Global Educator Self-Evaluation

Strengths and Weaknesses as a Global Educator

As I read through the first few chapters of The Global Educator and learned the definition and attributes of global educators, I found myself assessing my teaching against each attribute. My findings are as follows:

You know you're a global educator when you "flatten the learning".

It took me a few re-reads to get a good idea of what it means to "flatten the learning". My understanding is that "flatten the learning" means to re-think the boundaries of students' educational opportunities. The learning doesn't happen within the walls of the classroom, rather the walls are metaphorically removed and students connect with others around the world to better understand a topic, ideally from others who are experiencing the topic in a way differently than they are. I found it very interesting in this presentation to learn about not only the characteristics of "flat educators", but also "flat students" and that "flat students" also need develop a PLN to connect with. When reflecting on my own practices, I realized that this is a major weakness for me. I rarely incorporate current events into my lessons, and I don't give students opportunities to make connections with others around the world to deepen their understanding of a topic.Throughout this course, I look forward to finding ways to "flatten the learning" for my students and create opportunities for them to build global connections and realize the world is much bigger than their small, rural, Midwest town.

You know you're a global educator when you encourage and model global citizenship.

Though teaching digital citizenship is not something that is new to me, teaching global digital citizenship addresses a new facet that I believe I don't spend enough time focusing on. I found it interesting to learn the difference between digital citizenship and global digital citizenship. My understanding is that global digital citizenship includes all of the components of digital citizenship (digital literacy, engaging respectfully with others, digital footprint, etc.), but extends to also includes having a knowledge of, empathy for, and connections with cultures and countries around the world. This awareness prepares students for a future that involves collaboration with others around the world. While I feel that teaching digital awareness is a moderate strength of mine, global digital citizenship is something that I have not focused on teaching students. From the text, it states we shouldn't wait for students to have a deep knowledge of global digital citizenship before attempting global collaboration, and students will learn from hands-on experiences. Though I'd currently consider this a weakness of mine, I look forward to learning ways to give students hands-on opportunities to develop global digital citizenship skills.

You know you're a global educator when you collaborate anywhere, anytime. 

To me, collaborating anywhere, anytime means creating a network of others around the world to connect with in order to gain new understanding. I am currently working on building my global community, mainly through Twitter. I recently attended a professional development session where we created Twitter accounts and began building our PLN. I mainly am connecting with other teachers to get new ideas for lessons, management, and ways to incorporate technology, and after reading the section in the text about developing PLNs, I am now interested in connecting with educators across different countries and cultures. While I consider my eagerness to build a PLN and create connections to be a strength, I'd still classify myself as a "lurker" on the 7 Degrees of Connectedness. Throughout this course, I'd like to build my confidence and have the characteristics of an "insider" through the development and participation in my PLN.

You know you're a global educator when you use online technologies.

This attribute is definitely one I consider to be one of my strengths! I interpret this attribute to mean that a global educator is excited to learn about and try new technologies to enhance student learning experiences and allow students to show their learning. I am always excited to try new programs or tools, and if I am unsure about exactly how to use a program, I encourage students to explore it and teach myself and their classmates more about it. Toward the end of a unit when I need students to show their learning, I will often provide a few ideas of programs to use (ex- design a poster on Canva, create a presentation on Powtoon, create a website on Google Sites), then ask the class if they have other ideas or technologies they've used that they think would work and add them to our ideas list. I look forward to learning how to utilize my enthusiasm for learning new technologies to help my students connect to the world.

You know you're a global educator when you design futuristic learning environments to connect with the world.

I love the quote from the text that states, "as digital technologies become even more ubiquitous, it is the power of people and of relationships that will influence the changes we want to see in education for the future." Using new technologies is a step in the right direction, but these new technologies need to be used to connect students globally. This section also seems to focus on having authentic purposes for their learning and showcasing their learning. While I feel I am strong at giving students options for presenting their learning, I don't feel that many of my options have authentic audiences and purposes. The example from the text of how Eric includes a global communication component in his project-based class was especially interesting to me. If students create virtual fliers about a California drought, he makes sure they are publicly promoted. I take the step of giving students chances to creatively show their learning, but I lack in the area of giving students ways to globally showcase their work, and I look forward to improving in this area.