Brittany Jones Study Abroad: Russia Spring 2013 Action Plan Video: This is a script of the electronic presentation

that I will make to share with friends, students and colleagues to show my experiences in Russia. I have included what I would like to do in the future and how my time in Russia has influenced these decisions. Each statement will be accompanied by pictures that reflect the emotion or event that inspired the words. 1. Try to change the opinion of the people of countries, such as Russia, who have had a turbulent relationship with the US in the past Throughout my time in Russia I have leaned about a new and exciting culture. A culture that has had a really turbulent relationship with the US in the past. I saw many beautiful things and many people who are unique but not so different from those in the US. I leaned just how one perspective can change the meaning behind life-events. 2. Bringing a foreign classroom closer to mine I had the amazing opportunity to work with Russian students teaching them English. I taught 7th grade, 10th grade and 11th grade. The classes had students with varying proficiencies in English. The students there were amazing and very curious about the US and other English speaking countries. I think it would be a great experience for me, my students in the U.S. and the students in Russia, to somehow find away to connect. I would like to bring the two classrooms closer together. I think that we all can learn a great deal of information and gain great insight from each other. 3. Set up a pen-pal program between Russia and US One way that I intend to do this will be to design and implement a pen-pal program to exchange letters between students in Russia and students in the US. When I mentioned something like this to my students in Russia they were very excited to have the opportunity to communicate with a real person from the US. I collected letters for them that I will then give to my students in North Carolina. I think this would be a great way to spread cultural understanding between our two cultures. 4. Bring more cultural diversity into my culture This is just one way that would encourage the spread of diversity awareness within my classroom. I feel that, as a social studies teacher in particular, it important to give students more opportunities to learn about different cultures both foreign and those closer to home. I hope to make trips and announcements about school and community cultural experiences. It would be a great way to help students understand both the cultures they are learning about and also to become aware of the fact that all around them there are different cultures being celebrated everyday. 5. Ultimately, I would like to help young people to become more open to other cultures and ideas. Being in Russia and seeing the difference in the people and the culture. I came to appreciate the difference between our two cultures and also came to recognize just what defined my own culture. I think that if more people were able to experience a different culture then our world might just be a little more peaceful. I think true understanding comes from real life experiences. I would ultimately like to create opportunities students to travel to different countries whether it be through a study abroad opportunities or as an earned trip through a program in school. 6. Also spreading tolerance and diversity awareness in my own school through a PALS Group

 While in high school I participated in group called PALS or the Peer Action Leadership Society. The focus of this group was to spread awareness and encourage tolerance in cultural diversity. I think this was a valuable experience for me and is where I took my first steps toward becoming a globalized citizen. In Russia I felt so appreciated by my students and the friends that I made there, because my unique culture was appreciated. I now better understand the importance of diversity and how important it is to accept the differences in people from different cultures. 7. I would also like to work more to make students more aware of their own history and culture Another impressive point of Russian culture is their pride and knowledge of their own history and culture. Russia has a unique history which seems to have two parts... Russian history and then there is Soviet history, and much of the history that is treasured is comes from before Soviet Times. I would like to encourage this feeling in American students about their own culture. There is tons of information about US history all around us, especially in our neck of the woods because it is the oldest part of our country (of course nothing compared to the 1100 years Pskov has build on). These resources can and should be tapped by educators to enrich our lessons and also our students lives. 8. Incorporate technology to connect with our past Just because we are talking about history doesn't mean we can't utilize new technologies. I think that the biggest challenge in Russia was the lack of technology. It really gave me a greater appreciation for the technological resources available to me on a daily basis. We can use a technologies to explore events and places outside of the classroom while never even leaving it. I think that by utilizing these technologies, even if teachers are unable to take their students physically outside the classroom, they can still take their minds to new and exciting places. 9. Encourage more foreign language in my school The most simple way to encourage the exploration of other cultures is through the learning of another language. I would like to acquire certification to teach the German Language, and eventually I would also like to be able to speak Russian as well. I think that making language more accessible to students is the first step to globalizing American students, the next step is to give it greater importance. Russian students and those in many other European countries are required to learn one or even two languages in grade school. I think this would be a great practice for American school to adopt. 10. Continue to travel and more valuable cultural experience that I can bring back to my classroom The most important thing that I think I can do for my students and myself will be to continue to travel and gain more cultural experiences. I would really enjoy teaching for longer period of time in different cultures and I think that the more experiences I have abroad will only benefit the students I teach in the US because I will be able to show them that traveling is not only a great experience, but also something very attainable for every person. The world is out there and I want my students to know that they only have to reach out and touch it!