Besides the professional joy of having students interested in learning, and the achievement of having students become technologically proficient for classroom learning, teachers also were asked, “What are you most proud of?”
“I’m so proud that students were able to come up with questions on their own, questions that really stretched their ways of thinking and included examples from current events,” said Leanne Wyatt from St. John’s Episcopal School in Dallas, whose project examined World War II perspectives. “The organic conversations that took place between students gave me shivers!”
“The fact that the students ‘got it’ and knew that they had learned to master a pretty tough mathematics concept made me proud,” said Thomas Gaffey, math teacher at the School of the Future in Philadelphia, whose project familiarized first-year high school students with Algebra I and technology-related concepts. “Their growth in self-confidence and their continued interest in learning about subjects that aren’t typically considered ‘fun’ subjects is inspiring.”
The winning team, Rawya Shatila and Cheryl Arnett from Sunset Elementary School in Craig, Colo., was announced at an awards dinner at the Newseum on July 30.
Shatila and Arnett also were the IEF’s Educator’s Choice Award winners—meaning they were chosen by their peer participants at IEF as having the most innovative and effective teacher project.
Watch Microsoft’s video on Shatila and Arnett’s project
[field name=iframe]
Their project, “Digital Stories: A Celebration of Learning and Culture,” involved two classes of children—one in Colorado and the other in Beirut, Lebanon. These two first and second grade classes used technology from ePals to share stories, learning, and activities throughout the year.
In addition, Shatila and Arnett, who had never met, collaborated and learned from each other. The students in Colorado were all English-speaking, while the students in Beirut were English-language learners. Students posted messages and drawings on a wiki, exchanged bookmarks on World Book Day, shared the holidays they celebrate on a wiki and VoiceThread, and also shared their digital stories on a blog.
Both teachers said students’ technology skills grew as they became experts at manipulating their wiki postings. Students also learned about geography through online mapping tools and time and weather sites, and math concepts from calculating time zone differences and graphing temperatures. The most significant learning, they said, was an increased awareness of similarities and differences between similarly aged children from other countries.
Both teachers agreed that without support from their school systems and without the technology applications, the project wouldn’t have been possible.
“The parents also were so happy about the collaboration, because it was authentic,” said Shatila. “We used to say ‘Imagine that you have a friend in the U.S. or in Africa, and write a letter to them.’ Now we have real friends, and learning becomes authentic; they can’t wait to receive the messages!”
Shatila and Arnett said they are proud not only of their students making friends from other cultures, but proud of themselves as well, for finding a friend and colleague thousands of miles away.
Shatila and Arnett will participate in Microsoft’s WorldWide Innovative Teachers Program in October.
While the winners receive no monetary compensation, they are internationally recognized and have the opportunity to spread their project’s concept on a global scale.
“As a teacher, it feels like we are always criticized—and here we were celebrated and uplifted and recognized at the IEF,” said Arnett. “The IEF is also wonderful for teachers because there are so many wonderful ideas to take back and share with my colleagues and enrich the teaching and learning as well as the technology in my entire district. These ideas will be put into practice.”
Shatila agreed that the IEF provides an opportunity to network with colleagues and helps “… to meet new friends and extend the conversation beyond the forum.”
“Even though the economy is terrible and education funding is seeing cutbacks, we’ve also been seeing these pockets of innovation from resourceful teachers and schools across the country,” said Keith Hobson, a representative from Microsoft’s U.S. Public Sector.
“What this program does is give the education community a chance to hear about these innovations and connect with each other to replicate these ideas.”
Links:
Microsoft Innovative Education Forum
Worldwide Innovative Teachers Program
Note to readers:
Don’t forget to visit the Measuring 21st-century skills resource center. Graduates who enter the workplace with a solid grasp of 21st-century skills bring value to both the workplace and global marketplace. Go to:
Measuring 21st-century skills
- #4: 25 education trends for 2018 - December 26, 2018
- Video of the Week: Dealing with digital distraction in the classroom - February 23, 2018
- Secrets from the library lines: 5 ways schools can boost digital engagement - January 2, 2018