Adam and Emily K's Global Learning: The Day I was Born

Discuss your class (imaginary or otherwise):

From Flickr Creative Commons: avitomas31 

Our class is a 5th grade elementary classroom with 24 students. The students are mostly caucasian, but there are 3 African Americans, 2 Asian Americans and 1 Native American. Our class is located in Cedar Falls, IA. Most students are middle class, with a few high middle, and a few low middle. The students are all proficient in speaking and writing the English language. Our school had a computer lab open to everyone to use as well as carts with laptops for teachers to check out to use in their classrooms. Each cart contains 10 laptops. Our classroom also has a Smartboard, which is used throughout the day in instruction and for student learning.
How/why this project fits into your subject area:The project we found is titled "The Day I was Born". The basics of this project are: students are guided through the Internet to find out what was happening in the world on the day they were born. If teachers are interested, student results may be included in "The Day I Was Born Online History Book". This is an online project where students are guided to a variety of links to find out what was happening in the world on the day they were born--news, literature, music, television, etc. Students collect, record, and organize data in the form of a report. Student handouts are posted on the site and may be copied by teachers. The site contains animated graphics and audio clips. Collaboration is encouraged. The curriculum alignment for this project includes: Arts; History; Information Technology; Language; Mathematics; Science; Social Studies; Technology. Our subject area that this project fits with is mathematics. This project fits with mathematics because once students find the data needed to complete the project, and then use their math skills to record, organize,  and analyze the data in the form of a report.
What you hope to achieve:Throughout this project, we hope to achieve many things. We hope our students learn about the history of American (or whatever country they were born in) the year and day they were born. This project will also help our students with a variety of core subjects in school, such as mathematics, language arts, history, science, and social studies. A 21st century aspect to this global learning project is the use of technology to complete the project as well as collaboration throughout the project with others around the world. We also hope our students learn appropriate organizational skills when completing this project. Students will hopefully also achieve more awareness of the world around them, both past and present aspects.
What barriers do see as possibly occurring:Some barriers that could occur would be a student not knowing much about their home countries history, (for non native born Americans). Another barrier could be the technology itself. Even in today's technology centered society, there are always problems that can occur without notice; this would be a huge barrier for this project since the majority of the project and global learning in general, revolves around the use of some sort of technology.
How this might change your students' perception of the world:Hopefully, this project will change our students perception of the world in a positive way. By researching past events, students learn more about the major occurrences that formed the world we live in today. By collaborating with others around the world, they learn about the events that shaped their country, as well as learning that they are just one small piece of the "whole picture". Overall, we hope our students become more aware of the world around them, not just where they live or have visited. Becoming more culturally aware will change the students' perception of the world in a very positive way.

International Dot Day?

From: Flickr Creative Commons: Visions By Vicky

Recently, I was reading Angela Maiers' blog, and came across a post about International Dot Day.  At first, I just passed it by, not really paying attention to what I had just read. Then, it hit me, what the heck is International Dot Day, and why have I never heard of it before?!? So, this is when I deliberately decided to "continue reading" and find out about International Dot Day from Angelia Maiers. Direct from Maiers' blog post, "Every year on September 15, innovative educators around the world celebrate International Dot Day by making time to encourage their students’ creativity and genius potential. Inspired by Peter H. Reynolds treasured story, The Dot, students are encouraged to “make their mark” by starting simply with a dot and then seeing where that dot takes you." Now, this seems like a pretty cool idea to me! First of all, I strongly agree with encouraging children to express what they have learned from art and their own creativity. Second of all, the lesson integrates literature, which I also feel strongly about. Finally, children are encouraged to "make their mark", which connects to 21st century learning and Global Education (see my previous post for more on Global Education). According to Angela's blog post, "Over 350,000 educators and students have registered so far for International Dot Day and have signed up to share their stories with one another using the Skype in The Classroom Network. It is awe-inspiring to see children, teachers, leaders and entire communities representing all 50 states and spanning 6 continents join together to let one another know how much they matter to the world." This is just so amazing to me, and really gets me excited about joining such an amazing profession. Projects like these give me inspiration to be a great teacher, and innovator. Teaching and encouraging students to "make their mark" is what education and Global Education is really all about; providing experiences for students to learn from to become better 21st century learners, citizens, and creators. Terry Shay, inventor of International Dot Day created a website to inform educators, parents and students about this day and why it is important. "Every day is a good day to celebrate creativity in the classroom and all that it unlocks and unleashes for students and teachers. But since 2009, one day – September 15 -- has become a great day for teachers, students and people everywhere to re-commit and re-connect to the power and potential that creativity brings to all we do." The video below show an example of how one school incorporates International Dot Day into their curriculum. How would you use The Dot, by Peter H. Reynolds in your classroom to inspire students? 

Why Global Education?

From Flickr Creative Commons: The Dream Rocket Project

In a recent blog post from Cool Cat Teacher Blog, Global Education came up as a topic for the day. This post lead me to World Savvy, a website that defines Global Education, and the importance of it.  One quote from the website that really caught my attention is about the impact Global Education has on students. "Research show that students who learn 'about global issues are more than twice as likely to see the point of personally undertaking social action. Global learning encourages awareness and critical thought about issues such as poverty, climate change, different religions and cultures as well as world trade and politics,' and students who are educated about global issues, from multiple perspectives, are more likely to exhibit tolerance and acceptance of religious, cultural, and ethnic diversity, and demonstrate increased empathy for individuals." I want all of those qualities to be present in my classroom and the actions of my students. It takes time to help children become well-rounded students and citizens, but I think that using Global Education is a great way to instill those qualities and perspectives into students throughout their K-12 schooling. In the following video, a 6th grade teacher tells why she thinks global education is important. What would you do if your school decided to go global?



According to an article from the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, global education is: "an education perspective which arises from the fact that contemporary people live and interact in an increasingly globalised world. this makes it crucial for education to give learners the opportunity and competences to reflect and share their own point of view and role within a global, interconnected society, as well as to understand and discuss complex relationships of common social, ecological, political and economic issues, so as to derive new ways of thinking and acting. However, global education should not be presented as an approach that we may all accept uncritically, since we already know there are dilemmas, tensions, doubts and different perceptions in an education process when dealing with global issues." Using this description, I think that global education is the future of education. I want to be able to instill the foundations of global learning into my students as a future teacher. What about you, what do you like or not like about global education in the classroom?

Why do I need to learn this?

From Flickr Creative Commons: mrsdkrebs

Why do I need to learn this? This question will most likely be asked to every teacher, and as a teacher you have your typical responses; to be able to read; to be able to write; to be able to go to college; to be able to get a job. Have you ever heard a teacher answer with, "to be an innovator; to be the change in our world; or to be able to create something new"? In the blog post on 2 cents worth titled The FANTASTIC, David talks about this issue in schools. "It’s another theme that runs through much of my writing and speaking, that, 'We are, for the first time in history, preparing our children for a future that we cannot clearly describe.' The conclusion that I usually draw is that, 'The best thing we can be teaching our children, is how to teach themselves.'" I feel is it so important to remember this quote when teaching; we are teaching these students for THEIR future, not our past. "It’s why so many of my generation have so much difficulty with all this change. We don’t have WONDER. ..and without WONDER, we fall back on fear and betrayal." It is so important to teach students wonder! Below is a video from the Future Educators Association, titled A Classroom is Waiting... 



Educating the next generation is our job, which seems like such a HUGE task to me! It is kind of scary to think about all the power we have in affecting children's lives and future. I think it is important to obviously teach children the content from curriculum, but it is also equally important to teach students to respect one another, to be tolerant of others, to accept all people for who they are, to communicate effectively, and to collaborate with others. Teaching in the 21st century is very demanding, and a lot is expected from teachers, students, and all involved in education. Showing students real life connections in the classroom from day one can help eliminate the question, "why do I need to learn this?". David suggests flipping the classroom is key to teach students wonder. "But I’m not talking about just flipping when you teach and when you re-enforce. Its more fundamental than that. Ive often questioned the sense of making students learn the math and then giving them the word problems. We should, in almost all disciplines, start with the word problems, and then help our learners develop the skills and habits required to fulfill their wonder. Help them invent the math that solves the problem, invent the grammar that conveys the emotion, explore the geography and history that explains why, discover the science that fulfills the WONDER." This website gives some more background information on flipping a classroom. If you could flip your classroom, would you, and why or why not? I'll leave you with a thought provoking video. Are you ready to prepare students for their ever-changing future? 

So, what's the point of blogging anyways?

From: dougbelshaw via Flickr

Over the past few weeks, I have been reading several educational blogs suggested from the RWLD. A few that really interest me are: 2 cents worth, Cool Cat Teacher Blog, and Angela Maiers, Speaker, Educator, Writer. All three of the blogs really interest me, and I find much of what they say to be relevant to me now or as a future teacher. 

Recently, on 2 cents worth, David has been posting a lot of political-centered ideas. A quote from his most recent posting really got my attention and made me think about the foundation of education here in America, "But I got to thinking, 'Should we expect to hear substantively conversations about education from political candidates.'  They’re not educators.  They do not hold education degrees, earned from schools of education.  They do not hold post-baccalaureate degrees of education specialty like half of the teachers in the United States (49.5% in 2007-2008).¹ It’s a huge part of our problem today, that education in America has been captured and held political hostage by AMATEURS, whose message on the subject has more to do with the rhetoric that will earn them votes than deep and risk-taking conversations about the nation’s problems." I think his remarks here really hit home for educators.  I am not a "real" classroom teacher now, but I know some of my classmates are. What do you think about David's comments about politics and education? 
Cool Cat Teacher Blog gives some suggestions for tools to use when teaching lessons as well as daily education news. One thing that caught my eye was her suggestion to teach about labor unions, especially with the current education strike in Chicago right now. I also like how she incorporates the "non-traditional" holidays in her ideas for lessons. I think it is important to teach students about the cultures, religions, and holidays in America, and especially the ones that are present in the school district. I think multicultural education is a great way to integrate a variety of cultural awareness, tolerance, and respect into the classroom. What are your thoughts on multicultural education? 




Angela Maiers' recent blog post focuses on using Skype in the classroom. One quote from this post really stood out to me and made me think about the possibilities Skype holds for classroom use. "This has to be one of the most powerful experiences for students as Skype enables students to connect, collaborate, and communicate with other students across the globe. It creates an opportunity for students to learn from each other, to have authentic audiences for their work, and to meet others who can further their learning. And as I learned first hand, Skype has the power to bring awareness and action to causes that matter in the world." As we have discussed in this course, there are so many different technologies available, and as a teacher, it is up to you to distinguish between the "good" and "bad" technologies to use in your classroom. These technologies could change from year to year in my opinion, based on the students' interests, the size of the classroom, and other technologies available. What are your thoughts and opinions on using Skype in the elementary classroom?