My class is currently involved in a wonderful global project called Our World, Our Numbers.
We launched Our World, Our Numbers alongside our blogging buddies on Monday 25th February.
In late 2011, many of us worked on a global project called Our World, Our Stories. This latest project is based on a similar format with a mathematical focus.
In late 2011 I reflected on the fabulous outcomes from the Our World, Our Stories project.
Classes involved
The students are all from primary (elementary) classes and are from three different continents and five countries.
Mr Avery’s sixth grade class from Massachusetts, USA
Mrs Monaghan’s 3/4 class, Room with a View, from England
Mrs Morris and Miss Jordan’s grade four class, 4KM and 4KJ, from Victoria, Australia
Mrs McKenzie’s 2/3 class, B4, from New Zealand
Mrs Yollis’ 2/3 class from California, USA
Mr Salsich’s third grade class from Connecticut, USA
Mrs Watson’s K/1/2/3 class from Canada
View Our World, Our Numbers in a larger map
How does the project work?
Students from all classes are connecting and collaborating by sharing their mathematical lives. This is happening through the blog and involves a variety of media.
A different class “leads” a mathematical topic every week or so, publishing posts and replying to comments. The other classes read the posts, possibly publish their own posts, and leave blog comments.
Topics
The topics so far have been:
Our future topics will involve mathematical elements of animals, area/populations and seasons/temperatures.
The learning
Through blog posts, the students teach each other about different aspects of mathematics based on aspects of their own culture.
The learning continues in the commenting section where students, teachers and parents engage in conversations to explore mathematical and cultural topics further.
Students are gaining an understanding of mathematics through the eyes of children in different countries and cultures. They are making comparisons and contrasts between their lives and other students’ lives.
Concluding the project
This project will conclude in mid-May. Stayed tuned for a culminating celebration then!
Our World, Our Numbers is a project we came up with ourselves. If you want some advice on how to start your own global project, read my post “Start Your Own Global Project”.
[…] with classrooms half-way across the globe? Well, that is what one educator is doing through the ‘Our World, Our Numbers Global Project’. Mrs. Kathleen Morris, an Australian native, has been engaged with blogging for the past six years […]
Hello my name is Marie Allgood. I am a student in EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama. I have been assigned to your blog and I am so happy about it. I will be making my summary on your last two posts on April 7, 2013. Please feel free to view my comments at http://allgoodmarieedm310.blogspot.com. I really loved the global project. I can only imagine how amazed and excited the students are when they see they have new comments and post to read. I imagine the students are eager to learn new things so that they share it on their blog for others to learn. This idea seems to be a great way to get the students involved and eager to learn. I love that you have so many different classes working on this project instead of just two. The multiple continents make it very interesting to me also. I am very excited to follow this project and see how well it turns out.
Hi Marie,
Thanks for taking the time to comment. I hope you have your students involved in global projects in the future too. I’m sure they’d love it and learn a lot!
Best wishes,
Kathleen
Hello, my name is Katie and I am an education student in the Rochester, New York area. This global blogging project seems like a really great idea for the students who are involved, because not only are they learning about all different types of topics (such as currency and landmarks), but the students also get to see how kids who are the same age as them, live in other places around the world. I believe that this really helps students become aware of the world around them, not just the small bubble that they are exposed to daily. Because of this international blogging, students can apply what they now know about these countries to current events that they might hear about. I hope that someday I will be able to do an international project similar to this one in my own classroom. This real life application is an experience that I am sure no student will forget!
Hi Katie,
Thanks for taking the time to comment. The students are certainly enjoying the global project and getting a lot out of it. I hope you end up doing something similar some day.
Cheers,
Kathleen
This activity sounds AMAZING! I’m Liz, I am back in school getting a second master’s degree in technology. I teach special needs students in Kentucky at an International Baccalaureate School. Activities like this really open up the world (literally) to the students! We are currently gearing up for National World Culture day on May 21. The students are going to have the opportunity to learn dances, complete art projects, and partake in a potluck. To be able to have them interact to kids their own age from other countries would be awesome for us! How did you get this started? Was it challenging to get administration or parents on board?
Hi Liz,
Thanks for your comment. We just came up with the idea ourselves. I’ve worked on a number of global projects with this same group of teachers over the years and it’s worked well! We haven’t had any issues getting admin or parents on board but it’s always good to keep them well informed.
Good luck!
Kathleen
Kathleen, Thanks so much for your reply! Being that I teach students with pretty severe special needs, I’m not sure how much my students would be able to participate in an activity like this. I do think it would be fabulous for other grades though in my building! Do you have any suggestions about how to get something like this started? How did you meet the teachers you collaborated with? I’m not sure it would be hard for us being an IB school to find schools and teachers to work with, but was just curious what suggestions you may have for us. I’d love to pass this on to our principal and our IB program coordinator.
Hi Liz,
I met the other teachers through our class blogs. You can read more about it here http://primarytech.global2.vic.edu.au/2011/05/07/connecting-with-other-classes-through-blogging/
Twitter is also a fabulous place to connect with other teachers. You might find some advice useful here http://primarytech.global2.vic.edu.au/2011/11/10/are-you-on-twitter-yet/
Good luck!
Kathleen
Hello Kathleen,
This is a wonderful idea to get students to communicate with others around the globe! I am an 8th grade online Math teacher for Nevada Connections Academy and I have been thinking about how I can get my students to collaborate with others internationally. I really like your first lesson idea on Currency, as I can integrate this into my lesson on Ratios. I also enjoyed reading about all of the benefits of starting a class blog. There are lots of ways I didn’t think of before. Thank you!!
Hi Angela,
Thanks for leaving a comment. I’m glad to hear you enjoyed reading about this project. It was a truly worthwhile experience. Good luck with your future global collaborations and blogging!
Best wishes,
Kathleen
Hello! I am currently a childhood/special education major at SUNY Geneseo. In one of my curriculum classes we are learning about the benefits of incorporating technology into the classroom setting. I think blogging with other classrooms is a great way for students to learn about the world they live in. Sharing ideas allows students to learn about cultural differences they didn’t know existed. I think this activity is also great because it highlights the importance of students learning from each other. Most of the global blogs I have read have focused on some aspect of literacy development, so I think it’s great that the focus for this particular blog is on math. I enjoyed reading your post!