place for the family (apt, schools, transport, etc). It is very impressive how expeditious registering with the city, opening bank account, getting IDs, and receiving mail are already in place. There are numerous educators I have already met at the University of Helsinki, the National Board of Education, Center for International Mobility, OAJ-National Teachers Union, and the Fulbright Center. There is a common thread with each educator that I meet: they are always interested in my project and they invite me to return to share what I learn from my school visits.

Next Steps
I am networking with my advisor Heidi, my Fulbright buddy Eija, American Fulbrighters, and the teacher's union to identify schools to visit. I continue to make my classroom observation lens and interview questions more concise. I should prepare potential presentations - both about me and some mathematics from Chicago - in case the opportunity presents itself for me to teach. In early March all the Fulbright participants will present their projects at the University of Tampere. Time to start to draft the outline for next month's session. I look forward to spending more time and exchanging ideas with the other 30+ Fulbrighters currently in Finland.

My Capstone Project

For the Distinguished Fulbright Award program, each teacher proposes an action-based research project known as the Capstone Project. My project (which could be tweaked moving forward) is: Building on Best Practices of Mathematics Teaching and Learning.

The three components of the project as I visit mathematics classes:

1. What type of mathematical task(s) does the teacher assign the students?
2. How do the students discuss the mathematics as they solve the problem(s)?
3. How do the students demonstrate or represent their conceptual understanding?

Any thoughts or suggestions from you?