Global History
During the past six years of my teaching career, I have had very diverse classes, which has opened up new learning opportunities for both the students and myself. At the beginning of my second year of teaching, I co-implemented a project called “Coins for Colegio Hope”, which was a project to support a school in Guatemala that was suffering because of the lack of resources and income. My class of first graders went around the school every morning to collect coins and spread the word of the CH community through videos that were shown through the morning announcements. This project resulted in my students collecting over $1, 200 for the teachers and students at the Colegio Hope School. My students learned how to interact with students of other cultures via Skype and became pen pals with one of the Colegio Hope students. One of my favorite moments was when my students noticed how similar the students in Guatemala were to us. This opened their eyes to the beauty of diversity and respect as it showed the students how hard others have to work in order to receive an education. The students that attended Colegio Hope explained how they viewed themselves as lucky because some of their friends and/or siblings were unable to attend school. We maintained being pen pals for several years and the kids truly enjoyed learning about and celebrating their newly found friendships.
In July 2016, a team of teachers traveled to Helsinki, Finland for a two week collections, collections, and reflections study. During this time, before traveling (four class sessions) and during traveling, our group learned a great deal about Finnish culture and education, which helped shape me into the teacher I am today. As stated in my findings, I have changed some of my classroom practices in order to create a more successful and effective learning environment using the ideas that I learned throughout my Finnish studies.
Additionally, every year I have the students complete a culture project utilizing a new digital tool. One of the most recent tools used was Lino. Lino, is an interactive cork board that allows students to collaborate with one another using virtual sticky notes. In 2016, my class was able to collaborate with a class in Sweden and teach each other about their varying cultures.
In order for my students to interact with various cultures around the world, they need to be integrated with each other, no matter how many miles, our hours, they are separated by. Integrating these activities demonstrates the importance of diversity and exposes them to global cultures in which they may be unfamiliar.
During the past six years of my teaching career, I have had very diverse classes, which has opened up new learning opportunities for both the students and myself. At the beginning of my second year of teaching, I co-implemented a project called “Coins for Colegio Hope”, which was a project to support a school in Guatemala that was suffering because of the lack of resources and income. My class of first graders went around the school every morning to collect coins and spread the word of the CH community through videos that were shown through the morning announcements. This project resulted in my students collecting over $1, 200 for the teachers and students at the Colegio Hope School. My students learned how to interact with students of other cultures via Skype and became pen pals with one of the Colegio Hope students. One of my favorite moments was when my students noticed how similar the students in Guatemala were to us. This opened their eyes to the beauty of diversity and respect as it showed the students how hard others have to work in order to receive an education. The students that attended Colegio Hope explained how they viewed themselves as lucky because some of their friends and/or siblings were unable to attend school. We maintained being pen pals for several years and the kids truly enjoyed learning about and celebrating their newly found friendships.
In July 2016, a team of teachers traveled to Helsinki, Finland for a two week collections, collections, and reflections study. During this time, before traveling (four class sessions) and during traveling, our group learned a great deal about Finnish culture and education, which helped shape me into the teacher I am today. As stated in my findings, I have changed some of my classroom practices in order to create a more successful and effective learning environment using the ideas that I learned throughout my Finnish studies.
Additionally, every year I have the students complete a culture project utilizing a new digital tool. One of the most recent tools used was Lino. Lino, is an interactive cork board that allows students to collaborate with one another using virtual sticky notes. In 2016, my class was able to collaborate with a class in Sweden and teach each other about their varying cultures.
In order for my students to interact with various cultures around the world, they need to be integrated with each other, no matter how many miles, our hours, they are separated by. Integrating these activities demonstrates the importance of diversity and exposes them to global cultures in which they may be unfamiliar.