One of the best things about teaching science is having it happen all around you, all the time. For Earth science in particular, what better way to learn about events like earthquakes or severe weather than for a student to experience it herself? Tragically, it always seems like there are major devastating global events happening right when I need to teach them. Students can learn the science behind the cause of the event and what effects are likely to occur on the landscape. It's important to build a student's global awareness and empathy, with the goal that we can avoid the "well, there are too many people in the world, anyway," or, "they should've known better than to live there," remarks that can make their way out during class.
Because you never know when current science events will happen (the recent earthquake in Nepal, for example), you need to be prepared to make some quick adjustments during class. There is a document that I created for current events such as this that can be used for almost any type of natural disaster, no matter how big or small. It is designed to get students on the Internet looking for reliable news sources, just like we would as adults if we wanted more information about a global event. The last question, "What can we learn from this?" looks for students to relate what is happening globally to their own lives and futures, citing evidence from what they have learned throughout their research.
Monday, May 4, 2015
Sunday, May 3, 2015
Global Literacy in English 10
Because I am linked to Global 10, I have over the years touched on Global Literacy. However, I am weak in Global Literacy, and cannot envision myself EVER "switching fluently between local and global perspectives." As Megan said, I would have to consider baby steps to be successes.
Last year, I had what I thought was a great idea for the students to advise President Obama on issues around the world as part of an "advisory team" of bloggers. Each team chose (from a list) two diverse countries in the same part of the world (e.g., China/Japan or Israel/Syria). The plan was for each group to research topics of interest to their part of the world, and report the perspectives of their two countries. I intended for them to read many articles from each country and "advise" the President through their blogs. They would be learning all about their countries and world issues, plus working on effective writing. I had hoped to have a "summit" at the end of the year, where students would "meet with the President" to discuss a current topic from the view of each country.
As is often the case, the plan turned out to need considerably more background than I planned on, and we never got past the initial stages. We spent a lot of time working on the basic information about the countries (type of government, geography, leaders' names, etc.) and never got to the meatier stuff. It wasn't as engaging as I had envisioned, and I felt I spent too much time on it for limited benefit. I did not try it again this year, but now I am feeling guilty for giving up!
If I do it again, I will use a resource Mrs. Olson shared with me, newspapermap.com, which has links to newspapers all over the world. (Even if I don't do the Presidential Advisory Blog, I will be using this resource.)
Last year, I had what I thought was a great idea for the students to advise President Obama on issues around the world as part of an "advisory team" of bloggers. Each team chose (from a list) two diverse countries in the same part of the world (e.g., China/Japan or Israel/Syria). The plan was for each group to research topics of interest to their part of the world, and report the perspectives of their two countries. I intended for them to read many articles from each country and "advise" the President through their blogs. They would be learning all about their countries and world issues, plus working on effective writing. I had hoped to have a "summit" at the end of the year, where students would "meet with the President" to discuss a current topic from the view of each country.
As is often the case, the plan turned out to need considerably more background than I planned on, and we never got past the initial stages. We spent a lot of time working on the basic information about the countries (type of government, geography, leaders' names, etc.) and never got to the meatier stuff. It wasn't as engaging as I had envisioned, and I felt I spent too much time on it for limited benefit. I did not try it again this year, but now I am feeling guilty for giving up!
If I do it again, I will use a resource Mrs. Olson shared with me, newspapermap.com, which has links to newspapers all over the world. (Even if I don't do the Presidential Advisory Blog, I will be using this resource.)
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