These global sites, Taking it Global & KidLink are great tools to be used by educators and students to make a difference personally, locally and to the global community as a whole.

KidLink provides ways for students to connect to curriculum on a more personal level. Through the completion of activities that combine curriculum and personal interests and ideas that the students hold, the students are encouraged to be more engaged than a simple teacher directed, textbook lesson. The activities such as find out the meaning of your name and decide your future career provide life skills while encouraging written work.

Taking it Global provides students a chance to become knowledgeable about global concerns and promote awareness of these concerns among their community. This site differs from KidLink because it enacts lessons that could be used to promote global unity instead of life skills.

These two sites could be used in my classroom during our advisement period, homeroom as well as during my Spanish classes. Providing students the opportunity to think about future life choices through KidLink & display their work with other children around the world would be an interesting activity that the students might enjoy. Taking it Global could be used in one or two different ways. First, the students could engage in a community service project during a Spanish club or Student Council activity. Another way to use this site is to promote cultural awareness of global concerns in Spanish speaking countries. Both of these sites could promote diversity and encourage the students to take interest in communities and issues around the world!

Finally, Skype could also be used as part of a Global Cooperation Project. In our Spanish classes or homeroom we could directly connect with another classroom that had posted on KidLink or to a community that might have been affected by a global issue found on Taking it Global. Although starting this partnership might be difficult, global awareness can be achieved and students both at my school and around the world.