Final Preparations

Hello Pathways Participants.

We are all so excited for your arrival to the United States, to the state of Washington, and to Eastern Washington University. Feel free to contact us at any time.

Also, I want to thank each of you for introducing yourself by creating a blog site. We will use these blogs throughout the program to enhance and enrich our experiences. I ask that, before you depart your home countries, you take the time to answer the questions posed regarding factors in student learning. Your responses to these questions will help us to shape the discussions we will have throughout the program. Please answer these questions in a blog post on the site that you have created. Please title this post "Factors in Student Learning."

I hope that you are looking forward to your time here as much as we are. Please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns as you make your final preparations. Travel safely.

With anticipation,

Sean Agriss
2011 EWU Pathways Project Coordinator
sagriss@ewu.edu

Factors in Student Learning

Greetings again all,

We are in the process of finalizing our plans for the Summer Institute. To help us with this, we would like you to write a response to the questions below. Please know that this is not a test or an evaluation of you, and there are no wrong answers. We are just trying to plan the most effective program possible for your academic success—just as you will do for your future students as well. On the blog site that you created, please create a post titled "Factors in Student Learning" and answer each question there. Please complete this before you depart for the U.S.

1.  What do you think are the major factors that assist students with learning? Feel free to mention any factors that are present in the classroom, the school community itself, or outside of school as you write your answer.

2.  What do you think are the major barriers that get in the way of student learning? Again, feel free to mention any factors that are present in the classroom, the school community itself, or outside of school as you write your answer.

3.  What do you think an effective classroom looks like? What makes a classroom experience worthwhile and valuable?

Beneficial factors and barriers will be the central topics of our discussions in your classes and seminars. For now, we just want to see what your ideas are as we prepare to get started.  Thanks for your comments!

See you all soon.

Sean Agriss

2011 EWU Pathways Project Coordinator

sagriss@ewu.edu

Take a Look at Your Blogs

Thanks to all of you that set up a blog site to introduce yourselves to the group. Below is a partial list of each person's site. Please take the time to begin getting to know one another. If you have set up a blog and do not see it below, please email me the address so I can include it. If you have yet to set up a blog, please do so as soon as possible, and email the address to me so I can list it below. Thanks.


http://tltkristian.blogspot.com/
http://quatrosemanasemeia.blogspot.com/
http://www.georgina-pm.blogspot.com
http://mohammed640.blogspot.com/
http://stephaniegeoffroy.blogspot.com
http://flo-pathways.blogspot.com/
http://ewunermin.blogspot.com/
http://summereducation-daniela.blogspot.com/ 
http://mollyisnowablogger.blogspot.com/
http://summerinstitutebethaniesfirstblog.blogspot.com/2011/07/bethanies-first-ever-blog-post.html
http://mreeuu.blogspot.com/
http://sakariya-mo.blogspot.com/
http://ewu-laora.blogspot.com/
http://sarahthompson92.blogspot.com/


A couple of other notes:


1) I have received a couple of questions about the texts included on the course syllabi. You are not required to purchase the texts. We'll have those for you when you arrive.


2) When you arrive at the airport in Spokane, Washington, you will be greeted by myself and the peer mentors, and we will transport you to EWU. So that you can recognize us, we will be wearing EWU t-shirts, and we will have signs that read EWU Pathways.


We are so looking forward to your arrival. See you soon.


Sean Agriss
2011 EWU Pathways Project Coordinator
sagriss@ewu.edu