Katie Goes to Asia!

The countdown is on! In less than 2 days I will be on an airplane heading towards Bangkok, Thailand. Preparations for this trip have been a little outstanding: 1 hiking backpack for 2 months of travel, pills for diseases I've never heard of, and more sunscreen and bug spray than I have ever used in my lifetime!

Despite these few inconveniences, my excitement level is through the roof! While the idea of spending 30 hours traveling and experiencing an 11 hour time difference sounds less than ideal, I have recently found out more specific information about my time to be spent in Malaysia.

*I will be living in a town called Tanjung Malim.
*The teacher I will be working with is named Puan Yong Rafidah Buyong. ("Puan" is Malay for Mrs.)
*The school I will be placed at is called Sekolah Kebangsaan Tanjung Malim. (This is a Methodist Elementary school!)

While I am gone for my 2 month span, I hope to update you with my travels, experiences, and challenges here. I will post some pictures, but my extensive photo albums will be posted on an alternate site. Click here to see my photos! I would love to hear from my friends and family while I am gone. Here are the best ways to reach me while I am away...

*Email: kapplerk@msu.edu
*Facebook: Katie Kappler
*Post a comment or a few here on my blog!

So here is the overview of my trip:
Leave United States: June 14th, 2008
Vacation in Thailand: June 15h - July 3rd, 2008
Fly to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: July 3rd, 2008
Study Abroad Begins: July 7th, 2008
Katie Comes Home: August 14th, 2008

And in case you are curious to what exactly the point of my time spent in Malaysia will be, here are the objectives from our syllabus created by Kurnia Yahya (our program director):
• Observe, participate, and analyze the teaching/schooling experience in Malaysia
• Develop greater understanding of teacher-as-learner perspective
• Design a unit of study for teaching to be used in classrooms in the U.S.
• Write about your personal experiences in the U.S. and Malaysia as they relate to self as teacher/learner as you live and work in a different culture
• Assess student learning in relation to effectiveness of teaching
• Gain an understanding of American education through comparison of teaching experiences in the United States and Malaysia
• Increase understanding of colleagues (classmates and cooperating teacher) through teaching and living experiences in Malaysia
• Participate in collaborative teacher inquiry in class and on-site sessions
• Build an understanding of role of the teacher, from the systemic to the personal perspective, in the United States and Malaysia
• Make use of opportunities for cooperative learning, study, and shared research
• Use the residential experience as a resource for collaborative learning and for integrating social and academic life
• Examine one’s own personal history and culture and comparing to Malaysian life
On top of these objectives set for the course, my main goal is to immerse myself into a culture so unlike my own so that I may have a taste of what it feels like to be a "minority" in the classroom. I hope to grow my understanding of the world around me and make connections that I can later share in my future classrooms to emphasize the importance of diversity and acceptance of others.

Thanks for taking the time to see what I'm up to! Talk to you soon!