On March 15, I will be heading to Accra, Ghana with eleven other teachers from all over the United States. I will be visiting with the Ministry of Educationa nod staying with a host school in Sekwi Bekwi. The State Department has been kind enough not only to pay for the trip but to also allow us (the teachers) to decide how best to use this trip to improve our capabilities as educators. For anyone who knows anything about educational policy and how it gets disseminated into schools, you know that it is rare for teachers, the experts in the field, to have a say over what best practices are actually best for our kids. In short, this is a rare treat.
After months of thinking about what to do with this enormous opportunity (and being asked repeatedly why I am going to Ghana), I finally have an answer. I want to not only spread the good word about globalized curriculum and skills, but I want teachers to know how to do it should they choose to do so. In short, I want to provide a starting point for teachers who travel, host exchange students or staff, or immerse themselves in any other international exposure opportunities to know how to capitalize on that experience. This is no easy task and there is no clear answer yet. But it is evolving and morphing into something real, something good.
Stay tuned for ideas (many terrible, some hopefully good). Feel free to leave comments and suggestions. My blog is your blog.
Saturday, February 22, 2014
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Ted Williams
What is the best way to teach a kid something important?
As a high school social studies teacher (with SENIORS, no less), this is something I think a lot about. To be fair, this is loaded question. How do we determine what is important? And once that tidbit of information has been carefully selected, how do we get it through the hormonal, ADD, distracted by all things glittery and electronic brains of our youth? (No offense, kids.)
A teacher will get hit with the question, "Why do we have to learn this?" in some form or another at least 27 times a day. Prior to teaching a lesson, I always think about that question. This largely helps guide my lesson planning. Is the content part of a bigger picture? Will the skill help them succeed in their post-high school life? For the love of all things holy, will it at least help them understand some of the historical references in Forrest Gump?
Lately, the district I work for has tried to help its teachers collectively answer this question. Their response? We should be helping our students become 21st century learners. I have several concerns with this. For starters, I want my kids to be 21st century citizens, in addition to learners. Also, it is 2014- the 21st century is old news. How do I get them ready to be 22nd century citizens? Or, assuming that Ted Williams was right and cryogenic freezing is the wave of the future, 31st century citizens? Finally, how do we make our kids "21st century learners" when our classrooms are situated for the 19th century (chalk boards anyone?) and we are teaching towards a test that is largely rote memorization? Side Note- In Virginia, our state tests are called "S.O.L.s." When I first moved here from Oregon, I thought that was a joke.
So, what is the best way to teach a kid something important? What they are learning needs to be relevant and applicable to their own lives. Relevancy is one of those words that used to have meaning, but then got said out loud too many times by education policy "experts". But, there is something that is valid about making a lesson relevant. If kids understand why what they are learning matters, they will pay attention. Globalizing a curriculum helps with this because it is an avenue by which content can become more interesting and applicable to their own lives.
Globalizing curriculum also helps build essential skills for kids who will enter the work force in the next 4-10 years. We live in an international, global society and economy. Why not teach kids how to effectively communicate with people who grew up on the other side of the world because they may be selling them auto parts some day? Why not teach kids how to have difficult conversations (both written and verbal) with people who have totally different points of views and means by which to communicate because they may be diplomats in the future? Why not use the internet for more than just YouTube videos and instead link classrooms across the U.S. and the world together to learn collaboratively (who needs chalk when you have Google Plus)?
The buck is being passed on to Generation Millennial's at a rapid rate. What we choose to teach them and how we choose to teach them needs to make sense and be interesting, but it also needs to help make this world a bit smaller and more fluid. While globalizing is by no means the only solution, it is at least a feasible, concrete way to start making changes and help solve the problem of what teach kids in a futuristic way.
As a high school social studies teacher (with SENIORS, no less), this is something I think a lot about. To be fair, this is loaded question. How do we determine what is important? And once that tidbit of information has been carefully selected, how do we get it through the hormonal, ADD, distracted by all things glittery and electronic brains of our youth? (No offense, kids.)
A teacher will get hit with the question, "Why do we have to learn this?" in some form or another at least 27 times a day. Prior to teaching a lesson, I always think about that question. This largely helps guide my lesson planning. Is the content part of a bigger picture? Will the skill help them succeed in their post-high school life? For the love of all things holy, will it at least help them understand some of the historical references in Forrest Gump?
Lately, the district I work for has tried to help its teachers collectively answer this question. Their response? We should be helping our students become 21st century learners. I have several concerns with this. For starters, I want my kids to be 21st century citizens, in addition to learners. Also, it is 2014- the 21st century is old news. How do I get them ready to be 22nd century citizens? Or, assuming that Ted Williams was right and cryogenic freezing is the wave of the future, 31st century citizens? Finally, how do we make our kids "21st century learners" when our classrooms are situated for the 19th century (chalk boards anyone?) and we are teaching towards a test that is largely rote memorization? Side Note- In Virginia, our state tests are called "S.O.L.s." When I first moved here from Oregon, I thought that was a joke.
So, what is the best way to teach a kid something important? What they are learning needs to be relevant and applicable to their own lives. Relevancy is one of those words that used to have meaning, but then got said out loud too many times by education policy "experts". But, there is something that is valid about making a lesson relevant. If kids understand why what they are learning matters, they will pay attention. Globalizing a curriculum helps with this because it is an avenue by which content can become more interesting and applicable to their own lives.
Globalizing curriculum also helps build essential skills for kids who will enter the work force in the next 4-10 years. We live in an international, global society and economy. Why not teach kids how to effectively communicate with people who grew up on the other side of the world because they may be selling them auto parts some day? Why not teach kids how to have difficult conversations (both written and verbal) with people who have totally different points of views and means by which to communicate because they may be diplomats in the future? Why not use the internet for more than just YouTube videos and instead link classrooms across the U.S. and the world together to learn collaboratively (who needs chalk when you have Google Plus)?
The buck is being passed on to Generation Millennial's at a rapid rate. What we choose to teach them and how we choose to teach them needs to make sense and be interesting, but it also needs to help make this world a bit smaller and more fluid. While globalizing is by no means the only solution, it is at least a feasible, concrete way to start making changes and help solve the problem of what teach kids in a futuristic way.
Sunday, February 2, 2014
Gateway to Global
A few years back, I was sitting in a staff meeting when my former principal played this video: What is 21st Century Education. My initial thoughts? Vexed anger! How dare he show this "motivational" video that:
Fast forward a few years and now I am a fellow for the State Department's Teachers for Global Classrooms (TGC) program. Throughout this fellowship, I have developed an idea of what globalized education is, why it is (in)valuable in the 21st century, and (most importantly) how I can create and implement a successful globalized curriculum in my own classroom. The TGC program teaches pedagogy and then places educators in the field to try out and apply what they have learned throughout the year. This fellowship immediately benefits the fellow, their peers, and their students.
And now, here we are. In March, I will be going to Ghana for two weeks to practice what I preach. What will I create and implement from this experience? The answer is muddy at best, but I am confident it will unveil itself as the experience transpires. That, along with the other miles of trials I will surely have as a TGC fellow and globalized educator, will be documented in Gateway to Global.
For fellow educators who are reading this blog, I hope that you find usable ideas, suggestions, and inspiration from my experiences.
For students who are reading this blog, I hope that you feel every bit a part of this journey as if you were there with me and become inspired to do something global yourself.
For parents who are reading this blog, sorry about the language.
This world is a prodigious place. I hope to do my part to make it a little more accessible for everyone.
Thanks for reading.
- Made me feel insufficient and outdated as a teacher,
- Not give me any tools or concrete suggestions to make me a better educator.
Fast forward a few years and now I am a fellow for the State Department's Teachers for Global Classrooms (TGC) program. Throughout this fellowship, I have developed an idea of what globalized education is, why it is (in)valuable in the 21st century, and (most importantly) how I can create and implement a successful globalized curriculum in my own classroom. The TGC program teaches pedagogy and then places educators in the field to try out and apply what they have learned throughout the year. This fellowship immediately benefits the fellow, their peers, and their students.
And now, here we are. In March, I will be going to Ghana for two weeks to practice what I preach. What will I create and implement from this experience? The answer is muddy at best, but I am confident it will unveil itself as the experience transpires. That, along with the other miles of trials I will surely have as a TGC fellow and globalized educator, will be documented in Gateway to Global.
For fellow educators who are reading this blog, I hope that you find usable ideas, suggestions, and inspiration from my experiences.
For students who are reading this blog, I hope that you feel every bit a part of this journey as if you were there with me and become inspired to do something global yourself.
For parents who are reading this blog, sorry about the language.
This world is a prodigious place. I hope to do my part to make it a little more accessible for everyone.
Thanks for reading.
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