Newark educator to spend a year traveling the world
- Legend Elementary teacher Charlotte Turner will spend a year traveling the world.
- Turner will use the trip as a sabbatical to study the teaching strategies in other countries.
- To follow her journey%2C visit mytravelingteacher.com.
NEWARK – Charlotte Turner is passionate about teaching.
But she's also a firm believer that the more she learns about the world around her, the more information she can share with her students.
Starting July 1, she'll be combining her love of education with her interest in traveling in a big way.
A first-grade teacher at Legend Elementary School, Turner and her husband, Tim, will spend the next year traveling around the world, starting in Iceland and traveling through Europe, Asia, New Zealand, South America and Africa.
Although Charlotte expects to have fun on the trip, it's much more than a simple vacation. She's planning to use the experience for professional development.
"I'll be exploring different strategies teachers use to teach and how students learn in other places," Charlotte said. "I really want to compare the similarities and differences."
A graduate of Utica High School and Ohio State University-Newark, Charlotte took her first major trip several years ago.
She and her husband spent four weeks in southeast Asia. After that, she knew she had caught the travel bug.
The couple went on another six-week summer trip to Europe, but felt like they just barley had enough time to meet people and learn about the cultures of the places they visited.
Knowing she loved traveling, Charlotte's principal suggested she take a year-long sabbatical to travel for professional purposes.
She and Tim spent two years saving money and planning the trip.
At first, Charlotte thought about researching the ways different countries teach math. But she decided to broaden her focus to different teaching strategies for all subjects.
"I can bring it back and use it and share it with the community and the students," she said.
She created a sabbatical proposal and presented it to the Newark school board for approval in February.
She'll be on unpaid leave from the district for the 2015-16 school year, but is guaranteed a job in the school system when she returns.
She's created a website, mytravelingteacher.com, to document her adventures.
A few of the countries on their list are Estonia, Turkey, India, Vietnam, Bolivia and Panama.
The website will include a map, so students and fellow teachers can see where she is in the world and learn about that country. It also will feature a blog, which Charlotte plans to update regularly about the things she's experienced.
Students and teachers back in Newark will be able to use the blog to ask her questions, which she will research and answer.
The website will be open to anyone who wants to follow her journey, but Charlotte said she's especially hoping it can be used by Newark teachers and students in all grade levels.
She plans to keep in touch with Legend through Skype and Google Chat. She and Tim also are hoping to do podcasts and create videos featuring some of the people they meet.
"We want to have a purpose for each day," she said.
Charlotte also has been reaching out to schools in some of the countries to plan visits to their classrooms.
"I hope to be able to come back with more knowledge than I left with and bring back information about how other teachers teach and how other students learn," she said. "I'll be able to share how we can use that in Newark to be the best learners and teachers we can be."
Charlotte said her ultimate professional goal is to mentor other educators. She's hoping her trip will give her more resources to do that.
"My passion is helping other teachers learn and grow, and what better way to reach my goal?" she said.
She also hopes her experiences will inspire others to travel, both in the United States and around the world.
In the classroom, she talks to her students about setting goals and working to accomplish them.
By traveling around the world, she's hoping she'll set a good example for her students.
"I want to encourage others to dream big and have a purpose," she said.
ajeffries@newarkadvocate.com
740-328-8544
Twitter: @amsjeffries
Learn more
To follow Charlotte Turner on her trip, visit mytravelingteacher.com, starting in the beginning of July.