In December 2020, I discovered that I would become part of a Global Impactor Cohort. Dr. Marialice Curran sent me an email to tell me that she would be putting me into this cohort. It was the day before Winter Break started, and I was so excited to hear this news.
The cohort headed by Dr. Marialice Curran consisted of mentors and mentees: and the soul mission was to connect with others globally and show students how to use tech for good. The meetings started on the first Friday in January. It was interesting to meet with other educators and learn about the Global Impactor Program. We discussed the five pillars of digital citizenship and how to inspire students to become good digital citizens by incorporating them into our classes. There were educators from Scotland, Kenya, Kuwait, India, and the United States. The first meeting flew by, and I found myself looking forward to the next meeting.
We were all given free subscriptions to the Belouga platform. Belouga.org is a web-based educational platform that connects classrooms around the world. The platform has so many informative videos to enhance classroom teaching. Founder and CEO Evin Schwartz showed us how best to use Belouga in our classes and connect.
We met each Friday and took part in learning something new. Each meeting had us thinking about something else. There were enthralling guest speakers who taught us the importance of mental health, play in the classroom, learning through e-games, coding, and the value of Minecraft in the classroom. The best part of each session was how we all learned alongside each other. It also helped me get through a strict lockdown in my city and distance learning in my school. I was so happy to connect with fabulous educators around the world.
We met with our mentors and talked about potential projects for our classes. Since my class was launching their blogfolios, Marialice suggested making a Public Service Announcement with my students. We shared our projects with the larger group. Marialice created a DM Twitter group for the Global Impactor Cohort. This DM group allowed members to send links to upcoming talks, events, or podcasts. I found myself enjoying learning about coding with students and listening to informative podcasts in the evenings and on weekends.
A favourite session was learning about the value of play in the classroom, even the third-grade classroom. Jess Amato showed us how to alleviate stress by playing quick and simple games with students. Even a 5-10 minute game could be beneficial and build community. After this session, I brought Madlibs into my virtual classroom, and the student loved it. Playing this game for a few minutes a day added laughter to our class. I secretly enjoyed how my students were reviewed nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs.
Eric Kussen of the Same Here foundation talked with us about the importance of mental health. It was a talk that stayed with me the rest of the year. Good mental health is vital at the best of times. It became even more crucial during the second period of remote learning for my students in April; the lockdown was so strict in Ottawa, Ontario, that parks were off-limits for children. I jumped at the chance to take part in the #Same Here Mental Health Awareness Month on the Belouga Platform in May. My class participated in a talk with Dr. Marialice Curran and students in New York. We talked about things we did for our mental health to cope with lockdowns and remote learning.
Another connection I made was with a mentor Dene Gainey, an educator from Florida. He had written a play, Diversity: It’s Not Just About You, It’s About Us: Together We’re Better. I decided that my classes would read it for our reading sessions. The students loved getting their parts and becoming the different characters in the play. They loved coming to virtual class and doing read-throughs of the play. The best part was when Dene and I got our classes together over Google Meet. The students introduced themselves and the characters they played. It was nice to see the students discuss the parts they had. Dene kindly answered all my students’ questions about being a playwright and writing. He inspired my students that a couple of them started to write a play.
My Global Impactor project was to make a public service announcement on making good comments on blogs. My class had launched blogfolios (digital portfolios/blogs), and this project was the perfect way for my students to help others learn how to make comments. I thought a trilingual public service announcement would help my students practice the three languages they study at school. The class had lots of fun writing and recording it.
I was so happy to be part of this Global Impactor cohort. The global connection and the inspiration of teaching students to use tech for good were just what I needed in a year of Covid and remote learning. Special thanks to Marialice for being such a positive leader and mentor. You have inspired us all to make a global impact!