The Global Connect Journey Continues

I've started down the global connection path.  I've read about it, and as you noted in my last post, I dipped my feet into the waters of the global classroom--a vast and exciting platform.  There are many, many tools on the web to facilitate this journey, and each educator will find the best path for his/her students with respect to their developmental stage, the standards to teach and the content units.

Emma from London kindly replied and we've created a step one for our London-Wayland exchange.  We're going to use "snail mail" for letter one which will give us a chance to observe students' writing and think about our online connection vehicle as we begin to build our classroom communities.  I also created a template (see below) for my students to use since I'm not sure what their writing skills will be like.

In exploring platforms for our London-Wayland exchange, I considered NING, Edmodo and Weebly.  I don't want to spend the money for NING--I really like NING and have one for my class, but I've already spent my tech$ this school year.  (NING does offer educators one free account which I've used.)  I opened up an Edmodo account and explored it.  We might use that, but I still haven't been able to embrace Edmodo because of its graphics yet teachers all over the world are raving about Edmodo's education use.  Then I opened up a Weebly.  One of my students used that platform last year.  It's free and it's graphically pleasing, so perhaps we'll use that.

Next, I read a little more about the ePals Celebrations and Festivals Project. ePals has outlined that project well and provided many wonderful resources for teachers.  Since my students embark on a similar grade-wide exploration in December/January.  I decided to create a Global Collaborative Google Slide Show that students and teachers from all over the world can add to.  When we get to our unit, I'll have my students add to the show.  Hopefully, students from around the world will add some interesting slides to make the show informative for all.

Finally, my oldest son will be traveling to study in Africa next semester.  I hope to connect with a classroom in the area that he'll be working in.  Perhaps Emma will join us in that connection.  I'll have to talk to my son about that.

Thanks for joining me on this global connect journey.  As always, I'm open to your suggestions and ideas as I travel this path.

Fostering Global Connections in Education

Signing up for events and experiences usually forces me to learn more at a faster rate.  I dive into the experience--it's a little frightening at times, but if I give myself room for making mistakes and tread gently, the outcome is typically terrific.

ePals prompted me to take "the pledge" that I would incorporate at least one new global project into my curriculum this year. I took the pledge, then connected with a teacher from London to begin a penpal exchange.  I hope to get involved in a multi-school, international exchange as the year moves forward.  Last year my class exchanged letters with a school in Ireland, and it was a lot of fun.  ePals facilitates global connections for teachers throughout the world.

Then, I read Steve Hargadon's invitation to participate in a global conference, and since I'm currently in the the midst of updating my "What's Your Culture" unit, an introductory fourth grade unit on the broad meaning of culture, I decided to submit a proposal.  I knew the proposal would inspire me to complete this unit preparation with greater depth, technology and research-based activity.  "What's Your Culture" lays a nice foundation for our fourth grade's later units: Native American culture, Immigration, and United States Regions.  It also connects well to our animal adaptation/endangered species project as we discuss how animals, including humans, adapt for survival, and we learn about cultural aspects that affect both the protection and endangerment of species.

Finally, last night when I sat down to chat with some of my Twitter friends after a long day of prepping the classroom and curriculum for the year ahead, Jo Hart, an Australian educator, tweeted an invite to participate in an international audio Blackboard collaborate discussion related to students and social media.  It was a great opportunity to try out this venue that I've been reading about and thinking about in a safe, friendly way.  I logged on and "jumped into the waters of innovation" again.  Jo and the other participants, some who were also new to this media, were helpful.  I was left with new knowledge, many questions, a desire to participate again and a "can't wait" attitude about having my students participate in a similar forum as I know they'll love it!  I can already imagine their eyes widening and their hands waving to share questions and comments.

Hence, a new tech journey has begun.  I am writing and sharing this with you because I know that many are wondering about and/or planning global connections for their students in the year ahead.  I also know that sometimes it can be daunting to "jump into" new realms particularly in the tech world, and I wanted to encourage your ease and availability to this potential.

I'd love to hear what you're doing in this regard. I know that teachers in the grades above me participate in similar curriculum and ventures, and I believe our elementary curriculum should complement their efforts.  Also, I know that many colleagues near and far have participated in wonderful international exchanges with schools and students throughout the globe, and I hope you'll share your links and stories with me as I develop my knowledge and skill in this area.

Thanks for listening!  Thanks for sharing!  I'll keep you updated on the projects above.

Inspirational Start to the School Year

Today, with humility, humor, reflection and metaphor, our school superintendent inspired us.  He launched the year with the question, "Is it about weather or climate?" prompting faculty to "change climate, not weather."

He sited the story of Dr. Virginia Apgar who was frustrated with unchanging infant mortality rates. After numerous attempts to alert others of this problem, she finally created a 10-point scale to rate babies, the Apgar Scale.  That scale led obstetricians to careful observation, note taking, improved approaches and targeted interventions which resulted in less infant mortality.  He drew the parallel to education and the RTI (response to intervention) approach where teachers work to help every child learn by measuring what's most important and serving children with the collective power of the professional community.

He noted that "climate is what we expect."  Essentially it's the community we create with our language, actions, goals and vision.  He assured us though that we will get weather--events that occur (good and challenging) that call us to respond with our best professional knowledge, experience, ethics and attitude.  Using the experience of airplane directions to first care for your own oxygen and safety needs in a crisis, he prompted us to care for our own needs as educators so we best serve our students.

With a quote from Michael Cunningham's book, By Nightfall, our superintendent advocated for the arts and acknowledged the "queazy balance between what we produce and what we imagine" in the classroom, and encouraged us to lead "joyful learning."

I hope our new superintendent will publish his speech--it was inspirational, thought-provoking and connected to life both in and out of the classroom.  That's the way I like to start a school year!

Where Do You Live? Concentric Circle Activity

Simple to Replicate Math Lessons that Inspire Discussion

Great Start of the School Year Activity to Get Students Talking About and Sharing Number Knowledge.  Also Nice Activity for Informal Assessment.            c Devlin 2011 

Great Activity for Intermediate Elementary Students to Complete with Primary Grade Buddies.   c Devlin 2011