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SEPTEMBER 2006 E-NEWSLETTER
If you think your
actions are too small to make a difference,
you’ve never
been in bed with a mosquito.
– Anonymous
IN THE
SEPTEMBER 2006 ISSUE
• Student Achievement and
Optimism Sparked by Facing the Future Resources
• Curriculum
Highlight: “Making Global Connections”
• Back to School Community
Action Idea: Connect Your Students to Senior Citizens
• Featured
Partner: New Jersey Department of Education
• Facing the
Future in California
• Professional Development around the
Country
• Facing the Future Welcomes New Staff Member
•
Support Facing the Future’s Work
• Subscribe/Unsubscribe to
this Newsletter
STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AND OPTIMISM SPARKED BY FACING THE
FUTURE RESOURCES
We are grateful to the teachers
and students who help us evaluate our materials and measure their impact.
Here are some of the highlights from our surveys for the 2005-06 school
year:
• 95% of teachers surveyed said their experience with Facing the
Future resources has improved their teaching
• 100% said
Facing the Future curriculum helps increase their students'
critical thinking skills
• 91% said using Facing the Future
resources improves student achievement
• After participating in a
Facing the Future unit, 52% of students became more confident
that they can help solve community and global issues, and that their
actions have an impact on people and places in other parts of the
world
For a summary of the survey results, click here.
CURRICULUM HIGHLIGHT: "Making Global
Connections"
Bring your students into a global frame of
mind from the beginning of the school year! In this activity, students get
to kinesthetically experience the interconnectedness of global issues and
solutions by creating their own “web” of global issues. Each student
represents one issue and explores its place in relation to others.
Students may be surprised at how many different linkages they discover
between apparently unrelated issues. This activity is a fun springboard
for studying particular global issues such as population, poverty, health,
human rights and the environment. It is an excellent way to connect the
variety of topics your students are learning and reading about.
Facing the Future’s
latest resource for middle and high school teachers, Engaging
Students through Global Issues: Activity-Based Lessons and Action
Projects, contains 40 interdisciplinary lesson plans, including
everything you need from start to finish. To download “Making Global
Connections” and other lessons for free, or to order a copy of the book,
click here.
For more information about Facing the Future resources, visit
www.teacherscorner.org.
BACK-TO-SCHOOL COMMUNITY ACTION IDEA:
Connect Your Students to Senior Citizens
Foster
intergenerational interaction by having your class “adopt” a retirement
home for the school year. Organize 2-4 visits during the year to develop a
relationship between older and younger members of the community. Students
can share artwork, reports or stories – and interview the residents to
learn about their biographies and their perspectives on global issues.
Together, they can then make global issue mobiles that include both the
students’ and the residents’ interests. Based on what they learn from each
other, the students and senior citizens might want to undertake a joint
community project to address some of their needs.
Check out Facing the Future’s Action Tool Box for creative
ideas on how to fund your action project and how to get media attention to
share your success with a broader community.
FEATURED PARTNER: New Jersey Department of
Education
New Jersey is an excellent example of what is
going on at the state level to promote world-class K-12 education.
Facing the Future has been working with the New Jersey Department
of Education to develop a Guide for Incorporating International
Knowledge and Skills into New Jersey’s Core Curriculum. The Guide
will serve as a framework to help districts, schools and teachers build on
their current strengths to more uniformly infuse international skills and
knowledge into the K-12 curriculum.
Along with the Guide, two other
international education initiatives have recently been spearheaded by the
New Jersey Department of Education: the Online World Languages Learning
Scenarios Project and a partnership with the International Education and
Resource Network (iEARN). We salute New Jersey’s efforts to further the
academic achievement of their students through a global education!
For more information about how Facing the Future can help your
school, district or state integrate global issues and sustainability
across the curriculum, please email k...@facingthefuture.org
or call 626-698-0741.
FACING THE FUTURE IN
CALIFORNIA
California educators – it’s easier
than ever to arrange a Facing the Future workshop at your school
or district! Experience hands-on how to use engaging curriculum
aligned with California content standards to bring global
issues like population growth, poverty and equity, quality of life and
sustainability into your classroom. Contact our California
office at k...@facingthefuture.org
or 626-698-0741 to learn more about our global sustainability resources or
to schedule a workshop.
For more information on Facing the Future workshops, click here.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AROUND THE
COUNTRY
Join us at a workshop this fall or winter!
Facing the Future will present workshops at the following venues
in the coming months:
• 10/10-14: North American Association for Environmental Education
Annual Conference, St Paul, MN
• 10/12-14: Washington Science Teachers
Association & Washington Organization for Reading Development Joint
Conference, Spokane, WA
• 10/13: Pacific Northwest Association for
Independent Schools All Schools Conference, Seattle, WA
• 10/14:
Washington State Council for the Social Studies Fall Inservice, Edmonds,
WA
• 10/19-21: National Science Teachers Association Midwestern
Regional Conference, Omaha, NE
• 11/2-4: National Science Teachers
Association Eastern Regional Conference, Baltimore, MD
• 11/2-4:
Washington State Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
Annual Conference, Spokane, WA
• 11/3-4: Coalition of Essential
Schools Fall Forum, Chicago, IL
• 12/2: Making Connections for a
Globally Sustainable Future, Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle, WA
• 12/7-9:
National Science Teachers Association Western Regional Conference, Salt
Lake City, UT
To see the complete workshop calendar, including scheduled inservices,
click here.
If you would like to schedule a workshop in your school or
organization, please email k...@facingthefuture.org
or call 626-698-0741.
FACING THE FUTURE WELCOMES NEW
STAFF MEMBER
Jenny Hampton recently joined the
Facing the Future team as our new Operations Coordinator. Jenny
comes to us from Chicago and a small town in Missouri, bringing the best
of the city and the country. Her skills in database management, research
and office administration are a great asset to our work. To learn more
about Facing the Future staff, click here.
SUPPORT FACING THE FUTURE’S WORK
Facing the Future is a non-profit 501(c)3
organization. Our work is made possible through foundation grants and
individual donations. You can support Facing the Future by making
a tax deductible donation today. To make a secure online donation using
your credit card, visit us at www.facingthefuture.org/donate
or send your check or money order to:
Facing the Future: People and the
Planet
811 First Avenue, Suite 454
Seattle, WA 98104
To make a stock donation,
estate gift, or if you have any questions about donations in general,
please call us at 206-264-1503. Thank you!
SUBCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE TO THIS
NEWSLETTER
Facing the Future’s
electronic newsletter comes out every quarter. To subscribe or unsubscribe
to this newsletter, simply email outr...@facingthefuture.org
and write "subscribe" or “unsubscribe” in the subject line.
We welcome your
comments and feedback. Please email outr...@facingthefuture.org
Visit Facing the Future:
People and the Planet at www.facingthefuture.org
Facing the Future: People and the
Planet develops standards-aligned global issues and
sustainability curriculum, provides professional development to teachers
on global issues, sustainability and service learning, and helps schools
integrate global issues across their curricula. Facing the Future
curriculum is in use in 49 U.S. states and 41 countries by teachers and
students in grades 5 to college and across multiple subject
areas. | 
