Weekly App Practical- Students as Global Citizens

This reading and discussion hit me hard because I always felt I was a good teacher, but doing the reading I realized I am in my little bubble. When November brought up the American Revolution and how England has a completely different point of view, I realized I have never questioned what my teachers have presented to me. I just take things for fact and do not consider another's point of view!

To be a global citizen students need to understand the world outside their little bubble. They need to see what is not familiar to them. This is what I want for my students.

Although I present different ways to solve the same problem, I do not present different point of views, such as for word problems. When first reading this section, I myself, was stuck in my little bubble and thought, "There is no way to incorporate being a global citizen into a 9th Grade Algebra Class. Of course I have proved myself wrong by doing a quick search and being open minded.

Why should students be global citizens in math class?

Students will...

• Be more likely to accept diversity.
• Have a greater understanding of how the world works and what their role is in it.
• Take responsibility for their actions.
• Participate more within the community.
• Work to make the world more equitable.

How can it being a global citizen be incorporated into a math class?

• Use data in word problems such as a populations access to water, education, electricity, life expectancy, mortality rate, etc. and compare it to your community.
• Compare wages and populations.
• Look at country's sizes and populations. (population density)
• Compare government spending on different things--military, education, health care, etc.

What can go wrong?

I actually do not forsee any major issues with changing how I teach. The hardest part will be to go back and change word problems to incorporate these ideas and researching to find accurate data. I suppose some students may say "I don't care about other people" or "This doesn't apply to me", but those are the students I am hoping to reach.