Classroom Connections
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Classroom Connections is an initiative that creates interactions between the classrooms of interested schools in the USA and clusters of schools in other countries. These partnerships seek to foster a philosophy of thinking of ourselves as being citizens of the world. We hope that these connections will improve young peoples knowledge and understanding of other cultures.
Classroom Connections help to:
- develop a better understanding of the world we live in
- compare and contrast the values and attitudes we carry
- work against prejudice and xenophobia
- provide opportunities to act as global citizens
- encourage understanding and friendship
- Classroom Connections also help raise levels of literacy; assists in learning to speak a foreign language; and demonstrates how to learn to work towards shared goals.
Ideas for Project Activities
- Teachers from a range of subjects can integrate a reading or activity into their lessons that draws attention to global issues and build awareness of the challenges that students in the partnering classroom may face.
- A class might decide to be pen pals with students in the partner country and at the end of the year collect their letters to each other as a “memorabilia” book.
- Celebrate an international literacy event and send pictures/video/letters to your connected classroom..
- Run a classroom book drive to share your favorite stories with your global neighbors.
- Share stories with each other via events such as “World Storytelling Day” and our “Read Globally, Act Locally” initiative.
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School Partnerships Help To Create “Global Citizens”
For this initiative there does need to be a firm commitment to the program, particularly from the head/principal.
- Partnerships last for three years, initially, and include the additional commitment to helping address the needs and priorities of the education systems of our partnering schools around the world.
- The School-to-School program seeks to encourage cross curricular activities. Learning about a foreign language, developing an understanding and appreciation of other cultures, and working together with others from very different backgrounds are all now important educational goals that partnerships can help foster.
- We encourage curriculum-based activities to draw awareness to global connections as well as helping to have a majority of students aware and involved.
- We work to become embedded in the life of a school, thus creating maximum impact. It is our hope that this will create a sustainable partnership that lasts well into the future.
GLP’s School-To-School partnerships serve to create a dialogue between schools participating in our High Literacy Clusters from around the world and the USA.
Remember, partnerships last for three years, initially, and do have specific requirements! If your classroom/school is simply interested in gaining one or two semesters of exposure before making a further commitment, please consider our “Classroom Connections” initiative.
Which countries are participating?
Our pilot program is currently limited to AFRICA: South Africa and the state of New Jersey in theUSA. We plan to soon have sites in Africa: Kenya; CARIBBEAN: St. Vincent and the Grenadines; INDIA: Tamil Nadu.