Martin has sent a report from Europe and we very much thank him for writing this up for us. Here is his email to me and also the first installment (of two) of his report:
Dear Ben,
I hope you are still enjoying your summer break. In Northern Germany, we are already in the second week of the new school year.
I include my personal report from the Agen workshop in France. Even if the queue is jammed – it would be great if you could post it soon, other participants might want to share their personal comments, too.
Have a great time! So glad your blog exists!
Martin
Workshop in Agen/France: 6th to 10th of August 2013
When Judy announced a TPRS workshop in France, organized by herself, Alike Last, Teri Wiechard, and Lynnette St. Georges, I felt at once the urgent desire to participate. I wanted to finally meet some of the people I am in contact with, and I wanted to overcome my situation as a ‘lone wolf”.
So I quickly arranged everything to be able to go there. Two of my colleagues joined in! Personally, I discovered that, more than once, a heavy burden fell off my shoulders when discovering CI. First, when I realized while reading about the theory of CI that I don’t have to do all the crappy things I used to do in my life as a teacher.
Second when I found so many people on the net willing to share their experience and help in any possible way. Third when – like now for this workshop – I finally met people striving for the same goal. It is not only the relationship with our students that is improving when using CI. It is also the relationship with our colleagues because we treat and respect one another as human beings.
So the first workshop in France finally started with 15 participants and Françoise, our great helper, three not having been able to make it in the last minute.
Judy had been able to lodge most of us in her house, in her friends’ or her students’ houses. Some went to a hotel. Agen (60,000 inhabitants) is a city with a Mediterranean flair, one hour’s drive away from the Atlantic Ocean and two from the Mediterranean Sea. Narrow lanes alternate with large boulevards, there are many historical stone buildings and monuments and a pedestrians’ zone. You can sit outside a café or restaurant in numerous places. There is also the river Garonne and the Canal du Midi to go to.