Next week marks the beginning of my fifth year as a 7th Grade World Geography teacher. Each year I have worked to develop curriculum that creates critical and mindful global thinkers and that also instills in them a sense of empathy for citizens around the world.

My goal is to have my students leave my classroom as competent and compassionate global citizens, empowered to make positive changes in the world. 

To kickoff student learning this year I want to avoid rote tasks and conversations inherently confined to the four walls of our classroom, and instead go beyond these constraints and demonstrate the power of global. I decided to use FlipGrid to do just this.  I used the tool in the spring and my students loved it. Not only could I hear my students thinking, but they were eager to listen to one another in a way that was far more attentive than in classroom discussion. Will the same attention be paid to voices of strangers? I can’t answer that yet. But I can say that the responses recorded thus far are fantastic, and if my students listen to even just a few of these responses, I am confident that my objective will be met. My students will be considering and evaluating the perspectives of others, a skill essential to global citizens. 
Thirty-three voices shared, 67 more to go! The task of creating global citizens takes a village! I hope many will include themselves in this village and record a response.

What does it mean to be a global citizen?

Please check out the responses and share your voice!

Photo credit: Pixabay