Happenings

By Bridget Suvansri As this school year comes to a close, I can’t help but be filled with joy at the positive experiences my students and I shared. Yes, they improved their writing skills, read wonderful books, conducted research, delivered presentations, took standardized tests, and all of the rest.  And yes, all of that is worth celebrating. But what stands out the most, by far, are the moments that happened during our second Global Conversations literature course with The Anderson School in Gweru, Zimbabwe. After reading Lois Lowry’s The Giver , students explored the concept of Utopia, the impact of rules on a society, and how societies grapple with the issues.  The power in the course lies in the research and sharing of real-world issues that the students face in their local communities such as racism, gender roles, unemployment, pollution, and crime.  Ultimately, students are challenged to think about the solutions to these issues and how improvements ...

Yesterday started out as a typical school day at Eastern Middle School.  Students intently staring at iPhone screens before the bell; lots of wonderful books in hands throughout the day; kids tapping away on chromebooks in well-lit and air conditioned classrooms.   But then something extra special and different happened during the last period of the day.  We were fortunate to have two visitors from Kenya Connect come to talk with a group of 32 students who are participating in their second Level Up Village global collaboration course this year, this time with students in Africa.  We shared lots of laughs and listened to eye-opening descriptions of life for students in Kenya. Sharon Runge, Executive Director, and James Musyoka, Field Operations Manager, from Kenya Connect visited my 6th grade classroom as part of their two-week United States tour to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the organization. Sharon started out by sharing the work of Kenya Connec...

These last few weeks of 6th grade are going to be exciting!  We've started our Global Collaboration Course through Level Up Village (LUV) based on themes related to Lois Lowry's The Giver with The Anderson School in Gweru, Zimbabwe.  I wrote and piloted the course this time last year, so this is my second go-round! In addition to getting to know one another and discussing the themes of the book, students explore their own personal idea of Utopia as well as research real-world issues that we have in the United States, the effects of those issues, and possible solutions.  Meanwhile, our global partners are doing the same thing! Here's the course description from Level Up Village's website : "Students read and discuss Lois Lowry’s The Giver alongside students in a global partner classroom. Together through video letter exchange, they discuss the impact of societal rules and cultural norms on individual free will, while determining whether Lowry is presenting rea...

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 ...