APP #5: STUDENTS AS GROBAL CITIZENS

You've probably heard the term Global Citizen. What is Global Citizen? 

The definition of Global Citizen is "someone who identifies with being part of an emerging world community and whose actions contribute to building this community's values and practices."

Our children's world is going to be different from ours. Throughout human history, we have always attributed ourselves into groups and communities that share a language, religion, culture, and identity. But in the 21st century, as the world becomes flatter, we will have less physical and communication barriers, and more important to be engaged as a global citizen who craves a sense of belonging to the world community. 

As an educator, how can we help our students to become a Global Citizen? and what are the most important skills as a Global Citizen? Alan November says in his book, "we need to start teaching our students global empathy by developing their ability to understand and appreciate other points of view......the student role of global communicator and collaborator can help in this process." Global citizens see the world as a global perspective, have empathy to work with other cultures, and are good communicator and collaborator in their field.

To lead our students to a deeper global understanding, I would like to introduce a Penpalschools.  

The Penpalschools provides many various projects about the topics all around the world such as Flag of the world, Race in America, World religion, and etc with a video. It also provides the guide that we could discuss with the peers in the classroom and also from other counties and learn other's perspective.

As an early elementary teacher who is interested in STEAM education, I would like to use it as a part of the Earth day Project which is "Environment issues that impact communities and around the world". We will explore the issues on the earth and hear the voice of other kids from around the world who are trying to protect our nature from the issues on their area. 

Here is the example from the penpalschools.com

Journey to the North Pole

GEIR EVENSEN—NRK

Four Norwegian teens pose in front of their tent on their way to the North Pole. They are, from left, Elias Damli, Johanne Jerijervi, Erika Gjelsvik, and Johannes Breivik.
How far would you go to spread the word about climate change? For four Norwegian teens, the answer was: all the way to the North Pole! They are (shown left to right above) Elias Damli, 14; Johanne Jerijervi, 14; Erika Gjelsvik, 14; and Johannes Breivik, 13. They made the journey on skis. They wanted to see the effects of warming temperatures on the Arctic wilderness. Their trip is the subject of a TV show in Norway.
The kids did a lot to prepare. They practiced dragging heavy sleds. They learned first aid. And they got used to frigid temperatures. They even joined a team of climate scientists on a research boat to learn about the Arctic environment.
The group set out in April. They skied for six days. The journey was far from easy. "There was one day I literally wanted to give up," Johannes told TFK. "But because of help from the other kids, I made it."
Polar explorer Børge Ousland traveled with the kids. He first visited the North Pole 20 years ago. Ousland helped the group understand how much the region has changed. "He told us that the first time he went to the North Pole, the ice was much thicker than it is now," Erika says.
The four teens have been busy since their trek. In December, they delivered a speech at a major climate conference, in Paris, France. "We kids are the future," Johannes says. "We need to have a say in how we're going to fix this problem." _____________________________________________________________
-From penpalschool.com
MORE INFORMATION CLICK HERE

And then, we are going to make our science engineering project called "Build the Super Insect" to solve the problem that the plants couldn't pollinate due to the disappearing of the insect. 

                               (The examples of student's work)


Overall, the Penpalschools offers a great opportunities for connecting students to other class and other countries. This would help the students have a Global awareness and perspective about the other cultures.

Cons: The projects per subject/ age group is limitedly available that need to more work on this website.