Below should be my words from todays journey, specifically our visit to Track 17: “Today was the start of a heavier part of our journey in Germany. One of the spaces we visited was Track 17, one of the main train tracks…
This trip to Germany didn’t feel real to me until I arrived at the airport on Sunday evening. It didn’t feel real until I saw my friends, Sara and Emily, surrounded by their luggage trying to get organized. When my friends, absolutely…
Garrette and I are safely home from our Vienna Prague Seminar and want to express our gratitude to Classrooms Without Borders and the amazing group of educators with whom we shared the experience. We also want to thank those of you who…
Every educator, no matter their subject, comes into their profession with the crude outline of a puzzle. There are pieces missing along the border and some sporadic pieces in the middle, but most of it is empty space. As we grow in…
Part 1 ‘Teaching History with Human Connections’Teaching history, we often get caught up in the facts (events, places, etc.). We can make the biggest impact with the memorable stories of ordinary people in extraordinary situations. These personal struggles are often what our…
Today’s most impactful visit was the train station memorials. Seeing the imprints of the hands of adults and children along with the statue of a man with 2 children hit me hard. I cannot imagine the desperation the parents and children must…
Their names are listed on the wall or on stones in the ground, on memorials or written in books. In the silence, you can hear their screams for justice, for peace. Their stories are seared into my memory and inscribed upon my…
When I first applied for the CWB Vienna- Prague 2023 teacher study tour, I wrote how I hoped we would be able to travel to Lidice, knowing that it was within driving distance of Prague and Terezín, places that were confirmed destinations…
As an English teacher, I deeply value books and the written word. Books teach us about people and things we may not otherwise ever be able to encounter. Today, standing in the Strahov Monastery Library (an experience only possible with CWB), I…
After an afternoon in Česky Krumlov, we arrived in Prague. It’s been ten years since I first studied with CWB here and 20 years since I first visited as a graduate student. As a few teachers and I walked along the river…
In Vienna’s heart, a tragic tale unfolds,A chapter etched in history’s pages, untold.Amidst the grandeur of its streets so fair,Lies a sorrowful past, a burden to bear. Once a hub of culture, vibrant and alive,Vienna, oh Vienna, where did your innocence thrive?But…
One thing I learned that will change my teaching immediately is that Austria was not taken over but joined Germany before the war. As our guides explained, right after the war Austria was called Hitler’s first victim. Even though this wasn’t true,…