The Dangers of a Single Story

Students are asked at the beginning of the Globaloria process to listen to a TED video about the dangers of a single story. This is a good presentation to listen to because it makes all of us think about how we quite often prejudge people before we really know anything about them.
I hear students sometimes say things about other groups of people that they really know nothing about, whether it be that they have judged them about their sexual orientation, the groups that they hang out with, or their economic background. It often makes me want to say "STOP"!, listen to yourself, do you want to be judged like that? DO you not want to be known for who YOU are as a person?
It is heartening though to quite often hear one of the students respond to some remark with a comment about how that student should not be judging someone else. The students will call out other students for making biased remarks about others. It makes the participants in the conversation stop and think about what they are saying. Usually the student that makes the initial statement doesn't even realize that they are saying something negative.
That is what our Globaloria platform is about, learning about the 'global' raminfications of our actions, whether it be here at school, at home, in the community, or on the Internet, where it can be seen by millions.
Talk less, think MORE!

New year - late start

Here it is, late October 2012, but we are finally off to a start in the Globaloria classroom here at Greenbrier West. Due to moving into the new Art room (hooray!!!) and some computer issues, it was not practical or possible to begin with the program at the start of the school.
I have 9 students in this year's class and I am very hopeful about the prospects of them doing very good games. They have a variety of interests and personalities so that should only add to the fun.
To my Computer Assisted Art students I say, Do your best and I can ask for no more!

Working Diligently

Students asked, "Have we been working diligently?". Isn't it strange how everyone's idea of working diligently is different? Some students think that if they are sitting quietly and not bothering anyone that they are working. I don't think that is the case. If they are working as hard as they can using their grey matter (brain power), then they are working diligently.
Everyone has an off day but we should try and not let it become a habit. It is easy to do that I think.

Menander of Athens - "He who labors diligently need never despair; for all things are accomplished by diligence and labor." 

 

Online Collaboration

Online Collaboration - good or bad? That is the blog prompt that I asked my students in the Globaloria class to blog about. I come to this question from a totally different viewpoint than my students though. To me, they are "digital natives"; they have grown up with technology and the Internet. When I began teaching 17 years ago, teachers and schools were just starting to really get into it. For the digital natives, I think it comes more naturally to do an online collaboration to complete some type of product. They are used to texting, checking status' , and generally keeping in touch by using keypads instead of verbal communication.
As with anything else, you can have too much of a good thing. While online collaborations are good, I still think that there should be a mix of online and the spoken word. Work things out online but also speak to the participants so everyone is also developing their verbal communication skills.
The following book would be a good resource when exploring the options about collaborating: