I just read a fabulous article from Education Week called Four Steps to Jumpstarting Global Collaboration Projects by Ben Curran. This is part of a larger “Spotlight” about Global Learning and Language.
The author outlines these four steps:
Step One: Develop Habits of Collaboration
Step Two: Before You Go Global, Go Local
Step Three: Join Existing Global Projects
Step Four: Use Social Networks to Create Your Own Projects
The author of this article talked about how our students need to be proficient at collaboration. I pondered the importance we place on cooperative learning and extending it beyond our classroom at Trinity. Ben Curran says, “Before connecting with another classroom, take time to develop these skills so that students become adept at collaboration. These skills will serve them not only in their schoolwork, but in the 21st-century workforce as well.”
As I continued reading, my mind shifted from conversations on cooperative learning to practice with the art of questioning. In his explanation of “go local,” the author suggests to ask an open ended question, pose a challenge, and use digital collaboration tools (such as google drive or wikis) to start practicing collaborative effort. I love the idea of partnering with other classes (possibly across grades) to practice the skill of collaboration before reaching across the globe to do so. And the good news is, I think a lot of classes are already doing this!
These ideas lead up to a class joining a global collaboration project that is already in motion, such as Challenge 20/20, The Global Read Aloud, The Global Virtual Classroom, and iEARN.
What would it look like for an elementary classroom to engage globally?
Maybe Trinity School classrooms have already started this work.
Either way, I would be excited for a World Languages class (or any class) to expose children to global collaboration now and see where it takes them in the future.
Learner, Thinker, Writer: Julia Kuipers serves the Trinity School community as a World Languages Teacher.
Collaboration – whether around a classroom table, in a family, or across the country or globe – impacts children’s ability to understand others and to gain access to more information. I love the work we do at Trinity in this area. Teaching powerful cooperative skills so that collaboration is effective.