Thankfully, cooler heads prevailed and the pig was the only casualty in this lesson on how peace can be achieved. Instead of attacking one another, the Americans and British established a peaceful joint occupation on San Juan Island while the dispute could be decided by an international arbiter, who happened to be Kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany. Yet how many students–and even well-educated adults–know this story? Nearly every student learns of the bloody conflicts in our history, in which war is often glorified–or at least justified–as an appropriate means of resolving disputes, yet far too few learn about the true costs of war and how throughout history equally courageous men and women have successfully fought to prevent it. These alternative stories–like all education–are even more powerful if they are connected to the places in which they live, in this case the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia.

From learning about an episode such as this one–ideally through a visit to the place, or at least some kind of virtual field trip, many students would no doubt be inspired to learn more about the history of the time. This might include investigating the role of the governor of the Oregon Territory at the time or how Native Americans might have been impacted by the political maneuverings. By inspiring students with stories and investigations that connect with real places close to home, teachers can dramatically increase student engagement and learning. If done right, this can even help teach essential concepts such as how to resolve conflicts peacefully.

We recently had the opportunity to provide consulting for the World of Naaya, a new immersive virtual world for elementary-age students that challenges them to use 21st Century Skills to solve problems and develop an increased understanding of global studies and other social studies and science concepts. The very exciting project is currently in the pilot stage. Click the link above to learn more!

The town is just one of many environments students explore in the World of Naaya.

The miracle of water and how it brings life to our beautiful world cannot be fully appreciated by simply learning about the water cycle. Ideally, people of all ages should visit diverse ecosystems like wetlands and deserts, and investigate how water has transformed those places and the organisms that live there. Whether or not this is possible, stories of those places can engage all ages and offer opportunities to connect with an important message on an emotional level. For example, Marco endures terrifying experiences, but along the way he also has a lot of fun and eventually learns how important he and his water molecule friends are to life on Earth. As I have been sharing the story, it has been so gratifying to see how all ages can empathize with his trials and join in with his jubilations, inspiring deeper connections to him, as well as creating more lasting memories of the importance of water and the water cycle.

The story is fully illustrated and designed for coloring, to engage young people with art, in addition to the story. Activities at the end of the book, such as a crossword puzzle, word search, maze, writing activity, and many more are designed to reinforce important concepts in enjoyable ways. It even includes a scavenger hunt, for fellow adventurers to find Marco and his friends outside in diverse places like the plants and animals they find. My hope is that the story and activities will tap into children’s innate sense of wonder about the natural world to further engage them and help them to connect on a deeper level.

My motivation—apart from the fact that Marco’s adventures are a blast to write and illustrate—is to inspire all ages, from the very young to adults, to better appreciate water and how it has transformed our world. From this understanding flows concern for the environment and a desire to conserve our precious resources like water. We can learn countless statistics about pollution, desertification, and all of the other challenges facing our world, but without the emotional component, like the connection than can be forged with a favorite endangered species in a local ecosystem or a fictional character like Marco, we will too often fail to act. This moment in history is a crucial one, when each of us—young and old—must do our part to protect our beautiful Earth for the generations of humans and other organisms to follow. By sharing Marco and other characters that all ages can connect with, such as the EverGreen Twins, I hope to help ignite a passion for conservation that compels people to act, not out of duty or guilt, but out of love for what they care about most.

- Rick Reynolds, M.S.Ed.

I am so pleased that organizations like the U.N. and the Green Education Foundation (GEF) are working hard to educate people about water and making sustainable choices. In particular, GEF’s Water and Sustainability online course for high school students and adults, as well as the Sustainable Water Challenge (coming soon) should help inspire youth to make small changes in behavior that can have a big impact on our most valuable resource.

My new book Marco the Molecule is my contribution to the critical cause of water education. I will post more about him next!

- Rick Reynolds, M.S.Ed.

Click here for NPR’s well-balanced story.

We recently contributed this lesson and supporting materials on violent extremism.

We also helped PBS with the Bridging World History project.  Check out this series of videos and supporting resources for more historical background that provides the necessary context to understand current events.

Dr. Stephen R. Covey

One of the most powerful demonstrations of the power of philosophy was shared in the keynote session by Dr. Stephen Covey, renowned author of the “7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” and Muriel Summers, award-winning principal of A.B. Combs Elementary in North Carolina. Combs faced a variety of issues, including low student achievement and low teacher and student morale, when Ms. Summers approached Dr. Covey with the idea that people shouldn’t have to be adults to learn the seven habits; they should be taught to kids in school starting in kindergarten.

Principal Muriel Summers

Summers went on to help integrate the principals into her school, starting with teacher training and eventually helping to write the book “The Leader in Me” with Dr. Covey which explains how to integrate the principles into schools. Now both staff and students share the common values of the seven habits, which in short are:

1. Be Proactive
2. Begin with the End in Mind
3. Put First Things First
4. Think Win-Win
5. Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood
6. Synergize
7. Sharpen the Saw (self-renewal)

The result is that relationships between teachers, students, and other members of the community improved dramatically, as did academic achievement and student self-confidence, not to mention staff and community morale. The most inspiring part of the keynote was hearing from two boys from the school who explained what it was like to attend it and about their goals for future. Wisdom beyond their years shown through everything they said…and how they said it, with warmth and humility. It was a powerful display of what Dr. Covey explained when he said that we can achieve incremental improvements if we focus only on teaching Skillsets and Toolsets to our children, but that it is changes in Mindsets that can lead to quantum leaps in our development as individuals and achievement.

Check back to Engaging Every Student’s blog soon for more details about ISTE 2011 and how the power of philosophy radiated out through so many of the speakers, poster sessions, and student presentations. Future blog posts will focus on the amazing stories of others in attendance, including Chris Leman and his students at the Science Leadership Academy in Philly, as well as the contributions of Alan November and many others who are leading the push for global education.

playagainfilm.com

Click hear for details on an upcoming screening and panel discussion at Lewis and Clark College.

You can also follow their Facebook page for details on more upcoming events here: http://www.facebook.com/playagainfilm
]]> http://www.engagingeverystudent.com/2011/06/02/play-again/feed/ 0 http://www.engagingeverystudent.com/2011/05/18/radio-disney-interview/ http://www.engagingeverystudent.com/2011/05/18/radio-disney-interview/#comments Wed, 18 May 2011 22:07:25 +0000 Rick Reynolds http://www.engagingeverystudent.com/?p=719 Radio Disney just interviewed Rick Reynolds, our founder and author of The EverGreen Twins Activity Book. Click below to hear Rick talk about Engaging Every Student’s mission, the EverGreen Twins, and the movement to integrate environmental literacy and sustainability concepts into education.

Click here to listen to the interview.