WHY ALTAI?

This blog might be a good way to record our group project results in the 

"Siberian Culture in the Golden Altai" exchange

Department of Education's Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad (GPA) Program 

For our group of teachers and students to study Russian language and culture

in Altai region of Russia.

Fulbright Grant Information
Why Altai is the name of another website about environmental and cultural projects in the region.
Why Altai?

What Should I pack? Unpack? What will fit in these two bags?

Posing "Big Questions" is part of inquiry-based learning.

I struggled with selecting one Big Question in my coursework last year

I feel the same lack of decisiveness in this exchange.

 I have lots of questions. 

I feel like a giant  

?

Big Questions about the program:

• Why is the Altai Region an important region for Rochester/ Geneva Teachers to visit? 
• Why was the HWS grant approved and funded by the state department? 
• Why does USDOS/ BECA want to expand knowledge of Russia in schools of our NY area? 
• Why is it exchange? What do we give back? (small thinking or big picture thinking)

Big Questions for personal growth:

• Why do I want to do another exchange in Russia? 
• Is this like going backwards or am I really expanding regional expertise? 
• How can I make this growth rather than nostaligia for my Peace Corps experience? 
• How can I tap into the nostalgia and my existing schema to grow my understanding of Russia and this region and to add depth to my reflections?

Research Questions- These should be answerable, achievable withing the given time or resources and contextually meaningful to the learners. As group participants, we have all been asked to come up with some topics that we can gather information about during our exchange and present about to the group at the end. Stuff we like to know about. Our audience will include our language instructors and guides. Maybe even our neighbors or cooks. Two of us are expected to present in the target language. Maybe that will turn into a video, for laughs.

Next I will share the list of topics we are all interested researching, these are called our expert areas.