the duffel
In 2024, I’m going to instill a sense of wanderlust in my students. I recently began residency at a middle school. While interviewing for this position I mentioned that one of my students in China was looking into boarding schools in England. One of the interviewers, another counselor, said, “well that’s great, but it’s not like our students can just pick up and go to school in England.” It’s been three months, and her words are still ringing in my ear.
Why not? Why can’t my students go to school in England? I did. Yes, I understand that opportunities like that are often given to those with privilege. But I found that the most impactful form of privilege to have is knowledge. You cannot do anything without first knowing about it.
That is my goal for these students in 2024. I want to show them that there are endless possibilities, and the only limitation is their imagination. (I understand that there will be many trials and obstacles and that as people of color, they’ll face many more.) I want them to know that studying in England is a possibility. Moving to Asia for work is a possibility. Becoming CEO of a Forbes 500 company is a possibility. Traveling to the seven wanders or to every country is a possibility. (Heck, I want to do both.) Providing for their families is a possibility.
The first thing I did to start this process was buying a world map. (I know what you’re thinking. So basic. Every teacher has a map in their classroom. But hear me out.) Every time a student comes into my classroom now, they need to point to a country on the map and find its flag. It’s just a small thing that will hopefully get them thinking about how absolutely vast Earth is. (I posted about this on Tiktok, YouTube, and Instagram.)
The next thing I set up was Duolingo classrooms. I gave them the choice between six languages: Chinese, French, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, and Swahili. I wanted a decent mix of languages for them to choose from. Duolingo classroom is so simple to use as well. I can set the number of Experience Points I want them to earn during the week and I’m able to keep track of who has what.
To incentivize them to participate, I set up a challenge. Whoever has the most XP earned for each language gets a laptop. So, yes, I’m giving away six laptops. But I have so many students signed up for each language, and some students have signed up for multiple.
Each month we’ll have sessions to learn about countries that speak the chosen language. We’ll focus on culture, history, sports, and of course, education opportunities. At the end of the school year, we’ll hold an event featuring food from each country that we study.
Okay, so this has turned into a lesson planning chat. I find these initiatives so important. I didn’t know that Tourism was something that you could major in until I received a brochure in my university mailbox about a Dark Tourism and Extreme Topics as a class. I was unaware that you could move to another country and complete a degree until my professor told me that she did it. I didn’t realize that you could move to China to teach, and actually build a community of friends and family until I stumbled upon a job posting online. I have been fortunately enough to have these drops of insight and knowledge sprinkled throughout my life. I want to drop knowledge and possibly get someone thinking about what could be.
Maybe one of my students will earn an education degree and move abroad. Maybe one of them will study Italian and do a semester in Rome. Maybe one of them will become the next French Chef or become Africa’s next travel influencer. The possibilities are endless. Be sure to check out other the duffel articles here.
As ever,
Angelique Michelle
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