Krulder's Odyssey

   At the Greek Independence Day parade, I met Alexander, a friendly policeman who is also studying to be a P.E. teacher. I do my best to follow the steps to a Greek traditional dance. Eleni, an incredibly kind teacher who invited me to her school's Greek Independence Day celebration. The school is full of these incredible murals. I had the good fortune to be invited to some schools in Athens on the days preceding Greek Independence Day, March 25. At one school, this included teaching a few SEL techniques and playing with some poetry with 9th, 11th, and 12th grade students - all while the school marching band practiced for the following day's performance right outside the classroom in the courtyard. The percussion and excitement for the ensuing festivities definitely tested my engagement techniques, but the student were thoughtful and insightful when discussing their ideas about the poem and fully committed to the brain break with giggles and hilarity, celebrating when they me...

  lunch in beautiful Psathopyrgos teaching a class of pre-credential students at Patras University Greek high school students working with refugees in the Youth to Youth program Over the past few months I've been on my Fubright here in Greece, I have learned that Greek schools face incredible challenges. However, in the midst of a severe lack of resources and trauma resulting from a multitude of causes, I have also seen teachers and administrators who have stepped up and created programs that support students in incredibly important ways. And while not all of them are labeled Social Emotional Learning, they are all focused on helping students connect to their teachers, classmates, and community, and the positive results are indisputable. One of the schools I visited with great anticipation was the 1st Epaggelmatiko Lykeio Peramatos, a Greek vocational high school. From a former teacher, I learned about a program that had had a profound effect on the culture of the school. Greek voc...

Chania, Crete - instead of tearing down the centuries old buildings of the old harbor, they build onto them - some sort of metaphor here . . . Still adding to my cat calendar pics - can't help it! So many photogenic little guys here! Anastassios Matsopoulos, permanently certified school psychologist since 1991 and Associate Professor of School Psychology at University of Crete. It is an understatement to say that I have a fraught relationship with research. At the risk of dating myself, I will tell you that I was introduced to research in the time of the library encyclopedia. In my 4th grade perspective, research consisted of running to the encyclopedia shelves and grabbing the A-Ce book before anybody else did so that I could write my report on Brazil. My next biggest challenge was to figure out how to rewrite the 7 paragraphs on Brazil's geography, culture, and major exports and imports without plagiarizing. What was the purpose of my research? I had no clue. My sole motivati...

  Sunrise over the Venetian lighthouse in Rethymno harbor Social emotional learning in a third grade language lesson Social emotional learning in a whole school setting The island of Crete is, quite simply, gorgeous. So far, I've had the chance to visit two of its towns: Heraklion and Rethymno, and they both have very distinctive characters. Heraklion is a bit grittier and crumbling - owing, I've learned, to earthquakes and severe German bombing during World War II. Despite this, its labyrinthine city streets, Venetian fortifications, and incredibly welcoming people made this city a pleasure to visit. Rethymno is something else. With buildings dating from the 16th century, much of it built during Venetian occupation, it has one of the best preserved old towns in Crete. Add to this delicious food, beautiful beaches, and more of the traditional Greek hospitality and you have a recipe for bliss. I am fully enjoying Greek island life. I have had the good fortune to be welcomed into...

  Apollo's Temple on the island of Aegina Quick Americano and lounge at a seaside cafe in Piraeus Recorded a podcast with the eminent John Papadakis of Owlcast radio I head to Crete this weekend, but I have been wringing every last bit out of my days here in Athens. After a weeklong spate of snow and grey days that pretty much shut the city down and cancelled all of my school visit plans for a few days, the sun finally came out again, and the city came back to life. I had my first real glances at the beautiful beaches that Greece is famous for - SO many shades of blue - and I explored more of the ancient history that's around every corner in this amazing country. I have a hard time describing the feeling of standing in a place where people stood in 447 BC, but it's like nothing I have ever experienced in the U.S.  I also have not been shy about sampling the food here. When I asked a 5th grade class that I was visiting what is the one food I shouldn't miss in Greece, the...

  Well, winter has finally hit Athens and a rare snowstorm has slowed down this lively city and cancelled school for today, sidelining my plans to visit a vocational high school and forcing me to stop and take a breath. The past few days has been a whirlwind as I've had to opportunity to sit in on some classes in another public high school, experiencing the full range of engagement and behavior, and some incredibly brilliant and caring students and teachers.  Interviews with Students Because of an impromptu field trip, I had the opportunity to sit down and interview students in small groups rather than the whole class as I have done previously. These students ranged in age from 13 to 15 and they had a lot to say about their education and what could make it better. Students varied in how much they thought the pandemic changed their school experience with some saying it is better now than it was before COVID and some saying it's more difficult. The aspects of school they love ar...

So, it's February already and I've been in Greece just a little more than two weeks. When I first arrived, I had met only my Fulbright team and a few alumni and was worried about the logistics of finding teachers and students to talk to and schools to visit. I was worried that I really didn't know how my research would work and I was worried that I really didn't have a clear picture of what I actually was trying to learn. Don't get me wrong; the excitement over going on my Fubright adventure fully outweighed the worry, but the uncertainty was unsettlling. By now, I realize my worry was fully unfounded, and I've learned to relax and even savor the chaos and messiness of research, just as I've been telling my students to do all along. In the spirit of exploration, I have accepted every invitation that has been extended to me. In the last few days, that has taken me to a fascinating coffee meeting with Chris, a retired educator responsible for creating the Spec...

  In the past few days, I have attended a workshop for Greek English Language Teachers on how to use storytelling in their classrooms, visited the Stavros Niarcos Foundation Cultural Center, and played and learned at the Emotions Museum of Athens, and I have discovered how messy and intriguing the process of real research can be. My Fulbright research project is focused on the teaching of social emotional learning - particularly through literature - and my goal is to bring back some ideas and strategies for helping our students in Paradise Unified School district to continue to heal from the Campfire wildfire tragedy and the challenges created by the COVID pandemic. I've been honestly concerned about how that would actually work, but some wise advisors have told me to trust the process and follow my interests and oh my goodness, were they right.  At the workshop, I was fortunate enough not only to hear some brilliant educators share strategies and lessons for how to incorporat...

  .                       Yesterday, I visited my first Greek school - the American Community School in Athens. It turns out the Greek school system has something somewhat comparable to our private schools, and ACS Athens is one of those. The teachers still have to follow the Greek National Curriculum - all schools do - but they have considerably more resources to do it with. I'm looking forward to visiting Greek public schools in upcoming weeks, but ACS definitely has some things in place that I can learn from.  The school's guiding principle is one of "conscious citizenship" - something that all teachers are asked to reflect in the way they deliver their curriculum. I have only had the opportunity to speak with a few teachers about it, and I'm sure I have more to learn about it - but in my understanding it is a focus on having students emerge from their education to be a better citizen in society, in the way they li...

  I've been spending my days, when I don't have Fulbright meetings, just walking up and down the streets of Athens. It's a big city, and I've only been here six days, so although I've walked for hours each day, I have so much more to explore. And there's a strange feeling that sweeps through me with the late afternoon wind that gusts through the blessedly sunny streets - up until now, I haven't been able to identify it. It's definitely wonder, and beauty, and freedom, but it's more than that. The best word I can give it is "possibility." The sheer scope of what lays ahead of me each day is breathtaking and it is giving me so much joy. In the time I've been here, I've tasted coffee from at least 10 coffee shops (I've lost count, so I'm starting to tweet short reviews with the hashtag #greekcoffee so that I can find the shops I like again). I've eaten quite a few cookies, and chocolate, and one incredibly intense scoop of ...

  After a two day marathon flight and very little sleep, I arrived last night in Athens. My Fulbright orientation is tomorrow - Tuesday - but I have a full day to adjust and explore the city around my apartment.  Last night was - disorienting - but I'm actually enjoying the feeling. Can't say that I always have. Most of my life, I've avoided situations that could be potentially confusing or uncomfortable, and here I've gone and intentionally placed myself in one and I. am. LOVING it! When I first arrived at my apartment, a little black and white cat watched me struggle to secure the key from the lock box and figure out how to get in. I'm sure I was amusing because it took me quite a while. Then, luggage stowed and family contacted, I wandered out into the night for dinner. it just so happened the first place I found was an Italian restaurant and though I felt a little silly not eating Greek food, I was hungry, so pizza it was. The next morning, though, after a 10 ho...

Alarm went off at 4 am and we were off! My wonderful husband Joe drove me to the airport and dropped me off with a smile and so much encouragement - he really is an amazing cheerleader and I don't know how I'd be heading off to Greece without him. Sitting here in the Denver airport, waiting for my connection to Munich and then to Athens, I can't help reflecting on all of the other people who have supported me in this dream endeavor. My daughters Liz and Sarah - all that they have already aspired to in their young lives - the risks they've taken and the amazing things they've achieved - they've truly helped me understand that my only limit is my capacity to try.  My incredible colleagues have also been so, so encouraging. From our wonderful superintendent Tom Taylor, who proudly introduced my project to a beaming school board to our stalwart, incredible connected administrator Christy Voigt who allowed me to work with her to try to ensure our students and staff h...

  I'd been doing pretty good with all the goodbyes until I walked into my classroom this morning and saw the sign that the staff and students at Paradise High School signed for me. We had a hygge day a few days earlier where I was able to give each of my AP Lit students a book I had picked out and inscribed for them, and that was a bit emotional, but standing there reading the well wishes of people I spend my days with brought it all home. I have made connections with the incredible humans at Paradise High that are so deep. I really felt the love this morning and I have to admit it took me a while to pull myself together. What I kept reminding student (and myself) of is that I'll be back - hopefully with some new tools to support staff and students - but definitely to carry on this work I love so much with the people I love SO much. 

My Airbnb in Athens!! Ya'll, I'm going to Greece!! In less than a month, I'll be getting on a plane to Athens to study Social Emotional learning in the Greek school system.  If you're not aware of what a Fulbright Distinguished Award in Teaching is you can check out this site , but basically, I'm being supported by the US State Department and my school district to do research abroad that will help my students. How incredible is that??? I have been a teacher for 25 years and have been teaching English at Paradise High School in Northern California for the past 20 of those. We've been through a LOT - my students survived the 2018 Campfire and then, like the rest of the nation, the subsequent trauma of COVID. We have an incredible staff at our school, but I and my colleagues found ourselves desperately looking for tools to support our students, and the national curriculum of Greece just happens to have a social emotional component. I'm heading over there for t...