Central Ohio educators who are seeking to integrate unique international voices into their students' learning can utilize a great new tool from the Columbus Council on World Affairs. Their online database is a starting point for locating volunteer speaker candidates. User selections for criteria such as "audience type," and "country" will produce a list of available speakers. It can be accessed at: http://columbusworldaffairs.org/resources/global-speakers-bureau/.

   

Asia Society posits that "The adoption of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for English language arts and mathematics...offers educators an unprecedented opportunity to marry the skill development and acquisition of core content needed to develop globally competent citizens with the rigorous skills and core content needed to prepare all students for college and careers."

Want more details? Read this!

 

Eleven area school districts representing more than 150,000 students are coordinating efforts around a common mission: "To increase the global competency of K-12 students in Central Ohio." To achieve this long-term goal, they have begun designing a Global Scholars Diploma; this credential would help students demonstrate their ability to thrive in a global environment.  

 

As teachers begin to implement the Common Core standards and the new PARCC assessments, the GlobalEd Network of Central Ohio will help all stakeholders understand that International Education is not a competing priority, but a way to support the type of learning described in these frameworks. 

The following school districts have shown leadership:

For more information, contact Donna Nesbitt at The Columbus Council on World Affairs.

 

At GlobalColumbus.org, visitors can see a calendar of globally themed events in Central Ohio -- from lectures, to Turkish cooking classes, to film festivals. It is a one-stop "hub" for knowing what is going on around town. Consider arranging a field trip around one or more of Central Ohio's offerings.  Teachers build a visit in to a homework assignment or capstone project. attend on your own to expand your own content knowledge. A certificate verifying CPUs can often be arranged with just a phone call to the organizers of the event and a conversation with your administrator.    

Over the course of the 2011-2012 school year, sixty students in three third grade classes at Bexley's Montrose Elementary partnered with two similarly sized third grade classes at international schools in Venezuela and Singapore (as well as a sibling group of former Montrose students living in Tanzania) to share musical experiences and collaborate in writing and recording original songs.

The project was led by teacher Bill Manchester and had several phases. The Montrose students introduced themselves to their peer collaborators via a video of them singing their favorite folk song, "Chicken on a Fence Post." In videoconferencing and video exchange sessions following, students from Venezuela and Singapore shared music and games they were performing in class as well as sharing their favorite subjects, soccer teams, and what they like to do for fun.

Last January, students from Montrose began writing songs with professional recording/touring artists Katie and Jacob Eckerberger through video conferencing technology.  Students from the partner schools added additional verses and collaborated on what instrumentation to use in demo videos compiled by the two performers. The project culminated in May with the world premiere of live and recorded versions of the original songs. A professionally recorded CD utilizing student voices from all schools involved was produced.

This project, dubbed "world.hope.songs", serves as an outstanding model for other Central Ohio schools. Did you or someone else at your school do something worth sharing with peer global education practitioners?  Tell us about it here:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/nominateaLocalStar.

Fulbright Hays Seminars Abroad

Applications available will be available on October 24, 2012 with a deadline of December 10, 2012. This Fulbright program is administered by the U.S. Department of Education. It allows teachers to travel to another country during the summer for an extended period of time. This is one is open to elementary teachers, too. http://www2.ed.gov/programs/iegpssap/applicant.html  

 

Kezai Koho Center Fellowships to Japan

Watch this site for the 2013 application information in the next few months. It's a great trip to Japan during June and July. http://www.us-japan.org/programs/index.html  

 

Distinguished Fulbright Awards in Teaching

This one is for those who want to spend a semester in another country learning or researching. It's administered by the U.S. Department of State and requires permission from the district to be on leave for that period of time. (The State Department also administers teacher exchanges.)

http://www.fulbrightteacherexchange.org 

Fulbright International Education Administrators Program

The deadlines for these highly recommended programs vary by destination country. You don't need language proficiency for most of them.

http://www.cies.org/IEA/Timeline.htm