By: Dara Sborea

This week, we are exploring the Global Educator’s Toolbox. We were asked to choose the grade level where we will teach and to research and choose a tool that we feel will best fit into our own classroom one day soon.

The tool I chose to investigate is ACIS. This is an educational travel company that can bring students all over the world. While most educational travel companies simply bring students on tours, ACIS goes a step further. They immerse students in the country or countries they visit. Students tour, but they also have opportunities to participate in local events and with local populations.

ACIS was started in 1978 with the idea of immersing students in the culture of the language they are studying. I believe this is the best way to get language learners to practice what they are learning. Being surrounded by people speaking the language, as well as seeing the language all around, is the best way to truly learn a language.

ACIS has various tours throughout each country they provide educational tours and experiences in. This allows language learners to hear the language in various regions, which each have their own accents and dialects. It also enables language learners to see the culture of many regions.

In my own classroom, I plan to go on these types of trips with my students so they can practice what we learn in the classroom. While educational tours such as these are often expensive, they are actually quite economical compared to planning the same trip without an educational tour service. These trips will be open to students school-wide and even district-wide if my district allows. There is also the option through ASICS to join an already established tour, so if it happens that only a few students are able to participate, they will not have to miss out on a great opportunity. My plan is to organize fundraising events so that every student who wants to immerse themselves in the language and culture of France, or any other country, will have the chance to do so.