Lesson & Unit Planning

Global education IS essential learning! To incorporate global competencies into your curricula, evaluate your standards to determine their natural correlations and easy adaptations. To evaluate your standards, consider:

• The standard and source
• Integration of global education
• Specific lesson plan modifications & global competency connections
• Informal outcome assessment

There are LOTS of ways to expand and tailor your lessons and teaching materials to have a global focus. Most importantly, always ask yourself which (and how many) of the global competencies you are building with each lesson. The most effective global lessons often go DEEP rather than WIDE; consider spending multiple class periods to scaffold students' exposure and using varied texts, technologies, and materials to provide the most authentic learning opportunities.

Ready to take the BIG leap?! Hoping to completely globalize your classroom and your curriculum? Do you think planning a global unit (or course?!) is:

1. Exciting
2. Daunting
3. Invigorating
4. Nerve-racking
5. All of the above?

Whether you are a novice or master teacher, instruction at this level of implementation takes plenty of forethought. Using the Understanding by Design planning model and the Global Competencies diagram with intention may help you conceptualize your content in a concise and meaningful way. While planning is always essential, like with any other instruction, don't hesitate to be flexible. Go where your students' learning takes them (chances are, you'll learn something along the way, too)!