Check (Click) it out!
In today's world of information overload and social media output, being able to connect to reliable resources to assist an educator in being more globally aware and to provide articles for students' awareness and understanding about the world are crucial for the busy teacher. Three resources Teaching Tolerance, The New York Times Upfront Magazine, and Global Education Conference are ones you might find helpful.
Using these routines, teachers cultivate classroom cultures that nurture global competence.
Weekly newsletters with features and lesson plans and four magazine publications a year. It has a literacy based program, Perspectives, an anthology of literature for grades K-12. Teaching Tolerance offers four categories within the Professional Development: School Climate, Classroom Strategies, Reflection Teaching.
Here is a link for building Literacy-based, Anti-biased Lesson Plans
Here is a link for professional learning from Teaching Tolerance
Here is the link to the Teaching for Tolerance Spring 2017 magazine.
About Teaching Tolerance: A Project of the Southern Poverty Law Center
Founded in 1991 by the Southern Poverty Law Center, Teaching Tolerance is dedicated to reducing prejudice, improving intergroup relations and supporting equitable school experiences for our nation's children. We provide free educational materials to teachers and other school practitioners in the U.S. and Canada. Our self-titled magazine is sent to 450,000 educators twice annually, and tens of thousands of educators use our free curricular kits. More than 5,000 schools participate in our annual Mix It Up at Lunch Day program. Our teaching materials have won two Oscars, an Emmy and more than 20 honors from the Association of Educational Publishers, including two Golden Lamp Awards, the industry's highest honor. Scientific surveys demonstrate that our programs help students learn respect for differences and bolster teacher practice. "Tolerance" is surely an imperfect term, yet the English language offers no single word that embraces the broad range of skills we need to live together peacefully. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. used the Greek term "agape" to describe a universal love that "discovers the neighbor in every man it meets." The various disciplines concerned with human behavior have also offered a variety of adjectives: "pro-social," "democratic," "affiliative." In its Declaration of Principles on Tolerance, UNESCO offers a definition of tolerance that most closely matches our philosophical use of the word: Tolerance is respect, acceptance and appreciation of the rich diversity of our world's cultures, our forms of expression and ways of being human. Tolerance is harmony in difference. We view tolerance as a way of thinking and feeling — but most importantly, of acting — that gives us peace in our individuality, respect for those unlike us, the wisdom to discern humane values and the courage to act upon them.
A national campaign launched by Teaching Tolerance in 2002, Mix It Up at Lunch Day encourages students to identify, question and cross social boundaries. And we ask schools to participate on the last Tuesday in October each school year! In our surveys, students have identified the cafeteria as the place where divisions are most clearly drawn. So for just a day, we ask students to move out of their comfort zones and connect with someone new over lunch. It’s a simple act with profound implications. Studies have shown that interactions across group lines can help reduce prejudice. When students interact with those who are different from them, biases and misperceptions can fall away.
A national campaign launched by Teaching Tolerance in 2002, Mix It Up at Lunch Day encourages students to identify, question and cross social boundaries. And we ask schools to participate on the last Tuesday in October each school year! In our surveys, students have identified the cafeteria as the place where divisions are most clearly drawn.
So for just a day, we ask students to move out of their comfort zones and connect with someone new over lunch. It’s a simple act with profound implications. Studies have shown that interactions across group lines can help reduce prejudice. When students interact with those who are different from them, biases and misperceptions can fall away.
The New York Times Scholastic Upfront magazine offers ongoing current event articles. The back page of each magazine has editorial cartoons connected with the issue articles. This provides an excellent opportunity for students to analyze the communication of the intended cartoon. Students can move to the next step of creating a cartoon about an article.
Though Upfront is listed as a Grades 9-12 publication, fifth graders can enjoy it, as well, and welcome each issue. Letting children explore the magazine bringing forward the articles or information that catches their attention, about what they would like to learn more, or what questions arise, provides an opportunity for students to increase their background knowledge and understanding. As is with any information for gifted students who readily perceive the world’s issues and complexity of solving the problems, teachers need to put the information in context for the age group.
A network within the International Society for Technology Education (ISTE) offers another connection with the world. The Global Education Conference is an international community comprised of students, educators, and organizations who believe in the power of globally connected teaching and learning. Their activities are designed to significantly increase opportunities for connecting classrooms while supporting cultural awareness and recognition of diversity and educational access for all. The event is free and takes place entirely online.
