What are Global Connections? What can you do when you make Global Connections?
I have been Skyping, Blogging, using Twitter and Google Apps. I now have Google Buddies, Skyping Buddies and am always tweeting with other classes.
Why you ask?
I do all of this because I want my students to learn about the outside world. I want to see them engaged and love learning through real life examples. I want my students asking questions and think about problems that our world faces. I want them to enjoy reading, writing and mathematics by sharing with the world AND I have found the best way to do this is to open my door to the outside world and let it in through Global Connections!
Some of the projects I have been working on this year are:
Skyping Buddies with Kelly Priest (@KRPriest) and one of the teachers in her board. We have had a few Skype sessions about where we live and learned we live in the city and they live in the country. We also learned that they live in the United States in North Carolina. We hope to find out more throughout the year about our new friends. I was even asked recently to join their board meeting through Skype to talk about the amazing connections we have made.
We also had some Skype sessions with Kelly about the book The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. This was part of the Global Read Aloud which I have also been working on with Catherine Dohn and Zoe Bettess two amazing educators in Canada in Alberta and Manitoba. We also shared information on our kidblogs and each of the students got responses from their friends abroad. My students love logging on to their blogs to see their friends’ responses. I love seeing how kids enjoy writing in their blogs and then reading their friends’ responses. What a great way to teach reading and writing skills!!
I have also been working with Jonathan So (@MrSoclassroom) a teacher in Peel District School Board. We are using Google Apps to connect our classes. As my students say we are Google Buddies! We are working on some amazing projects between our classes. Some of the stuff our classes have done is used Google Docs to write the next chapter in a book. The best part of doing that was seeing my students’ faces when Jonathan’s class was typing. They asked me are you typing, so I actually had to walk away from the computer. At that moment every student was reading every line that Jonathan’s Class wrote. We tweeted out what we have done! Check it out.
We are also looking at Right to Play and our classes have sent out a survey which we are going to analyze and then compare notes as a class through Skype! Our students will also be blogging to each other through Google docs.
To hear all the amazing things we are doing Jonathan and I are going to present at the TDSB Google Camp 2.0 on November 22. It is so easy to share and collaborate with two classes and Jonathan and I are going to share each and every one of them at our presentation. We are going to share how to break down the walls and bring the outside world in. We are excited to share our journey with others and to continue our journey together.
If you want to make a global connection get out there and find a teacher to work with. Or talk to me I know so many teachers willing to join! Let’s all work together. Let’s break down the walls and bring the world into our classes. They are only a Skype, Blog or Tweet away!!
What are you waiting for?
smoskovitz 
Great post Sharon. Have to say making connections is one of the best things of having social media. If it wasn’t with connections with you and others that I have made I don’t think I would be the teacher I am today. These connections improve my learning and therefore the learning of my students. Thanks for being our Google Buddies.
Thanks Jonathan! I totally agree with you! And I love being Google Buddies with you. It is great collaborating and working with you. I am so glad we met on social media and our classes get to work together.