the global educator – Never Grow Up

Synopsis of Case Studies Within the Global Educator

The very first cast study mentioned at the end of Chapter 13 of The Global Educator was Case Study 4.1- Lucy Gray and Steve Hargadon: The Global Education Conference. According to our textbook, the conference was created by the two individuals. This conference is meant to bring together students, educators, and all different types of organizations in order to spread “cultural awareness and recognition of diversity and educational access for all” (The Global Educator, pg. 229). Ideas for the creation of said conference sparked at Edubloggercon. A gathering of educators sat together to discuss and create “a new paradigm for learning using emerging educational technologies” (The Global Educator, pg. 229). Steve Hargadon acted as the organizational leader of the group and would lead the events that would soon take place. Those who were involved in the commencement of this conference had stated that being apart of such a collaborative group of like-minded educators was exciting and refreshing. The video embedded is our Lucy Gray, one of the co-founders of this conference and she explains the conference more in-depth.

Next mentioned was Case Study 4.2- The “Learning2” Conference. Learning2 took a long time and a lot of hard work to productively come together to form what it is today. Jeff Utecht had a vision and worked hard to have others “jump on board.” Apparently, Jeff’s original ideas are still expanding to this day through the new non-profit organization status” (The Global Educator, pg. 231). Glocalization was an important step for Learning2 but also a difficult one. The original Learning2 event had helped organization and educators greatly expand their networks.

Thirdly, Case Study 4.3- Think Global School: Learning to Be Global While Living Globally. “THINK Global School (TGS) moves around the world and implements place-based learning to its fullest extent’ (The Global Educator, pg. 231). In other words, this “program” moves from place to place to help globally educate their own students. Think of it as a school on wheels! 12 teachers and approximately 60 students up and move to different environments each semester in order to broaden their learning capabilities. Also, this school is considered to be very technologically centered and each students and teacher has a Macbook, Ipad and Iphone. I thought this was the most interesting study, because it is just so unique. A school that moves each semester to a completely new place? How exactly does that work? How are kids able to up and leave their families, or do their families relocate for the semester also?

The fourth study, Case Study 4.4, is entitled Peggy George and Wesley Fryer: The K12 Online Conference. “The k12 Online Conference is a free, online, annual event and is run totally by volunteer educators” ( The Global Educator, pg. 233). I think it is totally amazing that individuals are willing to give up their free time and extend their abilities in the form of volunteer education. The events purpose is to bring individuals together so that everyone can share ideas and new modes of virtual learning. The video they had used in their conference have become popular in the educational archives of professional learning. These videos inspire discussion on ideas for future learning and teaching opportunities. The video embedded is one of the presenters who participates in the K12 Online Conference, just to give an example of the formatting of the conference and what it is like.

Next is Case Study 4.5- Our Global Friendship. “Our Global Friendship is a small virtual community of global collaborative educators” (The Global Educator, pg. 233). Its purpose is to encourage the practice of learning both with and from all the other educators in the world. Its goals are to “bring together a disparate group of educators who, through their passion and vision, design and implement global projects that often include many other educators and classrooms” (The Global Educator, pg. 233). Although this case is amazing, they had describe it are highly unique and futuristic. When reading this case study, my very first thought that that this sounds like all the other studies. They all share a common goal of bringing educators together.

For this reason, I am going to stop giving the synopsis for each Case Study, just so that it does not become overly repetitious. I highly suggest to those who have not heard of these case studies before, to check them out, either online or through the use of the Global Educator textbook. I also suggest reading the other 5 case studies, because they are all inspiring and interesting. As future educators, or if you are already an educator, I think it is our job to be highly conscious of everything that happens in the educational community.

What HASN’T Gen2108 taught me? That’s the real question..

I feel as though, as a class, we can all agree how much we have learned from taking this course. I have be introduced to ideas that never once crossed my mind. I will be honest, before taking this class, I truly question my ability to become a teacher. I never knew if I would be good at it. With the work that we do in the class, my opinion has completely changed. Each and every weekly activity we participate in, has truly helped me feel more confident as a future educator. Making presentation and lesson plans allowed me to prove to myself that I can do this! Focusing on presentations for the moment, I wanted

to mention how before this class I though PowerPoint’s were my only option. I have now learned that there are so many different directions I can go in regards to making a presentations. I can make a presentations with a voice over, I can use google slides, I can use Prezi(https://prezi.com/), Emaze(https://app.emaze.com/mypresentations), Popplet(http://popplet.com/), etc. I am positive that when I become a teacher, I will be using all of these different platforms. I learned that I can turn social media into a educational place. I love using twitter to connect with educators across the globe, and I think beyond this class I will continue to use my twitter as such.

Also, I really love our textbook because it allows us to connect with educators via their twitters or blogs. Most chapter use quotes from these individuals and then

leave their twitter handles at the end, so that we can easily follow them and connect with them. I like how our textbook uses real-life personalities rather than people that are less obtainable, meaning we would not be able to actually

par-take in discussions with them. I can easily find these people on twitter and messaged them or reply to one of their posts and 9 times out of 10 I will get an encouraging and friendly response.

Subsequently, I learned about websites like EDPuzzle, Edmodo, and Diigo. I really enjoy these websites and I think they work really well in the classroom setting. It is interesting to see us as college students using them, and then see that children much younger than us are engaged in these sites, and even adults older than us are using them as well. I find all of the sites a lot of fun to use and I know I will be using them in the future as well.

Why I love Twitter

To be frank, I never thought about Twitter as an educational application. I have always viewed the app as something for teenagers to use to vent or talk to friends, etc. In hindsight, I suppose that is exactly what we are doing! We are using our Twitters to connect, not only to our fellow classmates, but to educators and professional all over the world. At first, I was truly skeptical of how using twitter would help with this class, but I have learned much more than I expected through my twitter conversations and timeline. I learned about various different apps that can be used in the classroom. I have even given someone advice on an app to use in a special needs classroom. That is what I really like about twitter. You can give and take knowledge. Someone can share a post on something they have learned or used, and through that you can become aware of something new. You can also be the one teaching others. I think it is very unique how this Twitter was integrated into our Web Tools course because I would have never thought twitter would help me learn. I have found that Twitter is such a colorful places, full of diverse educators from around the globe.

I think the downside to Twitter, is also its upside; anyone can say (potentially) whatever they want. Twitter gets very political. As a future educators, I need to stay as professional as possible on the internet, but it is hard not to want to express my opinions that may differ from others. Looking back on the “tips slides” that we made in our google classroom, my tip was to keep your language appropriate and keep your website clean. Another tip was to stay out of controversy. One of my previous blog posts was about how a high school teacher was talking ill about her students on Facebook and how that backfired. You need to be very cautious and aware of what you post on your social media. Also, when other people post controversial things, it is important to stay classy and “clean” and not get involved. With Twitter, you just need to be very careful what you say.

One thing I learned from using Twitter in this way, is that there is such a gigantic community of educators to talk to. Everyone is conversing and sharing ideas. It is really refreshing and exciting to see such comradery on Twitter. When I follow people, they often end up reaching out to me and also they’re professionals, they are still very willing to help you or speak with you. I have gotten numerous direct messages from educators telling me that if I have any questions or concerns about my chosen field, that they would love to answer them. It is just so nice to see adults wanting to help other adults become better at what they do.

Lastly, I love participating in twitter chats with my classmates. Some of us share similar views, while other times we disagree. Everyone is extremely respectful and all speak in a very educated and appropriate way. I think using Twitter is a really good way of learning about my classmates. We all retweet and comment on different things, and through that we learn a lot about one another. Conversing with my classmates is by far the most interesting part of using Twitter because I get to learn about how they were raised and what they were taught in their classrooms. Also, I get to learn and shares ideas with them about what we want our future classrooms to be like.

How to Inspire Your Students

4315420315_2582f50aa7_m

A topic that truly sticks out to me, is the idea of inspiring students. I find it hard to feel inspired, especially in the educational setting. School nowadays is very one-toned. Everything is the same. Everything is very uniform. You show up to class and repeat a daily routine. What about this routine is inspiring? As a student, wouldn’t you be more inspired and excited to learn if you were doing something different every day? I think teachers need to realize there is no perfect way to teach. Each person is unique, and as a teacher you need to use your uniqueness to bring out the best qualities in your students. As educators, our goal is to inspire students to be the best versions of themselves. Our goal is to inspire them to reach their own goals! In the textbook “The Global Educator,” Diane (a U.S teacher) says that she aims to “inspire (her) students to change the world or to at least make a positive different” (pg. 63). Another idea to think about, is the fact that maybe the teacher is uninspired, thus causing a spiraling effect. We, as teachers, must have passion for our jobs. Children can tell when a teacher is uninterested in his or hers students educations. I’ve had plenty of teachers who could care less if their students passed or failed. In order to inspire, you must be inspired.

I found the following article extremely thought-provoking: http://www.teachthought.com/pedagogy/what-are-you-going-to-do-to-inspire-students/. This article creates a conversation. Whose fault is it when there is a lack of inspiration in the classroom? The teachers or the students. Honestly, it is both parties fault. I love how real this article is when discussing how hard it is to be an educator. Nothing is sugar coated. You will have hard days, and their will be times when all your effort goes unnoticed. Also, this article leaves the reader with some important questions. Where does one find inspiration? How does one stay inspired? Finally, how are you going to inspire your students?

Digital Tools: Edmodo

The tool I’d like to talk about is called Edmodo (eedmodo.com). In the Global Educators toolbox, located on page 26 of the Global Educator, Edmodo is displayed under the Community & Social Media category. The tools in this classification revolve around the common use of sharing blog posts, discussions and multimedia. On the Edmodo website, founders describe their site as “a global education network that helps connect all learners with the people and resources needed to reach their full potential” (edmodo.com/about). According to the textbook, Julie (a present educator) uses Edmodo for global community building. She also explains that Edmodo is “excellent …for different purposes and age groups” (The Global Educator). Edmodo the perfect website for technological learning/teaching because it can be used for assessments, as well as peer-review and writing exercising, etc.

In the linked video, a teacher from Pee Dee Elementary school discussing how she implemented Edmodo into her classroom. At one point in the video, the teacher spoke about how more shy students and student who did not like to respond began enjoying to participate when using Edmodo. She also went on to say how Edmodo really aided in creating a sense of community in her classroom. Discussions were stronger and better because children actually liked to contribute. A lot of times we see a handful of students who are quite and typically make no real offerings during class discussions, but Edmodo is able to help eliminate that. One of the interviewed students in the video said that he liked Edmodo because he is able to help other students who are struggling with whatever topic they’re discussing in class that day. Technology is extremely popular in this day and age and using it in the classroom is the smartest idea!

Edmodo’s website actually links multiple “mini-lesson plans” for teachers to use to help them integrate Edmodo into their classrooms. By visiting https://support.edmodo.com/hc/en-us/sections/200909844-Mini-Lessons, you can find over 10 short lesson plans for quick and fun activities using Edmodo! For example, the New Year/Holiday Activity (file:///C:/Users/caitd/AppData/Local/Temp/10EndofYear_HOliday-1.pdf) lesson plan uses Edmodo to engage students in online discussion. In this activity, students log on to Edmodo, joining an assigned group, and post about their academic resolutions for the New Year! The teacher can also throw in extra credit for students who actually succeed their goals! The second activity involves assigning a new group for the class and taking polls on the “best and worst moments” of the year. Again, this really helps to engage the students with one another. They can share common interest or dislikes, make friends, and all in an educational online setting!