Tag: global citizens

Global learning and creating a daVinci culture

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on Global learning and creating a daVinci culture1332 views

What it is:  This week I am presenting at the Highway 21 conference that Adams 12 puts on each year.  This year the focus is on global learning.  I created websites for both of the sessions I’m doing.  While you won’t get the full effect of what I’m talking about, there are useful links and information on both sites.

Technology Globe Trotting- this session is all about making your classroom more global.  I’ve included technology that can help to make a classroom global, as well as some technology-free things that we have done at Anastasis that have made our students more global.

Searching For daVinci- in this session, we discuss what it means to be a daVinci thinker.  I pose the question: in the current school system (traditional learning), is it even possible to have another daVinci?  I set this session up as a What? So What? Now What? format where we use some design thinking to redesign our classrooms to foster more daVinci.  From my presenter page:

This session will be broken down into a What, So What, Now What format. Come ready to participate!

  • What? What is a daVinci thinker?  What characteristics did daVinci have that we want to foster in students?
  • So What? Why is this important? Does it matter if we have daVinci thinkers?
  • Now What? How do we change our classrooms to foster this type of approach to learning?

At Anastasis we know that it is hard to have a daVinci thinker without first being:

  • Inquirers- developing natural curiosity, independent learners, active (not passive) learning.
  • Connectors- transdisciplinary connectors, understanding relationships between seemingly unrelated events.
  • Communicators- comfortable in expressing ideas and information confidently and creatively.
  • Open-minded- realizing that everyone has something to contribute and we can learn something from every person and situation we come in contact with.
  • Risk Takers- willing to try something new that has unexpected outcomes.  Willing to fail fabulously.

It is essential that we foster a classroom and school environment that allows room for and actively practices all of the above.  

How can we search for daVinci within ourselves?  Is it possible to search for daVinci in our classrooms if we aren’t willing to search for daVinci within ourselves?

Tips: You can follow the conference on Twitter using the #highway21 hash tag.  You will notice that all of the sites that I created were made with Weebly.  This is a super easy website creator!  We often use it with students, too.


Read to Feed

Kelly Tenkely1 Comment on Read to Feed2765 views

 

What it is: Read to Feed is a worthy reading program to get your students involved in. Heifer International sponsors the reading project for kids. Students read book and in turn help other children around the world to be fed, proud, and learn to be self-reliant. The Read to Feed website provides students with the opportunity to take virtual journeys to other countries, play trivia games, learn about farm animals, select an animal gift that they want to earn through reading, read real stories about children around the world, do “cow-culations” with the cow calculator, and send e-postcards to family and friends. The teacher tools that Read to Feed provides are amazing. The goal of Read to Feed is global education, awareness, and action. The more books your students read, the more they help impoverished children around the world. Read to Feed provides teachers with the tools to teach about important issues like poverty and environmental degredation in a real life hands on way, challenge students to learn more about the world and its people, inspire students, promote team spirit and service learning, empower kids to be global citizens and make a real difference, and improve reading skills. The curriculum is extremely flexible and best of all, free! Resources for teachers include the Read to Feed website, leaders guide, DVD, poster, storybook, brochures, bookmarks, student rewards, and standards based curriculum based on the age group you teach.

How to integrate Read to Feed into your curriculum: Read to Feed is an absolutely amazing way to teach your students about being global citizens and helping them to become globally aware. It also makes an outstanding motivational reading program because students want to read to earn animals for other children around the world. Read to Feed curriculum is all you need to integrate Read to Feed into your reading, social studies, and even math curriculum. This is hands on learning that will make a difference in your students life as well as the lives of other children around the world.

Tips: Sign up to receive your free Read to Feed teacher resources today! You will be amazed with the quality of all of the Read to Feed materials…this makes a great tie into the Free Rice project!

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Read to Feed in your classroom!