Week 3 responses

Now that there is unlimited potential to celebrate the work of students with their communities, what is the best way to manage this opportunity?

I think as teachers, we need to remind our students that their audience is everywhere! I think that so many of us get used to the idea of our little classroom communities that we create, but when we open the doors to the online community- we are opening them to the entire global community. By doing so, we also are creating real writers. "Creating the connections that enable students to seek validation by community members, peers, and the adult world will increasingly become important across the curriculum" (November, 2010).  By validating their writing, by giving them an audience other than ‘just me,’ I will be creating writers.  

We are giving them an unlimited audience and therefore we need to create some boundaries. We have to teach them what it means to have a ‘global audience,’ how to use netiquette, how to be safe online, and how to decipher fact from fiction.

How can we create authentic work and relationships for our students to give them a deeper meaning in relation to complex issues such as globalization and cultural sensitivity?

While reading November’s section on e-mail and the cultural context, it reminded me of how hard it is for our students to put themselves in another’s shoes.  Last year while studying Africa, we had come across an article in the Time for Kids magazine on the great migration.  It was about how the Tanzania government wants to build a highway through the Serengeti, doing so would create a highway right through the path of the great migration of the wildebeests and zebras.  I shared this video clip with them as well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUVoEhUDMhw My students were so distraught by this that they said that we should do something to stop it.  “These students had not been taught to try to understand a problem from a different cultural or geographic perspective” (November, 2010).  Because of this I asked them “How would we like it if someone told us that we couldn’t use I95 because it interfered with our local wildlife?”  It is a hard concept to teach- but an important one.

If every teacher had a website, what would be the most efficient design for teachers to share their best practices?

I think the answer to this is dependent on the teacher and what would work best for them.  I think that I would want a website where I could link my blog, sites for the kids to visit, educational videos, and assignments and important information (calendar of events, due dates, and school newsletters).  I think that the best way to have this is through the school website so that it is easy for parents and students to find and utilize.  It would be best for it to be interactive in some way… I don’t have one yet- but I’m thinking about it J