Muffy Fehr visited ancient ruins during her recent trip to Jordan. COURTESY PHOTO
Travel is the best teacher, says Iola Middle School teacher Muffy Fehr.
It?s one thing to read about world history, which Fehr teaches to sixth grade social science students, but nothing helps bring a lesson to life like actually visiting the subject of discussion.
Fehr had that chance last summer when she traveled to Jordan, the crossroads of the ancient world.
Fehr walked the same streets as the ancient Romans, surrounded by towering stone columns. She stood in an amphitheater, thousands of years old, where the acoustics are so good you can speak and be heard in the back row.
Nothing compares to wandering the desert of Wadi Rum, watching the sun set over the sand and settling down for the night in a Bedouin camp. Or standing on Mount Nebo, where Moses was believed to have seen the promised land. Floating in the Dead Sea. Designing mosaic tiles by hand.
?The country of Jordan has a unique perspective on thousands of years of history from biblical times to the present,? Fehr said. ?This region has been ruled and conquered by many of the groups we learn about in my class. Just about every single place we went was related to things I teach about.?
Muffy Fehr stayed in a Bedouin camp in the desert of Wadi Rum.
Fehr traveled to Jordan over the summer as part of a grant-sponsored trip for teachers. The program, Qatar Foundation International, provides money to help teachers travel to the Arab world, so they will develop a better understanding for the region as they teach.
She hoped the trip would give her perspective on the Middle East and ancient cultures. Her class typically covers early civilizations like those in Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, China and East Asia, Greece, Rome, West Africa, Meso-America and the Middle Ages in Europe.
?The opportunity to travel to Jordan has given me another layer of knowledge and experiences that will help me build engaging, interactive lessons for my students,? she said. ?I can speak from experience about what it is like to walk the streets of an ancient Roman city.?
