TMST: Connections

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Next week I am providing a professional learning session on making global connections.  
It has made me think a lot about how we connect and why.  It is so much more than talking to someone on a video conference or connecting to an expert.  Sure, there is great learning to be had from those experiences, but I find myself seeking more.  

As my team talked about our goals this past week, my friend Amanda and I talked about the difference between global connection vs. global collaboration.  Both break down the walls of our classroom, but which leads to deeper thinking, broader perspectives and higher engagement?  As with every learning experience, it has much to do with the way the experience is approached, the reflection that happens after and the questioning opportunities to which it leads.

Even so, what would our classrooms look like if we strived for more global collaboration?  Kids working with other kids and cultures to create, think and design.  Kids who have the ability to communicate with others who have wildly different perspectives. Kids who learn more about the world by sharing theirs.

 Last year, I worked to put this blog "out there" to model my own attempts at connections. After all, if we don't connect as educators, how do we begin connecting classrooms?  This year, I will continue to seek and create projects shared here that will model collaboration.  


Which brings me back to my session on making global connections, now with collaboration in mind.  I'm in need of some educational global project hashtags to share with my participants - dear readers, can you add to my crowd source document below?


Want a sneak peek at my session materials?  I'm facilitating through a HyperDoc Template  this time! Special thanks to Amanda Rogers, who shared an amazing Google Drawing I am using in the session!


I'd love to hear about some of your successful connections and collaborations!  Let me know about them in the comments!



Comments

  1. UnknownOctober 24, 2017 at 12:38 PM

    You always provide great insight and relevant topics to the present!

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownOctober 26, 2017 at 8:00 AM

    Alli, great thoughts here about the differences between connections and collaboration. My Google Innovator project is actually all about helping teachers find classroom connections all around the world- like a dating site for teachers. Check it out if you're interested- http://classroombridges.com.

    ReplyDelete

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