This is going to be a quick post, just to tell you what spring is like for IEDP. One word: whirlwind! Time has been flying by, and I can’t believe there’s really only six weeks until we’re pretty much wrapped up for the semester, and seven weeks until many of us will walk in GSE’s commencement ceremony.

Spring semester (can we even call it spring – classes were cancelled for a snow day on Wednesday!) has felt different from fall. It feels busier and somewhat more challenging, but it also feels like we’re really in the groove, and working on projects that really matter. At this point, we all feel kind of like veterans, and it’s been great to have that level of comfort. Here are just a few of the things that we’ve been working on:

Curriculum Projects

About half of us are taking Dr. GK’s Curriculum and Pedagogy in International Contexts class. We have partnered with three organizations to work on real-world projects. My group has partnered with a school in Ghana, and we are working on creating a girls’ leadership curriculum for them. It’s a really great way to actually apply what we are learning about curriculum development and teacher education, not to mention become very intimate with a lot of the challenges that we can expect to face in this field…It’s hard work!

Internship Preparations

Many of the cohort has also received their internship placements, and are busy learning all they can about the cities and organizations where they will be working. This summer, there will be people in India, Germany, South Africa, Senegal, Kenya and many more locations! (Yours truly is still eagerly awaiting a placement…)

CIES Presentations

In approximately 24 hours, 26 members of the cohort will be descending on Mexico City, for the annual CIES conference. This conference is like the Oscars or something for international education – everyone who’s anyone will be there, and it’s a great networking opportunity for us all. Not to mention…Mexico City. Very persuasive. Many of us are gearing up to present about research that we’ve been doing, which is both an exciting and nerve-wracking experience. I’m doing a presentation on the importance of educational attainment in building resilience in the face of natural disasters. I’m terrified! But I know it will be a good learning experience, and look out for a guest post after CIES on how everything went.

Anyways, adios for now (practicing for Mexico) and I’ll talk to you all post-conference!