In fostering understanding and collaborating with others worldwide, five critical concepts help connect educators globally. The five are Interconnectedness, Intercultural Competence, Sustainability, Human Rights and Social Justice, and Critical Thinking and Action. Interconnectedness is understanding the impact of global issues around the world. Intercultural competence is the ability to develop the skills necessary to communicate globally. For active worldwide changes, sustainability promotes changes for issues such as social equity and economic development. Human rights and social justice are being able to advocate effectively for global changes like human rights and equal rights worldwide. Lastly, Critical Thinking and Action can promote global challenges and allow people to take action to encourage positive changes.

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The advent calendar stood out to me because it could be used to spread awareness about different fundraisers and events people are having to spread awareness to help fight global issues like the one I focused on, which was reduce, reuse, and recycle. On the website, the calendar was used to spread awareness about how Christmas is celebrated worldwide by allowing people to add symbols to the calendar from wherever they are celebrating. An advent calendar that uses a symbol to spread awareness of how the global goal thirteen, which focuses on climate action, is being used to spread awareness and help the environment.

Accessibility tools are helpful for children with disabilities who need some assistive tools to help them succeed in their education careers. When researching accessibility tools on the Stockton Website, I realized they offered many more tools than I would have thought could cater to all different types of learners. Some software tools that stood out to me were Dragon Naturally Speaking and Read & Write. Dragon Naturally Speaking is a tool that allows students to create, format, and edit documents just by thinking about what they want to say. Read and Write helps students organize documents and files, making them accessible for students who may struggle with reading aloud, not knowing familiar words, researching topics, and proofing written work before turning in assignments. Professors and students can benefit from using this tool.  Some equipment features like Smartpens and Thunder T3 are beneficial. Smartpens are identical to pens but use Bluetooth technology to record audio and send it to a designer location. Thunder T3 minimizes the noise in the room to help focus. Note-taking apps like Audio Note allow you to record and access text, drawings, photos, and notes later.  Visual Applications like Zoom Reader can benefit children who have a vision impairment or struggle with reading by magnifying and reading printed text to children. Lastly, mindly, a writing application, can assist with organizing thoughts and ideas when planning a project, giving a speech, or taking notes in or outside of school.

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Chapter Two of Sail the & C’s textbook focused on communication. We do not think we would learn anything about it because we communicate with people daily through social media and in-person conversations. One thing I learned in chapter two is that sometimes teachers think they are over-communicating with parents to ensure everyone is on the same page. As a long-term substitute this school year, I did not know I was over-communicating with parents; I thought I was not communicating enough. I did not realize there would be a thing as over-communicating for teachers, as their goal is to keep parents informed.

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A school empowered over one thousand students with a partnership with Robotex to help children explore their STEAM passions while impacting their world.

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The International Digitial Library is a resource that allows children worldwide to access library books. On the website, you can look for books by the language you prefer, color, list, format, genre, characters, and true vs make-believe stories. Having various research tools helps you find the perfect book for you. The resource is over twenty years old and has touched the lives of fifteen million people who have spent over a million minutes reading. Unfortunately, the founders who helped the program stay alive without funds have moved on, leaving the website and the books to be used by certain people.

https://www.martinpublicseating.com/blog/the-importance-of-a-school-library-for-students

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Collaborating in the classroom is essential for teachers. Every child in the classroom learns information differently, so collaborating with your peers can lead to suggestions to reach all of the different types of learners in your classroom. You can also share educational learning apps and post online suggestions from educators worldwide to get different ideas and lessons for your school or classroom. The article discussed different collaboration methods. One that stood out to me was the walkie-talkie-type app mentioned in the article. The app allows you to communicate with friends or a large group of colleagues while teaching inside your classroom. In the app, you can create different rooms or different “channels” for different subjects. Another tool mentioned in the article was Facebook Live, which is now becoming more and more commonly used. Teachers use Facebook Live to share short clips of their classroom instruction or even their classroom setup for teachers who need tips or inspiration. The last platform mentioned was the Feedly Platform, which creates live videos, blogs, and websites that you use daily, and it keeps all of the tools in one place for easy access instead of spending time searching the web to find all the different websites you need. This article opened my eyes to the different ways teachers can collaborate, which do not involve just using and benefiting from the people inside of your school but using the web to connect with other educators who might be struggling with what you might also be working with.

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