Scotland Preview Students Encounter Currency in Classroom Comparisons

By schwartzsa | March 29, 2011

“The most exciting part of Preview was the freedom to choose to do what I wanted or was most interested in doing while abroad,” says Elementary and Special Education major Stephanie Fell ’14 who recently returned from Scotland Preview. Teamed up with fellow honors student and Elementary Education major Ashley Booth ’14, Fell is currently finishing up a poster and presentation for the first annual Global Expo held on April 1.

To cover what they learned about the people and cultures from their Preview destination, Fell and Booth approached the unfamiliar territory through the lens of a teacher, analyzing how various locations and activities could be translated into a lesson plan for students. They made contact with St. George’s School for Girls in Edinburgh prior to leaving for Preview and arranged a time to observe two different classes.

“It is not every day that I get the chance to teach student in a different country,” says Fell. “Observing in St. George’s proved to be one of my favorite parts of my trip to Scotland not only because I got a different perspective of a classroom, but also because I got the chance to actively take part in teaching and helping the students learn while I was there.”

Fell and Booth found themselves helping third-grade students with their currency unit, which was focused on addition and subtraction.

“Honestly, mathematics was the only thing we could help the students with because we just learned the United Kingdom coins and their denominations ourselves,” says Booth. “The students really enjoyed our visit and wanted us to stay. They also loved our accents. It was a lot of fun.”

Now that they’re home, Fell and Booth are both in the process of planning their respective semesters abroad. Each hopes to study in Australia for a semester and complete a portion of their student teaching in Scotland.

“I found Preview to be an incredibly enriching experience,” says Fell. “I feel that the more students that find a deeper connection to the trip—like myself connecting it to my major—the more will have a more fulfilling time while abroad and it gives students more of a feel of what studying abroad for a semester will really be like.”

Read more about the Global Expo.