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International Education Washington
Cadre of Teacher Leaders for Bridges to
Understanding
This project is funded by a 2007 State Innovations grant from Longview Foundation.
Purpose: Expand capacity for infusing global perspectives within
school communities
Timeframe: Spring through January, 2008
Description:
- Work with cadre of premier lead teachers in international
education to produce “Lead Teachers Guide” on infusing direct online
global learning across international boundaries
- Implement investigation and testing of global perspectives
assessment tools in selected classrooms, and disseminate results
- Have teacher leaders present workshops at statewide venues, such
as the Washington State Council for the Social Studies, Washington
Association for Language Teaching, and OSPI Summer Institutes and
Winter Conference to disseminate learning and expansion of global
learning within school communities
Key Personnel:
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Greg Tuke, Executive Director of Bridges to Understanding; 2006
State Innovations Grant Project Director
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Jennifer Geist, Teacher Development Manager for Bridges to
Understanding
Status as of: 1/25/2008 | 12/12/2007 |
9/2/2007 |
5/7/2007
- Work with cadre of premier lead teachers in international
education to produce “Lead Teachers Guide” on infusing direct online
global learning across international boundaries
By June 2008, seventeen middle and high school teachers in the Puget
Sound area will have completed a Bridges online project collaboration.
The vast majority (15) will have done so following the "Bridges to
Understanding Climate Change Project 2007-08 Curriculum Guide." This
framework guides teachers through three phases in a project based
learning process beginning with Introductions, then Shared Learning
and and culminating with Final Projects. While this Guide focuses on
Climate Change, it is designed so that we can develop and "substitute
in" any global theme we choose while continuing to follow a
thoughtful, efficient framework. Each phase of this project contains
the following:
1. Online discussion forums for dialogue with an international partner
class, and communication rubrics for guidance and assessment.
2. Cross cultural learning activities with rubrics for expectations
and assessments.
3. Journaling prompts which incorporate cross cultural inquiry and
perspectives.
4. Articulated instructions for digital story development leading to
the final product. Final Project Phase includes a rubric for
expectations and assessment of Digital Media.
5. Suggestions for application of learning through Action Ideas and
Community Service.
The "Bridges to Understanding Climate Change Project 2007-08
Curriculum Guide" is available on the Bridges website:
http://bridgesweb.org/projects/projects_climate.html.
Download:
Bridges Climate Change Curriculum (PDF).
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Implement investigation and testing of global perspectives
assessment tools in selected classrooms, and disseminate results
Through our close collaborations with local and international
teachers, we have learned several new strategies and tools related to
organizing (grouping), synthesizing and assessing this project work.
Since September 2007, Bridges Lead Teachers have focused on teaching
strategies and project implementation in their classrooms, as well as
successful cross-cultural collaborations with partner teachers around
the world. Bridges developed assessment tools have been used more for
guidance and less for actual assessment in an empirical sense.
Projects which are resuming and/or repeating from February-June 2008
will attempt to apply the assessment tools more formally. That said,
journal writing, math problem solving (carbon footprint calculations
and comparisons), group work, organizational skills have all been
evaluated by Bridges teachers, and all have reported increased efforts
by students and attribute this to the relevancy of the project given
the real audience of global peers. For this reason, we feel that the
curriculum, as it is framed, is effective. We will be refining the
curriculum as well as the assessment tools as we gain additional
experience and input from our teacher cohort.
- Presentations and Workshops
Bridges has presented at Seattle University this past Spring (15
participants) and at the recent World Languages Workshop at the
University of Washington, with over 40 educators participating. We
will also present again at The Mosaics workshop on March 22nd. This
workshop is sponsored by the international outreach centers at the
University of Washington and focuses on integrating international
cultures and issues into the curriculum. This year’s workshop, titled
“Hands on the World: Connecting Crafts and Culture in the K-8
Curriculum,” will target the arts as a vehicle through which other
cultures and cultural understanding can be taught in a K-8 classroom.
In addition, Michele Anciaux Aoki plans to share the
Bridges
Curriculum Overview (PDF) at the January 2008 OSPI Winter
Conference.
- Bridges is working on plans for developing the cadre of premier
lead teachers this fall.
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