ePals - Connection to the world

     While exploring the ePals website I was extremely impressed with the various opportunities provided to teachers and students to connect globally with other language learners.  The first feature that caught my attention was being able to connect with other classes around the country and the WORLD.  This is something that I have always wanted to do with my students but I was unaware of how to do this.  I did not even know where to start looking for other classes to connect with and ePals has made this extremely easy.  You can search by age group, language and even country.  My school is currently planning a trip to Puerto Rico with our students next year and this would be a great way to expose them to Puerto Rican culture before going on the trip.  Students would be able to get a Puerto Rican pen pal and not only practice their Spanish but also learn more about their culture.  It would be interesting to do a collaborative project in which students must evaluate their own culture as well as their pen pal's culture.  This would show students another person's perspective as well as any stereotypes they might have.
     Another great feature that the website has is the "Join a Project" option.  This is where teachers can post a specific project with details so that I can determine if it is something I want to participate in or not.  There were a lot of projects listed, ones that could be used for other classes such as Global Studies or a Humanities class.  One specific project that I would be interested in further exploring is a class from the UK that is learning Spanish and is looking to form a partnership with another class outside of the UK to practice Spanish and discuss various cultural perspectives.  The site also offers resources to teachers as well as has a feature that has online field trips.  I also found a link regarding culture called "Children Around the World" which explores various cultures.  Overall I think the ePal site is a great resource for students and teachers that want to become globally competent members of society!
   

Asking the important questions in the 21st century

On my RSS feed I am following a blog called "Educational Technology and Mobile Learning".  It explores different ways to change the status quo in education by using technology and other 21st century literacies.  A post that I found particularly interesting is 12 Important Questions for 21st Century Teachers.  One question that really resonated with me is question number 7, "Why does cultivating broad mindedness, resiliency, curiosity, imagination and the ability to work with others matter?"  Multiple aspects of this question intrigue me, specifically the imagination and resiliency aspect.  Sometimes I feel that students have certain expectations, such as that they will all get into college and get a great paying job after graduation.  This is not a guarantee and I have seen many of my friends struggle to rebound after not getting into the college of their choice and or not getting any job offers.  If our students are going to survive in the 21st century work force they must be prepared to be resilient.  In my opinion, imagination goes hand in hand with resiliency because we need thinkers who are creative and don't get discouraged when they see a problem but get excited.  Without imagination we wouldn't have these technological advances I am using right now.  I think this post is great because it made me think and question my practices as an educator. 

Below is what I posted on the blog itself:

"I think this is a great list of questions that today's educators should ask themselves. I especially think question 7 is important because it addresses the importance of working with others in a collaborative setting.  Most jobs today require us to work with others regardless of how we feel about it.  My students often request to work individually instead of with their peers because they have an issue with a classmate. I am trying to teach them that to be successful in the 21st century - you MUST be a team member and be able to work as a group. Great post!"