The Power of Global Connections

Recently, I received an invitation to visit a 2nd grade bilingual classroom in our district. The email explained that Mr. Paul Kantz's class would be connecting via Skype with Lupita Tovar, an astronomy and astrobiology PhD student at the University of Washington. I had seen on Twitter that Mr. Kantz's students had connected with a scientist and had done some Mystery Skypes and I was excited to see Mr. Kantz embrace global connections and seek out these opportunities for his students! This was always one of my favorite things to do in the classroom & the library.

The mission statement of our district is "to teach, challenge, and inspire each student in a safe, nurturing environment to succeed in the global community. In Mr. Kantz's room, he has this on the wall and "global community" is highlighted. This year, he has certainly opened up his classroom to the global community through connections with scientists and by participating in "Mystery Skypes" with other schools, in both English and Spanish.

I asked Mr. Kantz what he believed to be the biggest impact from these connections. Here was his response:

"The biggest surprise to me has been the intensity of learning that occurs prior to making a Skype connection. Myself and my students all feel like we are on a mission. I know that I must prep them well so they can understand what the scientist is talking about and ask intelligent questions. The students feel a sense of urgency, too. They begin to pick up and use relevant vocabulary, for instance, much more quickly than they might otherwise. They have become adept at formulating rich questions that call on a speaker's personal experience, as opposed to simple factual questions that we could easily Google. 

Beyond that, the connection itself is so important. It broadens students' horizons. Low-income students, in particular, tend to have had limited opportunities to travel, visit museums and so forth, which can act to constrain their academic success. If my students can talk to a scientist in Panama or Washington state (as we have done), or play "mystery Skype" with fellow elementary students in Ohio or Minnesota, then I think it can be a game-changer. And in the course of it all, they pick up so much collateral information as well. We talked to an astronomer, for example, but she told us about college life, scholarships and study abroad programs, as well as planets, stars and telescopes. (And we looked up her state on a map.)

Finally, I think it's important to connect my students with some good role models. I want my students to say, "I want to be like him or her!" And later for that aspiration to be a reason to take their studies seriously, stay in school, and go to college."

The students all enjoyed the connection and were very attentive during the conversation with Lupita. One student had this to say about the experience:

You can see that connecting students is POWERFUL and it opens up the world to them. There are a variety of tools to use to connect your students, including Skype, Google Hangout, Flipgrid and Zoom, just don't forget to keep student safety and privacy in mind when you connect. Use the same guidelines you would when bringing any guest into your classroom and make sure students have permission to be photographed or recorded.

Whether you are connecting your students through Mystery Skypes, connecting them to experts or connecting them to students across the country to celebrate Global Read Aloud, the important thing is to connect! 

What are some ways you connect your students? Please share! And be sure to connect with Mr. Paul Kantz on Twitter to see who his students connect with next!