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Tag Archives: geography

2014 2014-Stories for Learning

Out My Window

Published by:

Presenter: Leslie Pralle Keehn, Erin Olson
Location: Blairsburg

@lprallekeehn

@eolsonteacher

Presentation Description: Out My Window was born from a quest to have students gain global perspective. OMW classrooms share their story with the world. Inspired by the 5 themes of geography, students reveal cultural awareness & understanding through poetry & photography.

Goals for the session:
To involve more classrooms in the quest to gain global perspective
To showcase the power of content and concept convergence
To provide an example of meaningful technology integration
To honor student voice and ability to create for an audience

Our perspective is shaped by our experiences. Those experiences are shaped by where we live. The themes of geography can be addressed through personal narrative, and when that happens an appreciation for all that is experienced and all that is seen is heightened. Stories are the thread connecting us all. Using geography, photography, and poetry participants can share and celebrate their story. Because the project is about sharing all of this, an audience can gain also connect to the creator’s story.

Out My Window transforms how we look at and teach geography by making it a cross-curricular tool to connect with a global community. Honoring student voice and perspective in the process of not just consuming, but creating content also honors the power of the human story. Traditionally, geography is not viewed as poetic. The emotion poetry can incite connected to geography’s theme is transformative. Imagine if more students globally gained an appreciation for people and their perspectives…imagine how that would influence empathy.

 

Link to presentation’s supporting documents:

#outmywindow1415

2013 Outside Learning

5 Themes of Geography: Local to Global

Published by:

Presenter: Leslie Pralle Keehn
Location: Blairsburg, Iowa, USA
@lprallekeehn

 

Presentation Description: In a year-long focus on the 5 themes, students first developed local, personal videos that put them out in the community. We shared this project with other districts, publishing their videos and viewing videos of other classrooms as well. Later, they Skyped with a gentleman from India, living in South Africa, who traveled around the poorest regions of Sub-Saharan Africa. With him, they learned about and discussed the 5 themes along with the UN’s Millennium Development Goals, taking their learning global. Finally the year-long study culminated in the students producing projects based on personal interest in other countries around the world, using the 5 themes video format from the beginning of the year.

Follow the journey of 7th grade students in rural Iowa who took the 5 themes of geography from local to global as they learned about and connected with cultures around the globe, incorporating creation, connection, collaboration, and change along the way.

Link to presentation’s supporting documents:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1d1YDToeFsneoy8LyBJZiBvSfoSWDSs-iIc-GT1HqKXc/edit

Additional Information:
http://keehnedtech.blogspot.com
http://www.rethinkredesign.org