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I'm always looking for new, interesting, and pertinent activities to do with my students in my technology classes, both for them and for me! I was very eager to read about the Student Blogging Challenge discussed by Tolisano. Upon further investigation, twice a year for 10 weeks, students create and contribute to blogs, all while developing a worldwide audience for their work. Tasks are outlined for the ten weeks of the challenge, and teachers are encouraged to modify the tasks to suit their classroom needs. Blogs can be put together as a classroom or on the individual student level. My sixth grade students each have blogs, and my colleague at the grade 1-5 level in my district is having grade 3 and grade 4 students also create and maintain blogs that they will be able to continue to use after they graduate to the next grade levels. This would be a wonderful use of these blogs, guaranteed 10 weeks of practice blogging and commenting on others' blogs, building a community of learners on a global and local scale, and giving students positive experiences with social media. Stay tuned...the next Student Blogging Challenge begins in March 2015!
I appreciated William Kist's honest discussion about challenges and barriers that teachers face when beginning to implement global literacies in their classrooms. Common Core Standards are touted as being more 'global' and the word 'global' itself appears within the standards many times over, yet specific global skills are nonexistent. Schools also encounter issues of hyper-vigilant network filters, poor professional development, incompatible time zones. These challenges, however, can be addressed and overcome. Permission can be asked to unblock specific websites, Learning Management Systems can be set up to accommodate schools in different time zones, and teachers can take an active role in finding and defining their own professional development.
Jacobs, Heidi Hayes. Mastering Global Literacy. Indiana: Solution Tree, 2014. Print.
Reynolds, Peter. The Dot. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick, 2003. Print.
"Resources and Downloads for Global Competence." Edutopia. Web.