Teachers: Eat, Tour, Learn!

Summer is here. For teachers, that means feeling torn between enjoying all-too-brief time off and acquiring knowledge and skills for use in the classroom next fall. Fortunately, there are ways to combine the two, as participants in the Anoka Ramsey School District's Summer Institute have discovered.

One of the most popular offerings last year - back and expanded this year - is the History Tour. This year's focus is on immigration, according to tour leader Sara Zimowicz, a world geography teacher from Coon Rapids Middle School. Teachers will visit Swede Hollow in St. Paul to see one immigrant group's humble beginnings. Then they'll go to the Swedish Institute in Minneapolis to see how the other half lived. Lunch is on Eat Street, which reflects many of Minnesota's current immigrant populations. In the afternoon, a tour of Fort Snelling and Sibley House will introduce early European immigrants and their impact on Native American populations.

On last year's History Tour, teachers went to the Oliver Kelley Farm, learning about Minnesota's agricultural heritage, Zimowicz says.

Hooked On Stories

The teacher's experience can be the basis of student field trips during the school year. More important, Zimowicz says, "Kids get hooked on stories. When teachers go on these tours, they get stories to bring back to the classroom."

New to the Summer Institute this year is a World Geography Tour, which Zimowicz will also lead. A Somali speaker from the International Center will talk about her country's history and culture. The teachers will make and eat Somali food together. Preparing and eating foods from other cultures is also a great experience to bring into the classroom, Zimowicz says. In the afternoon, they'll go to the Hmong Center.

The History Tour helps teachers of fourth through eighth grades to translate Minnesota's 77 pages of learning objectives into concrete experiences for their students. "What's so fun about teaching social studies education is that you don't need to enroll in classes to acquire knowledge for the classroom," Zimowicz says "Just try something new!"