Teach

For my global competency toolkit artifacts, I included a mix of presentations, collaboration documentation, professional growth goals, and lesson plans. You should be able to click on each document to open it in a new page and further explore the artifact. 

We completed three spotlight challenges during the fall course. Below is one of the activities I completed with students. I have linked the specific thinking routine in case you would like to use it in your own classroom. 

"The 3 Why's & Culture Shock"

High school international students completed a culture unit where they explored key components of culture and read about the stages of culture shock. At the completion of the unit, students were asked to reflect on why culture & culture shock matters to them, to the people around them, and to the world as a whole. Their answers highlighted the positive impacts of exploring these culturally diverse and relevant topics in class. The 3 Why's Thinking Routine comes from Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education.

1. Empatico

A free, non-profit web platform designed to match elementary and middle school classrooms globally for structured video exchanges and social-emotional learning (SEL) activities. I used this platform when I was teaching 5th grade at an international school in South Korea. We connected with a classroom in Ukraine and it was a memorable and impactful experience for the students I was working with. 

2. Google Gemini 

Google Gemini is an AI-powered multimodal assistant and proactive collaborator designed to support productivity, learning, and creativity through context-aware, dynamic interactions. It can plan lessons, translate content across languages, and adapt reading levels for diverse learners. 

3. iEarn

A long-standing global network connecting educators and students across 140+ countries to collaborate on authentic, action-oriented academic projects. This allows students to feel connected to issues and users are able to create their own projects or join existing projects. 

4. Padlet

A digital visual canvas that allows students and teachers to post text, voice recordings, videos, documents, and locations on a shared wall. Padlet can be utilized asynchronously so classrooms can collaborate from different geographic locations and not have to worry about time change.

5. Book Creator

An accessible, UDL-certified digital tool where students combine text, audio recordings, video, drawings, and translation features into interactive eBooks. Book Creator includes features where multilingual learners can record voice-overs in their preferred languages, add auto-generated captions, and utilize speech-to-text tools. This gives every student multiple ways to express their culture and identity and these books can be shared within the classroom or in the greater community.

1. Holocaust and Human Rights Center (HHRC) Maine

HHRC offers educational programs for educators and students in Maine focusing on topics such as Hate Speech in Schools, Understanding and Confronting Bias, and Identity, Diversity, and Inclusion. HHRC offers programming both in person and virtually. HHRC draws clear connections between global and local topics and allows for both educators and students to make connections to the history and world around them. 

2. Maine Department of Education Global Partners Network

As stated on the DOE website, "The Maine Department of Education is committed to preparing students for an increasingly connected world by creating opportunities that nurture cross-cultural understanding and global competence. Through international partnerships, we collaborate with schools, educators, and institutions across the globe to enrich learning and expand what’s possible for Maine students and teachers." This website is a great jumping point for Maine educators interested in global learning opportunities and networking. 

3. Asia Society- Maine Page

The Asia Society Maine page gives an overview of "how global Maine is"  and highlights a few initiatives in Maine around global education. There are additional Maine specific global education resources linked on the page as well.