This March (2018), we had the privilege to connect with children’s book author and inspiration, Lisa Thompson, http://www.lisathompsonauthor.com/. We not only learned her story, process, and inspirations behind her books, but also got a unique opportunity to learn WITH her as our Global Professional Teacher.
Many of us shared honestly that writing is not something we feel good at or feel excited to do. At the same time, many of us shared that if we felt like we were good at it, we would enjoy doing it and want to do it more. Ms. Thompson was very understanding and wanted to help us reach a new perspective.
Having the chance to share and talk WITH someone who is an expert in the field made us feel like our ideas mattered and that we have every chance to all be storytellers and writers, by looking around us for inspiration. Our librarian and global educator feels it’s important our potential is nurtured; global education allows us to do that by video conferencing with experts in every field. We become carriers of valuable information which makes up feel important. Lisa Thompson cared enough to listen to us and ask our input.
We got an opportunity to share funny things in life we have experienced, and cataloged our ideas in a visual graphic to hopefully inspire us in the future.
We even became inspired to share our ideas for writing, with each other, circulating the room to talk with our peers about what we wrote. We created unique characters, and since many of us are fans of non-fiction, we discovered how it can be intertwined with fiction writing. We were even inspired to believe that even if we don’t like writing fiction, we are still creative writers.
One student even shared an experience where he was busy playing video games and his dog got mad at him and peed on him. In this session, we laughed, thought, squirmed, wrote, and potentially became writers in the making! This is what Global Education is all about!
Watch our video to catch all the highlights and see the power of this authentic learning journey with Lisa Thompson, to whom we are super grateful!
Last year when students were learning about Jacques Cousteau and the legacy he passed onto his family (and the great work they are doing also) we came across the reality that the ocean needs our help. From then on, we have learned as much as we can about oceans, global supply chains (with everything from shrimp by catch issues to overfishing of sharks), global sea turtle endangerment, humpback whale necropsy here in Alaska, and so much in between. This week, we got to get a glimpse into conservation through one women’s journey she shares.
We were incredibly honored to get an on screen camera spot for National Geographic Explorer Classroom, with Marine Social Ecologist and Photojournalist, Shannon Switzer Swanson from San Diego, California. She is a fascinating woman in science addressing major conservation issues and resource management.
She uses different science and social science fields to understand how to protect our creatures, primarily in the water and coast lines. Also, we learned that she is a surfer. She shared with us a valuable lesson: do what you love and what is important to you. She loved water, and wanted to be able to continue spending time in the water, safely (she saw a friends get sick with bacterial infection from something happening in the ocean), so she went into a science where she can protect water and learn what exactly is going on with the water in our world.
In this session, she shared and helped us understand about global supply chains and where everything comes from, which is a large part of us understanding who we are as global citizens.
One subject that was talked about, and quite familiar for Ms. Switzer Swanson is the situation for the Blue Tang fish, popularly known as Dory from Finding Nemo. 90% of the Blue Tang fish in the world come from the Coral Triangle. Her work has largely been on sustainability in coastal communities in Southeast Asia, where the Blue Tang are located.
We were fascinated to hear her journey of discovering how many of the world’s people rely on the market of fishing (see below), in order to survive (income and primary source of nutrition). We also were shocked and saddened to discover some of the ways that fisherman meet these demands, especially with the popularity of the Blue Tang fish. She is doing major work to ensure sustainability of these fish and we are so grateful.
Learning from these amazing scientists, we too are becoming experts. We care about our oceans and experiences like this help us have the information we need to help be a part of the solution.
Lucky you, you can see our entire Virtual Field Trip experience here:
Also, if you would like to know more about the Blue Tang, check out this Smithsonian’s article. Learn more, to know more, to protect more!
In becoming global citizens, we explore cultures, customs, perspectives, and festivals of the world. This year, our first major celebration was for Chinese New Year. Over two weeks, hundreds of students explored the customs of Chinese culture and the role it plays in their everyday life.
Students engaged in a number of activities over the two week study. Learning the difference between Cantonese and Mandarin, while speaking the language was a highlight for many classes. Engaging with Tangrams and learning the history was an exciting kinesthetic learning opportunity for many. Some students took the opportunity to practice writing in Chinese, while other students embraced their zodiac character traits (and denied other traits) in engaging conversations.
On Thursday and Friday, we were so lucky to have Ellen Meiser, originally from Alaska, visit us from California, to teach us all about the many cultures and diversities of China. We had no idea there were so many differences and diversities in one country alone, just like here in the United States! Some places only grow rice, some only grow wheat, some are very warm places, while others are very cold. We learned about the difference between the lion dance and the dragon dance and we even got to learn how gunpowder was invented by the Chinese!
At the end of the presentations, students were given ancient Chinese coins for good luck and were taught to (and practiced) use chopsticks.
Many times, students made connections between global holidays and their symbolism in the various cultures (Hey, that’s what global citizens do). Students drew upon their previously developed knowledge of El Dia De Los Muertos, and considered the symbolism of the dragon between Chinese New Year and the Alebrije’s (protectors) of Mexican culture. So, I decided to honor that learning by placing the Alebrije into the Chinese New Year display and creating a card to share:
What an amazing global learning opportunity! One step closer to becoming true global citizens. From this opportunity we got to learn about some authentic, often missed, aspects to China and Chinese culture, understand the perspectives from the many regions of China, connect with someone who’s roots and family are from China, and explore many aspects of the culture, hands on! What a great week at Tudor. “Shing Nian Quy-lu”
In December, students created cards for global pen pals and in January, we sent packages to include Alaskan treats, postcards, pictures, and mementos to regions all over the world. We got our first package (from Nepal) and students were so excited to open!
Global Friends from Lincoln School in Katmandu, Nepal sent us fantastic gifts! We got to learn the colors in Nepali (the local language) See Below:
They sent pictures of their local wildlife: Bengal Tigers, Snow Leopard, the River Dolphin (called ‘sus’ in nepali), and endangered Red Panda.
We got to learn about temples located all over, colorful artwork and clothing that are local, and regions/landscapes. We even got to hold Lotka paper they sent, which is made from a plant they have locally!
Students were especially excited to check out the currency of Nepal, which is Rupees. We have learned that many places in the world use Rupees, but they are very different from country to country. The Nepali rupee are smaller than money from most places in the world.
Finally, each student got a pen pal card where they got to learn everything from what they eat, where they are originally from (many were from other countries, just like we see at our own school), and what they do for fun like play soccer and basketball! Some students even mentioned that a local activity people can do is paragliding! How Cool! Here we are, excited about all our global learning, from our friends from Katmandu, Nepal.
We look forward to the arrival of our next global package! Stay tuned
The love of Peace is so contagious. From Pakistan to Alaska to Morocco, back to Alaska, students share and spread peace, as globally connected citizens.
Through iEarn, International Education and Resource Network, we got to be a part of Global Hands for Peace. Our first school partner in Pakistan, created a Hands for Peace banner and sent it to us, which we have on display at our school.
Meanwhile, eagerly waiting for our banner, we created one for them.
We also took it one step further and created a Hands for Peace Mannequin Challenge and posted it on YouTube. Check it out, “Global Hands for Peace Mannequin Challenge”
When they got our banner, students were excited! They took pictures with our banner we sent!
We thought, why stop there, took it another step further, and decided to create a Global Hands for Peace banner for Ms. Carton to bring to share with the students in Morocco.
They really enjoyed the Global Hands for Peace banner and Project Global Peace video, and art, created by Alaskan students.
Students at the English school were even inspired by the Alaskan students’ peace art and banner and created amazing peace posters to send back to Alaska!
As we traveled south to Agadir, the Moroccan Global Hands for Peace banner made it to it’s final home, Essafa High School. Students felt heart warmed that Alaskan students created this for them.
This group of students were REALLY excited about the Global Hands for Peace project brought to them….
Moroccan students wanted to talk about Peace and share what it means to them. They created Peace art to travel back to Alaska.
In the end, the idea of Global Peace became full circle as Moroccan students created a Global Hands for Peace banner for Alaskan students.
The process of painting the hands was quite new:
We washed hands and brushes in a bucket right outside the classroom.
In the end, everybody was quite excited with the final results. The banners hung side by side, connecting morocco to Alaska through the ideas of peace.
Our painters were proud of their final banner.
Then we celebrated with Tea and cakes.
I’m so proud that this week, almost two months later, I get to present the Global Peace banner and Moroccan artwork, to Alaskan students!
Sometimes in life we are blown away by what we didn’t know but have the privilege to learn about. This week we got a chance to Skype with Adventure Sports Photographer, Michael Clark, (http://www.michaelclarkphoto.com) who captured images for Celine Cousteau’s incredible film project.
Learning about minimally contacted tribes in Brazil, their life, and their plea for help, through pictures, stories, and videos, was so powerful for these students! When the documentary is final and released, it will be life altering.
This tribe below is the most war like. They are the Jaguar tribe. If you look close, you can see how they simulate Jaguars in their bodies.
Students were fascinated by the animals of the Amazon, especially the “pets”. One tribe has poison dart frogs as pets so they can use the poison on the tip of their darts for hunting.
We were fascinated by the idea of living without money and how some tribes send a representative to the government to ask for assistance, by means of supplies. This one particular tribe was given board shorts and flip-flops for the villagers.
Students learned that Piranahs taste good, don’t attack humans unless they smell blood, and actually eat other fish. Here is a string of them below.
This group of six grade girls stayed longer to learn more, ask more questions, and see more of Michael Clark’s adventure photography. This picture below is of a village chief and his hut.
The inside of the village chief’s hut looked amazing!
We are all eagerly awaiting the release of this amazing project. To get a sneak peek was such a treasure. Thank you Michael Clark!
Recent Comments