A World of Opportunities
Diane Waldron
Eastern Connecticut State University
Exploring the resources for connecting with teachers and students in other countries was a true eye opener for me. I am left to wonder how, after seventeen years in the classroom, I have never heard of these opportunities. They are not brand new! Many were established years prior to the start of my teaching career. Granted, we did not have the classroom or school technology available that we do today, but I am amazed that I have remained so ignorant of these opportunities for so many years.
Even now, having registered on ePals, and with the imminent potential of creating cross-cultural connections with my own classes, I feel an equal mix of excitement – and anxiety. I think I would need to get permission from my principal to move forward with any of these projects; but I wonder if that permission would be granted. Our system, though generous with technological resources, can also be very cautious, particularly with protecting students and their identities.
My exploration of resources began at the techlearning.com site, specifically Silvia Tolisano’s presentation, BLC 2014 – Global Pedagogy Not Just a Project (Tolisano, 2014). Tolisano’s presentation about global literacy as collaborative learning and communication between students who live in different countries offered many ideas that are new to me. Tolisano (2014) included existing global projects like Read Around the World and Mystery Skype, and she also listed ideas classroom teachers can use, for example: using Google Maps and Google Earth, using Twitter, collaborative writing projects. I was very excited about the Google Maps and Google Earth idea, and I am planning to use both of these on Monday when I introduce the African myth Sundiata. I can project it on my Smartboard, giving students a real life understanding of the area of the world whose literature they will be studying.
The humanrights.com site inspired me to order the materials for classroom teachers. I’ve already received an e-mail from them at my work e-mail, and been asked to share how I plan to use the materials with my students, and if I would be willing to share my experiences. After reading about the possibilities in Tolisano’s presentation, I began to consider my own students. Although I teach juniors and seniors, we are a Title I school, and many of my students have had very limited experiences. Many have never left Connecticut. I think that before I try to connect my classes with a class in another country, I need to prepare them. Using the United for Human Rights materials is one place to start, though I’ll mention another later on!
The second page of the ed.gov site, Resources for Cross-cultural Interaction and Project Work again thrilled me and caused me to balk. There are so many opportunities available to take my students beyond our school, our city, our nation, and to build meaningful connections with students in other countries, but – I am going to have a chat with my principal this coming week, just to put my mind at ease. I went to kidlink.org, which I learned is in large part staffed by volunteers for the Kidlink Association, which is dedicated to promoting “global dialogue among the youth of the world” (Kidlink Global Education Projects). The Kidlink site announces ongoing projects that teachers, classes, and individuals can join, along with a library of archived projects that can be dusted off and used.
At the twice.cc site, I was disappointed to find that I had missed the registration deadline for Read Around the World (but there is always next year!). Then I clicked on the Multicultural Education Internet Resource Guide where I wished I could have all the time in the world to explore the resources available there! I went on ePals and registered for an account; then I explored everything related to Africa, as my seniors will begin a unit on African literature next week. I also noted the scholarly articles at the bottom of the page, which I will read before I propose this activity to my principal.
Then I opened the Peace Corps Bridges link. The document, which I saved into my folder for this course, provides a sequence of lesson plans that I can use to prepare my students for a cross-cultural, international online learning experience (Building bridges: A Peace Corps classroom guide to cross-cultural understanding, 2002). These are well-planned, well-written lessons which I can incorporate into my grade twelve curriculum, which has at its heart the study of world literature. What better way to celebrate world literature, than to connect with students in those countries whose literature we are studying? This was an exciting find, and one I will use, if not during this course, then during the next school year.
The WorldandI.com site, and the resources for the Diversity in America (The World and I: Diversity in America, 2016)collection are resources I can use with my junior American literature course. The question, What does it mean to be American? is a foundation of this course. The American Waves: Race, Ethnicity, and Cultural Identity collection of essays will fit seamlessly into study of what it means to be American, while also allowing students relevant experiences with informational texts. Additionally, the Travelling the Globe collection of essays will enhance the African epic and oral literature unit I am beginning with my senior students. Using Google Maps, Google Earth, the resources at the Multicultural Education Internet Resource Guide, and now the WorldandI website, I can truly immerse my students in a study not only of African literature, but of the African culture. Teaching in a school which is roughly a fifty-fifty split between African American students and Latino students, I hope to engender more interest in the literature we will study. I already know from my readings this week that there are also plentiful resources to use with studies of Middle and South American and island literature, so that I can raise similar excitement about literature from another culture dominant in the students that I teach.
In closing, this week’s readings have been a revelation for me as a classroom teacher. As I learn more about how to bring the world to my students, and how to prepare my students for an increasingly interconnected world, I hope to replace caution with confidence, and launch international communication between my classrom and another before this course comes to a close.
References
Building bridges: A Peace Corps classroom guide to cross-cultural understanding.
(2002). Retrieved January 28, 2016, from
http://permanentacces.apo.gov/websites/peacecorpsgov/www.peacecorps.gov/wws/bridges/bridges.pdf
Kidlink Global Education Projects. (n.d.). Retrieved January 30, 2016, from
http://www.kidlink.org/
The World and I: Diversity in America.(2016, January 28). Retrieved from
WorldandI.comhttp://worldandi.com/specialcollection/special-collection-diversity.asp
Tolisano, S. (2014, August 14). BLC 2014 – Global Pedagogy Not Just a Project. Retrieved
January 28, 2016, from
http://www.techlearning.com/default.aspx?tabid=100&entryid=8022#sthash.jupmU9W2.dpuf