Teachers Around the Globe Connect on Facebook

Calling all teachers!  Global Teacher Connect now has a Facebook page and we’d like you to be a part of it.  For those of you who haven’t found Global Teacher Connect – it’s a collaborative blog with teachers from 11 countries, all sharing our perspectives on education.  Now, we are adding Facebook to our ways to collaborate.  Here’s how:

On this page, teachers from around the globe will ask and answer those questions that will give us insight to what is going on in other classrooms around the world. 

On this page, teachers from around the globe will have the chance to discuss what’s really working in their classroom. 

On this page, teachers from around the globe can share resources and websites with one another. 

On this page, teachers from around the globe can “meet” and find partner classes from other countries to enhance their writing units with pen pals, their social studies units with skype internet pals, their science with interactive projects – the sky’s the limit on what we can do when we connect.

On this page, teachers from around the globe will be able to truly collaborate.

Please come on over and like the Global Teacher Connect Facebook page, and while you’re there tell us where you’re at and how you’d like to collaborate!

Connect with Teachers Around the Globe

One of the best parts of teaching at an International School is that I get to connect with teachers who have taught all around the world.  I enjoy this concept so much that I decided to start a blog that will give this experience to everyone.  This blog, called Global Teacher Connect, will have authors from around the world posting about what is going on in their classroom and what resources they are using with their students.  We will have no more than 5 authors per country, so we can keep it diverse, but we will have many, many countries represented.  Already we have authors from: South Africa, the Netherlands, Spain, France, Trinidad/Tobago, the United States, and of course – Morocco!

We are currently looking for more authors, so if you would be interested in being an author, please feel free to contact me at hlraki@hotmail.com.  Whether you are interested in writing or not, please feel free to stop by and view the discussions.  Right now, we have a very interesting discussion going on about how substitute teaching is handled in countries around the world – started by Melissa of Dilly Dabbles.  Can’t wait to see your contributions to the discussions!

Collaboration is the Key

Key words, key words – there are a lot of key words in teaching: differentiation, tiered levels, critical thinking, data teaming, project based learning, brain based thinking.  I am sure there are plenty of key words (sometimes called hot button words) floating around your school.  Some of these words illicit good feelings, some of these words illicit tension.  One key word that always elicits good feelings for me is: collaboration.  I am a firm believer that two minds are better than one, and ten minds are better than two!  Within my school, I am always open to share ideas and resources.  Outside of my school, teaching blogs give me a way to find that collaboration.  Recently, I have been lucky enough to team up with other amazing teacher bloggers on some collaborative blogs.  My husband has even gotten in on the collaboration game, blogging on Bilingual Clubhouse.  So, if you are interested in collaboration – check out some of these collaborative blogs for some great resources!  Do you follow or write for other collaborative blogs?  Feel free to leave a link in the comments so that we can all learn from each other!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Skype Pen Pals

This summer, I signed up on a Skype beta project for educators to connect with other educators via Skype.  Through this forum, I was connected to a teacher named Ms. Keenan in Maine who knew that her class would be studying Morocco this year.  As I was headed for Morocco, I was quite excited by this possibility.  We exchanged a lot of emails and talked about what we were going to do.  We decided to exchange questions and set up a Skype date.  It took a bunch of planning, but the results were awesome!

 

First, Ms. Kennan’s class sent my class a list of questions.  Some of their questions included:

– What food do you eat?

– Have you ever been to the desert?

– What animals live near your house?

– Are there any churches near your school?

My kids had a great time answer their questions.  We shared with them that we live in the city and don’t see much of the desert, although lots of my kids have been on vacation in desert areas.  We told them about the donkeys and horses that we see on the street, along with wild cats.  We told them about hearing the call for prayer from the mosque, but not knowing where the closest church is.  My kids shared their list of favorite foods which included cous cous and tagines, but was also full of foods like spaghetti, french fries and hotdogs!

 

Then, my class sent Ms. Keenan’s class our own list of questions:  Some of the questions my kids came up with her:

– What languages do you speak?

– What games do you play?

– Do you build snowmen?

– What do you bring for snack?

Ms. Kennan’s class sent back their answers and my class was thrilled. They loved hearing about how her students build snow forts and played Wii.  They loved hearing that they are learning Spanish at school and eat cookies and goldfish for snack.  It was great for the kids to understand that these kids did the same things they do.

 

Finally, the date was set and we had our Skype date.  Unfortunately, I don’t have a projector, so my class simply sat in front of my laptop.  It worked out very well.  Ms. Kennan’s class taught us a song.  We taught them a song and how to count to 10 in the Moroccan dialect of Arabic.  Then the students got to ask each other questions.  One of my favorite moments was when one of my students said “Hey, they aren’t wearing uniforms!”  Overall, it was a great experience, and I’m so glad we were able to help Ms. Keenan’s class learn a little about Morocco.  Now I’m looking for a class in the Democratic Republic of Congo to do the same to help my class for International Day!

Here are some pictures of the Skype event:

 In Morocco

 

In USA (Maine)

 

This was such a great experience for my class and a great chance to use technology, that I just had to share!