Traveloteacher

Split, the largest city in Dalmatia, was founded in the 3rd century when Diocletian, a Roman Emperor built himself a villa in Spalathos.  More about Split and its history here: www.visitsplit.com/en

Korcula is a medieval city surrounded with walls and situated on the eponymous island in Southern Adriatic. The streets of Korcula  resemble a fish bone: a main street with 26 side streets. The eastern streets are slightly curved, the western ones run straight, and the reason is - the breeze: during hot summer  days the streets provide an escape from the boiling hot weather, while in winter the city is protected from strong winds.  The streets are very narrow and all but one, are in fact stairways. The one that isn't is called Philisophers Street because you can safely walk up and down and be lost in your thoughts and dreams, without having to watch your step.  Marco Polo was born in one of the stone houses here in Korcula. Yes, really! A fun fact: There's more wine than water on the island. If you want to learn more about Korcula visit this excellent blog:  http://www.ikorculainfo.com/

Zadar is well known for its Sea Organ, a unique instrument made of tubes beneath marble steps and played by the sea waves. The bigger the waves, the louder the music.  Photo by Croatia.hr  Nikola Bašić, who designed the Organ, also designed the nearby Greeting to the Sun - a beautiful 22-meter circle made of 300 multi-layered glass plates that produce a unique show of lights. But Zadar is more than that: The Church of St. Donatus dates back to the 8th century. Its shape is circular and it belongs to the Pre-Romanesque period. The Silver and Gold of Zadar is another must see. Situated in St. Mary's Benedictine convent and guarded by nuns, this permanent exhibition of religious art is one of the most amazing displays of gold and silver artworks. A real treasure!

In August I was invited to give two talks and a workshop at two great events:  - a plenary: "Curricular Integration of eTwinning Projects" at the PDW eTwinning from A to Z, in Rimske Terme, Slovenia; - a plenary: "The Future Is Now" and  a workshop "eTwinning - the most exciting community for schools in Europe" at LEND International Summer School in Sirolo, Italy. Both events provided me with a wonderful opportunity to connect and network with European teachers and to attend some excellent workshop and talks delivered by expert educators. Peer learning at its best.

This past week Bart and I led a five-day course on Collaboration and Augmented Reality for the Future Classroom and Staffroom in the Future Classroom Lab in Brussels. For me this was the first time to lead a course in the most inspiring classroom in the world. Augmented and virtual reality, emerging technologies and collaborative projects are topics very dear to my heart and it was amazing to share experience, knowledge and ideas with a fantastic group of 22 teachers from 5 European countries. Here are our daily videos: DAY 1: DAY 2: DAY 3: DAY 4: DAY 5: And thanks to Stavros, we recorded our very own Augmented Reality Song:

January The second half of my Fellowship year began in New York with a short stay in a hotel a few steps from Times Square. The weather was extremely cold with temperatures in the single digits and teens (I really like the US weather lingo). But despite such low temperatures and freezing winds my stay in NYC was amazing, just as the city itself, no matter what time of year it is. This winter was fierce and long-lasting - it was only in the second half of April that it slowly gave way to spring. February In February I traveled to Washington D.C. and San Francisco, where I attended some conferences and to Nashville for a reunion with my friend Myra, who I hadn't seen for 8 years. Bart and I continued our collaboration and led the second run of our successful Augmented eTwinning Reality online course for 219 eTwinning teachers from all over Europe. March My husband arrived for Spring Break and we traveled a bit more - to Washington D.C. and Baltimore and then across the US all...

It’s been a phenomenal, once in a lifetime learning journey - my Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship. It’s been an amazing year filled with friendships for life, laughter and joy, reunions and get-togethers, cheerfulness and bliss. But it's also been quite a challenging year marked by nostalgia, lonely nights, tears, disappointments and frustration. It's been a year of determination and perseverance. And courage. And  I made it happen.