According to Richards, H., Brown, A., & Forde, T. (2007), “Teachers must create a classroom culture where all students, regardless of their cultural and linguistic background are welcomed and supported and provided with the best opportunity to learn” (p.64). What better way is there to address the diverse needs of students in the classroom than with the power of the Internet? The great gift of the Internet is that it continually and exponentially makes our world smaller. Global awareness is no longer something to seek out, it is inevitable and interwoven into the fabric of the Internet. This inescapable exposure to Global issues and concerns through the Internet inadvertently increases students’ cultural understanding and global awareness. Further Hilt (2011) contends that teachers, “now have an enormous responsibility to ensure that our students develop cultural awareness and are engaged in acts of citizenship, not only within our schools and surrounding areas, but as active members of the global community” (p.1). The 21st Century classroom is rife with opportunities to get students to think globally through such tools as: blogging, video conferencing sessions with classrooms of other nations, and rich interactive websites and streaming media exploring cultures throughout the world.
How do you take these big ideas of Global awareness and make them relevant to the first grade mind? That is the challenge I will face in my classroom. I have always wanted to collaborate with a classroom from another country via Skype or Google Hangouts. While I have not explored the best ways to connect with other first grade classrooms around the world, I suppose a good place to start would be to find an appropriate #edchat on Twitter. An ideal scenario would be to find a partnering classroom and have first grade students blog about cultural differences in a “Day in the life” style blog posting. This would be a great starting point. In the meantime, I will likely explore some of the many interactive options available on the web. A good example of this can be found on Games in Education wiki page devoted to Global issues. There are an abundance of interactive activities for students on this page. I will likely look into these options to initially expand my students’ cultural awareness. Also, I will seize the opportunity to have my students write about the cultures they explore. This is a constant focus of mine and I love pushing my first graders to write and type as much as our schedule permits. Perhaps I could take their writing about other cultures and construct a blog off of that and find a partnering classroom to comment on the accuracies or inaccuracies of my students’ perceptions about the written about cultures. Blogging, interactive websites, and streaming media are just some of the ways I see myself bringing Global and cultural awareness into my classroom. Classmates, what are some other ideas that you have to effectively get first graders to think more globally?
References
Richards, H., Brown, A., & Forde, T. (2007). Addressing Diversity in Schools: Culturally Responsive Pedagogy. Teaching Exceptional Children. Teaching Exceptional Children, Vol. 39 Issue 3(Jan/Feb2007), P64-68. 5p. Retrieved November 9, 2014, from Ebsco Host.
How do you take these big ideas of Global awareness and make them relevant to the first grade mind? That is the challenge I will face in my classroom. I have always wanted to collaborate with a classroom from another country via Skype or Google Hangouts. While I have not explored the best ways to connect with other first grade classrooms around the world, I suppose a good place to start would be to find an appropriate #edchat on Twitter. An ideal scenario would be to find a partnering classroom and have first grade students blog about cultural differences in a “Day in the life” style blog posting. This would be a great starting point. In the meantime, I will likely explore some of the many interactive options available on the web. A good example of this can be found on Games in Education wiki page devoted to Global issues. There are an abundance of interactive activities for students on this page. I will likely look into these options to initially expand my students’ cultural awareness. Also, I will seize the opportunity to have my students write about the cultures they explore. This is a constant focus of mine and I love pushing my first graders to write and type as much as our schedule permits. Perhaps I could take their writing about other cultures and construct a blog off of that and find a partnering classroom to comment on the accuracies or inaccuracies of my students’ perceptions about the written about cultures. Blogging, interactive websites, and streaming media are just some of the ways I see myself bringing Global and cultural awareness into my classroom. Classmates, what are some other ideas that you have to effectively get first graders to think more globally?
References
Richards, H., Brown, A., & Forde, T. (2007). Addressing Diversity in Schools: Culturally Responsive Pedagogy. Teaching Exceptional Children. Teaching Exceptional Children, Vol. 39 Issue 3(Jan/Feb2007), P64-68. 5p. Retrieved November 9, 2014, from Ebsco Host.