Keynote address at the NPRA Dinner in Scranton, Pennsylvania. November 5, 2016.

1. Connected
Classrooms
and a New
World of
Learning
NEPA Reading
Association
Scranton, 2016
Mike Soskil
@msoskil

3. STEM is not Science, Technology,
Engineering, and Mathematics.
It is a culture of problem solving in
which all disciplines are used in
conjunction to make the world
better.

5. Literacy is the means through which every
man, woman, and child can realize his or her
full potential.
–Kofi Annan

6. Does the learning in classrooms matter to
students?
Photo Credit:
Flickr/cristic • Long-term learning cannot
take place without emotional
connection with content
• Extrinsic v. Intrinsic
Motivation
• Empathy correlates with both
happiness and success in life

8. How do I get started?
Rachel’s
Story

9. Why Global Learning?
• Cultural Understanding
• Emotional Experiences
• Communication,
Collaboration, Critical
Thinking, Creativity
• Student Empowerment

10. National Council of Teachers of English
21st Century Literacies
• Develop proficiency and fluency with the tools of technology
• Build intentional cross-cultural connections and relationships with
others so to pose and solve problems collaboratively and strengthen
independent thought
• Design and share information for global communities to meet a
variety of purposes
• Manage, analyze, and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneous
information
• Create, critique, analyze, and evaluate multimedia texts
• Attend to the ethical responsibilities required by these complex

11. It’s hard to change the world when you
don’t know much about it.

12. South Elementary Global Connections
• Song/Cultural Exchanges
• Virtual Valentines
• Exchange Skype/YT Video
Messages
• Data Collection in
Collaborative Spreadsheets
• Quadblogging
• Slow Twitter Chat
• Collaborative PBL Projects
• Mystery Skype
• Skype Teacher Exchange
(guest teacher from another
location)
• Digital Post Cards

14. Distance Teaching Project
distanceteaching.weebly.com

15. Project LINC
http://projectlinc.clubefl.gr/
Kansas Students – Microsoft Video

16. Once Upon a Flower
Time

17. Children who feel the joy of doing good for others
continue to look for new ways to make a
positive impact on the world.
They grow to be the problem solving leaders of the
next generation.

18. HIP Academy - Mukuyuni Bridge Project

20. Children are never too young to change the
world.

21. Beth Heidemann’s
Kindergarteners
Cushing, Maine
Hanif and Gethera Video by the Ms. Heidemann & the Cushkins

22. That’s great for those students.
But, how do I do that?

23. TheGlobalReadAloud.com

24. Virtual Field Trips
• Skype in the Classroom: education.skype.com
• Discovery Education: discoveryeducation.com/featured-programs
• Exploring by the Seat of Your Pants: exploringbytheseat.com
• JASON Learning: jason.org
• LivingMaths: livingmaths.com

25. Mystery Skype
• Similar to "20 Questions"
• Each class takes turns
asking Yes/No questions to
figure out location of the
other class.
• Variations: animals,
numbers, elements,
occupations, etc. instead
of locations.
• Builds critical thinking
skills and content
knowledge.
• Creates opportunities to
connect with other
locations to have Q&A
sessions about culture.
Resource to get started:
MysterySkypeOneNote.com

26. Overcoming Time Zone Issues

27. The 5 Clue
Challenge
• Use Skype Video Message or
YouTube to leave 5 clues for
partner class to guess
location, animal, etc.
• After each clue, students will
pause video, do research, and
take a guess.
• 5cluechallenge.weebly.com

28. Twitter
Not Just for Donald Trump Anymore!
• As of 2014, over 4.2 million tweets per day were
related to education, most by educators
• Hashtags allow you to curate and organize what you
see
• There is an educational hashtag for almost every
content area, grade level, and educational interest
area

29. A Few Educational Hashtags
#SciChat #MysterySkype
#MathChat #GlobalEd
#SSChat #ArtsEd
#EngChat #EdTech
#GTChat #EdChat
#SpEdChat #21stEdChat
#TeachersMatter #EdCamp
#TeachersLeading #Education
#KinderChat #STEM
#1stChat #CompSci
#2ndChat #MusicEd
#3rdChat #ElemChat
#4thChat #MakerEd
#5thChat #DigCit
Most states have their own
hashtag (ie - #PAedChat)

30. Tweetdeck.com

31. Finding Global Connections
• Twitter/Tweetdeck
• Have students contact
experts
• Facebook
• Friends/Family
Twitter for Global Connections
#SkypeMT - Skype Master Teachers
#GlobalLearning
@SkypeClassroom
#GlobalClassroom
#Skype2Learn
#MysterySkype

33. Every problem in the world has a solution
trapped inside our students’ passions.
Helping them see the connection
is our job as teachers.

34. Connect with Me
Twitter: @msoskil
Website: michaelsoskil.com
Email: mrsoskil@gmail.com