Oregon 2C states that students will: Engage with learners from other cultures to develop cultural understanding and global awareness.
This upcoming year my school implements Chinese Mandarin for all students K-5. There will be weekly visits to each classroom by a native speaker. Each student and all teachers are provided with a Rosetta Stone account. We have found a sister school to pair with and have already established some communications via our principal. My school is watching my lead with this implementation because they believe, and I agree, that music is global and reaches beyond borders. Even though Western and Eastern music may be very different, there will be many opportunities to share via technology and celebrate our differences and our similarities. Skype will be a key component. The school in China has 3000 students and they begin everyday outside silently doing Tai-Chi together. That alone will be powerful to watch and for our students to ask questions about. I also hope to share with their music teacher some songs that we can share back and forth. These can be recorded via Garageband and easily shared as a file in Skype or thru email. We are going to purchase some Chinese instruments, and my hope is that the Chinese students will be able to help us learn to play some simple melodies. The instant feedback, child to child, will be powerful beyond words.
Wow, this sounds like a great opportunity! I can't quite imagine an entire school here in the U.S. doing Tai Chi silently together, though, which is a rather sad reflection on our culture. That takes a lot of discipline! It would be really neat if you could teach your entire school to do that!
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