Global Collaboration: Modern Pen Pals

Video Pen-pals

Global Collaboration via Level Up Village has made an impact on my students!  It all started in the fall of 2015 on the side lines of my son's soccer game.  When I first heard about Level Up Village, I was intrigued and wanted to try it with my class!  But, at the time, LUV's offerings were related to science and technology, and since I am an English teacher, the courses didn't fit. So, the solution was to create my own course that related to literature I was using in my classroom already!  So, that's what I did!



Read "Creating Meaningful Global Connections"--the article I wrote about my first experience with Global Collaboration (and why English teachers should try it)on Edutopia.org.

The experience was so positive and contagious that Greenwich Time ran an article about it!  And, much to my surprise, when googling my name, I found that someone blogged about my article and their own experience with global collaboration.  I hope this means more and more teachers are willing to try it.

This course was such a success with my students that I wrote a second course and piloted it with my students that same year.  Check out Global Collaboration:  "The Giver" course here which helps students examine issues that the United States faces while discussing and comparing issues that their global partners face in their country. At the end of this course, we were able to Skpe with our global partners in Kenya!  Read about it here.  One of my favorite articles that showcases the impact of this global collaboration was written by Alexis Kedo after her experience teaching the course in Kenya.  Be sure to read her experience! 

Are you considering trying a global exchange?  Check out the "I am Malala" course here and even see an example exchange video!



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The World's Largest Lesson Plan: My Summer PD

Image
by Bridget Suvansri It’s common for teachers to take large chunks of their summer vacation to teach summer school, work another job, or engage in professional development.  Some teachers even do all of the above.  As one of those teachers who takes some time for PD, I want to tell you my plans. What is the World’s Largest Lesson Plan? The World’s Largest Lesson Plan “aims to introduce the Global Goals for Sustainable Development  to children and young people everywhere, and help them take action,” and I want in!   It’s an amazing and extensive set of resources to help teachers teach students about the Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs.   The Sustainable Development Goals are 17 goals to achieve 3 extraordinary things by 2030: End extreme poverty. Fight inequality and injustice. Tackle climate change. Don’t be fooled by thinking 2030 is SO FAR away!  It’s only 13 years away which means my incoming 6...
Read more

Author and Storyteller David Neilsen visits!

Image
What a treat for myself and my students! Middle Grades author David Neilsen visited our class to talk about how he gets inspired to write and what images specifically inspired him to write his two books:  Dr. Fell and the Playground of Doom and Beyond the Doors ! Being a master storyteller, David captivated students with his varied voices and surprising expressions!  The students laughed, oooed, ahhhed, and really stretched their imaginations creating stories based on some of the surprising images David presented to them.  He even wore a purple hat just like his main character, Dr. Fell. When I asked if I should have David come back next year to visit my new 6th graders, I got an emphatic "Yes!  Definitely!  He was AWESOME!" and I couldn't agree more! Check out more about David, his books, and his storytelling on his website . 
Read more

Leaving My Comfort Zone: What I Did on Summer Break

Image
In a  speech  I delivered to teachers at our convocation last year, I challenged them to do something outside of their comfort zone. Little did I know that on the last day of the school year, I would be boarding a plane to Nairobi, Kenya, to do something way out of my comfort zone. I would be “walking the walk” so to speak. I would be on a mission to help promote literacy and higher level thinking strategies to teachers in rural Kenya. Finding My Mission For many, mission trips are religious in nature or in direct response to natural disaster. For me, my mission stemmed from a global pen pal  course  I wrote and piloted. Through this course, I developed a relationship with  Kenya Connect , a non-profit group whose mission is to keep kids in school with various programs for health and education. The population they serve are generally subsistence farming families that live in extreme poverty (no electricity, no running water, no access to healthcare). In...
Read more