u06a1 – Respectful and Ethical Minds

Building tolerance and respect amongst my students is very important to me.  Living in the Bay Area, my students are exposed to many cultures on a regular basis.  Simply being exposed, however, is generally not enough.  Students come into my classroom with preconceived ideas about other cultures and people groups.  I believe it is part of my responsibility as an educator to help build respectful, ethical minds in my students. It is important that my students not only learn tolerance and acceptance for others but also be able to collaborate with them.  I recently learned of a few online experiences that will encourage tolerance while building collaboration.  

 Global SchoolNet is a site I can see myself using in the classroom.  When I previously taught, I focused on one continent a month.  We would learn about the different types of people that lived on that continent and how they lived their daily lives.  One feature I love about Global SchoolNet is the global expeditions link which would tie in perfectly with learning about continents.  Teachers can take their students on online expeditions that connect their students with real world, real time adventures.  What a great and inexpensive way to visit other parts of the world and in turn help students learn about the way other people live.

Another great experience would involve ePals.  This site offers students a way to connect with other students in different parts of the world through email or skype.  This is a great way to encourage my students to write to others and to learn about people all over the world.  It’s an updated way to have a pen pal.  The site also allows teachers to connect with other teachers for project collaboration.  It also has a teacher resource link that could be very useful.

The iEARN site had an interesting project that I might be interested in trying with my class.  It’s called the Teddy Bear Project.  Once a teacher registers on the site, that teacher’s class is connected with another class somewhere in the world.  Each class sends each other a stuffed bear.  Then the class writes as if they are the stuffed bear telling the class that sent the bear about their adventures in the new location.   The project is designed to foster tolerance and understanding of other cultures which is something I believe is important to focus on continually throughout a school year. 

By allowing students to connect with other people from around the world, tolerance and respect for others have the opportunity to develop in their minds.  These are important characteristics for students to have in a globalized world.