I smiled when I saw this quote from Silvia Tolisano on the Great Quotes about Learning and change. I was fortunate at an early age to have been shown a world bigger than mine when my parents made the brave and scary decision to move from our hometown in England to seek what turned out to be a once in a lifetime opportunity to pursue my dad’s engineering career in the US. Although it took me some time as a bratty 8-year-old to adjust to being transplanted (that is putting it mildly), today I’m grateful every day for the opportunities that have come my way as a result of being here. I was naturalized in 2003 as I finished college, and am proud to call myself an American Citizen.

I have always taken the firm stance that when you go abroad, with the intention of learning about another culture, you also come back with something that you didn’t plan for, a deeper knowledge of who you are and what makes you tick. It’s almost impossible to be surrounded by so many contrasts without stopping to think about what exactly it is that sets off the reaction that you are having: “eww you want me to eat what?” takes on a different tone when you see the perspective from which the world views the “typical” American diet. I traveled abroad many times with my family to familiar territory, but immersing myself in the culture of Germany and Argentina during four different study abroad experiences from High School to College changed something in me in a good way. It made me more open to different points of view — more able to see the other side of a debate and more perceptive of the impact that small events can have on a global scale.

Today I am proud to have family in England and Australia, friends and colleagues all over the world, and most importantly an open-mindedness that I can’t imagine having formed any other way.

I recommend a good look at Silvia’s post from May 4th, 2010 called Global Awareness Going on. She does a great job bringing some alarming statistics to light. Always a good read at Langwitches! Although I always feel somehow shamed at the sheer quantity and quality of the work that she produces. Maybe one day! (Ok – unsolicited glowing endorsement over.)

My top five:

• Ideation

• Futuristic

• Strategic

• Learner

• Communication

Recently I had the opportunity to  to take the Gallup survey that is at the heart of the Strengthsfinder 2.0 book as part of a professional development session about individualization and personalization.  The concept was that to knowing something about your students helps you to tailor instruction to them, and experiencing that firsthand was a first step toward driving that message home.

The test consists of 122 questions in rapid-fire succession.  You have to choose, on a Likert-like scale which of two options best describes you as a person.  Though sometimes I wanted to choose both, or neither.  In the end, I was amazed that the result was as accurate as it was!  Each person who took the survey got a custom 22-page report with in-depth analysis, ideas for action and case-studies that are eerily familiar.

We also looked at and continue to explore tools for students to use for similar feedback.  There are plenty of surveys about learner styles for older kids and adult learners, but not much online for younger students to use.  As we strive to individualize each student’s experience and learning, what are some of the best tools out therefor gathering this type of data?

I’ve been a big proponent for some time of thinking about the skills that students are learning through various technologies as the most important aspect of planning for the integration of technology in student learning.  This morning as I was sleepily browsing my Google Reader my interest was piqued as I discovered this set of five visuals that highlight the skills that underly five specific technology tools that are ripe for use in education.

• Blogging
• Wikis
• Podcasting
• Video Conferencing
• Digital Storytelling

Click through the Langwitches Blog for the downloadable set of five pdfs.

I’ve been a long-time follower of the Langwitches blog and follow Syliva on Twitter. She always has something insightful to share, and it is great to see her unique global perspective (From her About page: “I was born in Germany, raised in Argentina and am living in the United States.”)  I’m drawn to her work too, partly because of those things that we share in common.  German & Spanish & the perspective of someone born outside the USA.

Via Langwitches – “It’s Not About the Tools, It’s About the Skills” Downloads