Virtual Field Trips with Discovery Education

    Not every child is fortunate enough to be able to participate when it comes time for field trips. I remember being a child and being so excited the days we would go on field trips and having to watch certain students be sent to other classes with work to do for the day because they were not able to go. Whether it's due to students not being able to particiapte financially or if the parents just don't want the child going due to their own personal views, it's never fun to be left out espeically while watching all of your friends excited to go have fun. 

     

    Discovery Education has created an opportunity to ensure all children can participate in fun classroom activities and create a small break in "traditional learning". Granted the virtual field trips aren't going to be all day like in person trips would be, but it takes time in the class for the students to learn about differnt topics, and interact in the same ways during a field trip. I watched the virtual field trip, Night Navigators: Build for Bats and they were being extremely informative and used different ways to draw the children in. Not only did they learn, they also used play with legos and how to build a change to protect the bats.

https://www.discoveryeducation.com/community/virtual-field-trips/

    In the future when I have my own classroom, I will 100% be utilizing materials such as Discovery Education to bring some fun into my classroom. Truth be told, not every child is going to enjoy coming to school everyday and learning the basic skills of reading and math. Implementing fun activities such as Discovery Education, and hands on learning and play is a great way to keep the students engaged and keep their want to come to school, to come to my class.

    Not only does Discovery Education have the perks of no permission slip field trips, the program is free to use for both students and teachers. Students have access to games, videos, labs, lesson plans, homework help, and many more activities. Many schools provide students with iPads, or laptops for classroom use and at home use. Discovery Education is a great program to create accounts for the students to use for extra learning, not only could it be used to assign work to be completed, it can be viewed as "fun work" to be completed. I would probably use Discovery Education for not only their virtual field trips but also for centers, this would be a great program to use for student learning. 

Global Education with 'Global Kids'

In today’s world, global education is more important than ever. It goes beyond teaching students about geography or world history, but instead it’s about fostering a deeper understanding of diverse cultures, perspectives, and global issues. By incorporating global education into the classroom, we give students knowledge and skills they need to navigate an interconnected world. This type of education not only broadens their worldview but also encourages empathy, critical thinking, and collaboration. In this blog, I’ll explore how global education benefits students and share a classroom activity that highlights the power of community both locally and globally. 

          As I explored the various amounts of incredible global education tools we have access too, there was one for primary education that really stood out to me called Global Kids. Developed by global education expert Homa Tavangar and the creators of Barefoot Books’ bestselling Mindful Kids deck, Global Kids includes over 50 hands-on activities that are divided into 5 categories to teach children about food, festivals, games, crafts and ways of helping others around the world. 

        Each card features a front side that introduces the activity, offering an overview of its cultural significance and meaning within the specific location. On the reverse side, students will find step-by-step instructions guiding them through the process, empowering them to recreate the dish, craft, or game as it is practiced in the culture they are exploring. One example of a preview offered by the website is an activity where students learn about the Festival of Lights in India. For example, Diwali, which means "festival of lights," is a time when many people in India and beyond celebrate the power of good over evil. Students are then provided with instructions on how they too can create a lantern inspired by this vibrant and meaningful celebration.

        What is inspiring about these cards is that they serve as a solid foundation for lesson plans, offering educators a starting point for exploring diverse cultures with their students. Teachers can easily build upon the activity, expanding it into a week-long exploration filled with deeper discussions, projects, and hands-on learning. This allows educators to tailor the experience to their classroom’s needs and interests, creating an immersive cultural learning experience. In my future classroom, I am eager to incorporate this global education tool, as it will not only enhance traditional lesson plans but also broaden students perspectives, encouraging creativity and critical thinking through the lens of different cultures.

"Everybody Cooks Rice" 

    The tool I decided to research is a book called, :everybody Cooks Rice," by Norah Dooley, illustrated by Peter. J Thornton. The book is for prek-3rd grade, which is perfect because I am competing my P-3 certification. The book is about a little girl who goes to her neighbor's houses to look for her little brother. Where she finds that everyone is getting ready for dinner and all of them preparing rice in a different way to eat for dinner. This story is very cute and age appropriate in explaining cultural differences to children. It shows them differences in people but through food which I think is very clever and relatable for a child because who doesn't love food. It helps them see that all people are the same, they just may do things slightly different, like preparing rice. I also like that it shows students that all rice is the same but it can be prepared differently making it look or even taste different and that is kind of how we are as people. We are all the same but we may be raised with different beliefs and values  making us "different' but really we are all just people the same way its all just rice. 

 I have actually read this story before. I can't remember if it was to one of my classes or if my professor introduced it to us but I really enjoyed the story. If I were to read the book again to a class I would create cute activity to go along with the book. I would ask the kids questions before I began reading, like who has had rice before? What kind of rice do your parents makes? and then I would make connections through out the story. I would have students raise their hand during reading about each family to see who also makes rice in that manner. After the story I would have the students do a turn and talk, discussing not only different rice but other different foods they have at dinner. Once they share I would create an anchor chart documenting all the foods the children eat for dinner. Finally, I would have the students draw a picture of different foods they can find at their dinner table. Once the students are done with their pictures I would do a gallery walk where all of the students can look at their classmates work and each student would have an opportunity to tell us about the food they eat. 

A really cool extension that could be done with this story is doing a potluck. This would be a great way to increase family engagement in the classroom. I would send home a letter and an email asking parents if they have family recipes for different rice dinner and organize a day for all of the students to bring in a dish and try different families recipes. This would be a super fun way to try new foods and for children to be introduced to different culture's foods. All in all, I think the story has a really great message for kids and there are many activities that can be done to enhance the message within the story. Below is a YouTube read aloud of the story! Sometimes a read aloud is great use of technology in the classroom. It serves as differentiation of instruction for different learners. 

 Collaborating in the Classroom

    Since a young age we have been learning to work with others. It started as play when we were toddlers, turn and talks in the early education years, to group projects and presentations in secondary education and those expectations for collaborating didn't jus stop in high school. People do it everyday at their jobs. From talking in meetings to collectively coming up with a plan for a business and even still working on group projects the ability to work well with others is imperative in most jobs, but especially education. Teachers work together everyday to come up with lesson plans and fun learning activities that an be done within their classrooms. They bounce ideas off of coworkers, their teams that they have within their grade ban, other teachers in the district and even teachers all over the country. Thanks to social media teachers are able to connect all over the internet. They tweet ideas and ask questions and are able to gain different perspectives from all different walks of life. 

    

Personally I have experienced the benefits from collaborating with other teachers and coworkers within my job an my clinical hours. I am currently completing my final clinical (student teaching), where I collaborate with my mentor teacher everyday. I stay after most school days we discuss our plan for the next day. We reflect on the day- what worked? what didn't? and we try and come up with the solutions and new ways to do things efficiently. Just the other day I went into the other kindergarten teacher's room and asked her how she makes the time for learning centers because we struggle in my room and she walked me through step by step on how she runs center time. I took a lot from her and it was only five minutes of both our times. Communication is a superpower and it is a huge influence on the ability collaborate. Being able to collaborate can open door within the workforce and open your own perspective to new ideas helping you grow as a professional.  

Collaboration: In and Out of the Classroom

As the world continues to grow, so too will the technology that inhabits it. As a society, we must learn how to utilize the technology we live alongside to its maximum extent. This includes of course, how we utilize technology in the classroom. We can use the technologies at our disposal to increase collaboration between students, allowing them to work together and work alongside each other in ways that can benefit their education. Collaboration in the classroom is more than just forcing students to work together, but instead giving them access to tools that can help them work together in more efficiently and in greater capacity. It is uber important for us to teach our students how to collaborate and how to collaborate effectively because "there are very few jobs that don't require some degree of collaboration"(Sail the 7 Cs  with Microsoft Education, collaborators chapter). The question that remains is.. How? How can educators introduce collaboration to their classroom and their students? 

For students, collaboration in the classroom likely stems from their teachers, so it is crucial that their teachers bring proper and adequate collaboration to the classroom. In a way, collaboration should be instilled as a classroom culture. From day one, collaboration needs to be made the norm, not just an occasional event. Students should always be working together, whether in groups or online. The question now becomes, well, collaboration in the classroom is rather straightforward, but how can students collaborate out of the classroom? This is where the great advances in technology come in, and all educators have to do is harness it. Here are some examples of tools that can be used to heighten collaboration outside of the classroom: OneNote, a digital notebook; Social Media, which can be used to allow students to interact with each other, within school contexts of course; Microsoft Teams, which can create an online, away from school class where students can operate without the binds of class time and fully on their own.  

It is important for educators to grant their students the ability to collaborate, as it is a crucial skill necessary throughout their entire lives. Educators must also utilize tools properly, and that requires work outside of the classroom for them too. However, should teachers create the opportunities, students will surely react positively, as humans love to work together. As the world continues to grow and adapt, so too will the technologies inhabiting it, and educators must continue to stay up to the task of being capable of utilizing these tools to the benefit of their students.