40 Ways to Teach About Global Education and Empower Globally Competent Youth

In our increasingly connected world and global economy, it is more important than ever to equip and empower youth with the skills and knowledge to be globally competent. They need to be taught how to learn about, communicate with and take part in their local, national and global communities.

Successful high school graduates should be able to demonstrate excellent communication skills, empathy, critical media literacy, cultural sensitivity and collaboration. They should have an understanding of the history of their own cultures and the world. They should know how to effectively use maps, charts and graphs to learn information about geography. They should be eager to share their stories and learn the stories of others, with open hearts and minds.

How can you empower youth with global competencies?

Share Enlightening, Inspiring Content

• The video above describes what the world would look like if it was made up of 100 people. It's a great starting point for discussion about global inequities. There are further statistics, videos and lesson plans and information about The 100 People Project available online. 
• This Child Every Child - a book containing many more statistics that compare the lives of children around the world. 
• Jenny Buccos is an amazing human being and her Project Explorer inspired a whole lot of great learning for EPCOT class last year. She is leading a mission of creating 10 million globally competent youth by 2020. The free videos on her website are helping to do just that.

Connect Your Class With Other Classes

• One of the most powerful ways for kids to learn is from other kids. If you can, connect your students with students from around the world.
• Skype in the Classroom helps you connect with other classes, experts and virtual field trips. If you haven't tried a Mystery Skype yet, you have to sign up!
• The Global Read Aloud, run by my incredible friend, Pernille, unites classrooms around the world, as they read the same book (there are choices based on student age) every fall. 
• Connect with Pen Pals. Start with reading the book Same Same But Different and brainstorm ways you and your students can find Pen Pals (Snail Mail or digital)

Participate in Global Initiatives

• In October, Stand Up for Girls. Learn about why so many girls around the world are not given an opportunity to have an education, and demonstrate your support for them by literally standing up for girls.

Learn About the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

• Share and post the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, in child friendly language, in your classroom. 
• Illustrate and write about what each of the rights mean to you and your students. Years ago, I did a project where I collected drawings depicting the rights here in Canada and then had students in Lesotho, Africa, draw their representations as well. 
• If You Could Wear My Sneakers - funny poems based on the articles in the UN Convention
• For Every Child - beautifully illustrated depictions of the Rights
• I Have the Right to Be a Child - simple, colourful book exploring all childrens' rights. 

Learn About Micro Loans

• Read the book One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference
• Fundraise $25 (or $50 or $100...) and, as a class, invest in a real person. Visit Kiva.org and start a lending profile. You will be able to relend your loan over and over and over! My students and I have put under $175 into our account and that has allowed us to lend over $1000! 

Read Amazing Stories in Picture Books 
There are many incredible picture books that help tell the story of children around the world. Here are just a few that I love:

• Iqbal and Malala - The stories of an Indian boy and a Pakistani girl who demanded education and faced incredible violence from adults as a response. These stories open a students' eyes to how differently education is valued around the world.
• It's Back to School We Go: First Day Stories
• Malala Yousafzai: Warrior with Words - by now, you surely know about Malala, the youngest every recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. This book is, "a testament to the power of education to change the world for boys and girls everywhere."
• Nasreen's Secret School 
• "Young Nasreen has not spoken a word to anyone since her parents disappeared. In despair, her grandmother risks everyone to enroll Nasreen in a secret school for girls. Will a devoted teacher, a new friend and the worlds she discovers in books be enough to draw Nasreen out of her shell of sadness?"
• There is a video of this book being read available on Youtube
• Rain School - I was introduced to this story by one of my Bachelor of Education students who created a whole day plan based on this beautiful book. (Video here)
• "It's the first day of school in Chad, Africa. Children are filling the road. 'Will they give us a notebook?' Thomas asks. 'Will they give us a pencil? Will I learn to read?' But when he and the other children arrive at the schoolyard, they find no classroom, no desks. Just a teacher. 'We will build our school,' she says. 'This is our first lesson.'"
• Waiting for the Biblioburro
• "Ana loves stories. She often makes them up to help her little brother fall asleep. But in her small village, there are only a few books and she has read them all. One morning, Ana wakes up to the clip-clop of hooves, and there before her, is the most wonderful sight; a travelling library resting on the backs of two burros (donkeys) - all the books a little girl could dream of, with enough stories to encourage her to create one of her own."

Learn About the Lives of Children Around the World Through Gorgeous Photographye
Again, this is by no means an exhaustive list. Here are just a few that I love:

• A Life Like Mine
• Children Like Me
• Every Day is Malala Day
• My Librarian is a Camel: How Books Are Brought to Children Around the World
• My School in the Rain Forest: How Children Attend School Around the World
• Off to Class: Incredible and Unusual Schools Around the World
• Ryan and Jimmy - the true story of a young boy in Canada and his Pen Pal in Uganda and the water project that turned them into brothers.
• Shannen and the Dream for a School - this is the story of Shannen who demanded that the Canadian government create better schooling options for her and other aboriginal youth.
• This is the Way We Go to School
• What's For Lunch?
• Where Children Sleep - the most popular book in my classroom for years, our copy has needed many repairs! You can see photos from the book online and project them into your classroom to encourage discussion. 

Share Your Stories

• On your class blog, share what a day in life of your students looks like - use pictures, videos and/or writing.
• Share your learning, projects and adventures on a class Twitter account.
• Make videos and have a class Youtube channel to tell your learning stories.
• Respond to people's comments, visit their projects and learn together.

Show Your Students That They Can Make an Impact

From Amy Poehler's Smart Girls

• Share stories of kids changing the world (including this list from 2012 and these projects by awesome young humans) 
• Fill some free time in the classroom by practicing your vocabulary or times tables (or a number of other topics) and, for every correct answer, the World Food Program gets rice to give to people in need. Play FreeRice!
• Set up a class account on We Give Books. For every book your your students read online (extra awesomeness for reading with younger or older Reading Buddies!), Penguin donates books to children who need them!
• Ask your students what problems they want to solve and be a Collaborative Curator to support them. Curate great information and collaborate with them to make a plan!

How do you empower your students and help them become globally competent? Share your ideas below!

This post was inspired by this tweet:

Thanks for spurring me into action, Sylvia! 

First #WeirdTBC Chat Complete

I don't mind one bit that this image reminds me of HIMYM.
I do, however, mind the backwards "E".
Love the idea, though!

It's so great to see something that you've thought about and helped organize come to life. Not that long ago (December 21st, to be exact), I noticed some educators that I follow on Twitter were talking about starting a book chat based on the book, "He's the Weird Teacher". I love learning from the author, Doug Robertson, on Twitter and had started reading the book (and enjoying it tremendously), so I chimed in. Because I worship at the altar of Google and can't think of ANY better collaboration tool, I whipped up a Google Doc and invited anyone to edit. We started putting together a framework for a weekly Book Chat. The planning was made even easier when Melissa Eddington started a Voxer group for people to share ideas. I had heard lots about Voxer, but never used it. I was surprised to see how easy the "Walkie Talkie" app is to use. You simply join a group and can listen to messages as they come in live, or save them for later. You can also write text messages to the same group. Aside from a 30 second accidental audio message I added while trying to show off the app to Tiiu, I've found it really simple and easy to use!

Tonight, at 8 p.m. my time (EDT), we had our first #WeirdTBC chat. Melissa hosted and, aside from small Twitter glitches (technology always works the worst when you want to prove how easy it is to use), it was a smooth chat with lots of participation. I think it was a great success for our first chat.

In the last of my tech complaints for this post, I nearly lost my mind earlier this week when my 2-year old Kindle Paperwhite (and, arguably, best friend) suddenly stopped working. I have ALL my reading on there and frequently highlight things I love and write notes. After speaking with an Amazon rep, I learned that it must be a hardware issue and I'm off warranty, so they could give me a small discount on a refurbished Kindle. That's it. Totally bummed, I realized that there's an iPhone Kindle app. Luckily, my wifi was on when my Kindle died, and all my highlights and notes were synced. Though I am not a fan of reading for long periods on my backlit and tiny iPhone screen, I was able to participate in the chat by using the highlights and notes I'd made. Phew.

I really like people who like "He's the Weird Teacher". Like a fellow Weird Teacher (Sandy Otto) in the chat said tonight, I've found my people. Doug's weekly chat (Wednesday nights at 10 p.m EDT) #WeirdEd is a highlight of my (digital, if not real) life. The things I love about the chat are the incredibly creative and thought-provoking topics and questioning strategies Doug uses to lead his chats. He picks a variety of fun, goofy and controversial topics and leads participants on a thought-provoking journey through his carefully planned questions. One week was a teaching as a metaphor for tattoos chat and just last night was a chat about American politician, Arne Duncan (Education Secretary). Some other Twitter chats are just too serious, too repetitive or too darn big. I always get something out of a Twitter chat. I always get A LOT out of a #WeirdEd chat.

Doug uses a lot of Matrix memes. He made this one.

In tonight's inaugural #WeirdTBC, we discussed chapters 1-4 and how our own teaching styles are reflected and inspired by the stories that Doug tells in his book. Melissa Storifyed (can I make Storify a verb?) the chat if you want to see what went on. It would be great to see the chat grow, so if you can get your hands on a copy of the book, we'd love to have you join us next week (time TBA)!

This is Doug's personal Rockstar Teacher mantra. I need something cooler than, "We all learn in different ways on different days."

A highlight for me tonight was getting to chat in more detail with some teachers I really enjoy connecting with. At the end of the chat, I put out a call to connect classes. Three teachers immediately responded, and instead of having one off Skype calls with them, I suggested we all collaborate and connect our classes. In the past, I've connected with other classes, and my kids and I have gotten so much out of it (new friends, global awareness, an authentic audience for our learning, collaborative planning). I've tried to take part in HUGE online connections (like Global Read Aloud), but like some Twitter chats, they've become so big, that's they can be overwhelming to navigate. I am looking forward to working with Sandy Otto, Courtney Albrecht and Jim Windisch and their classes. Want to offer some tips on our collaboration? Check out our planning doc!

I'll leave you with one of my other favourite discoveries of the night, a Mr. Rogers Remix.