Voices of Youth
A
Telecollaborative
Lesson Plan
Curriculum Goals
The Teacher Academy of Maryland is a Career and Technology Education program that seeks to develop the next generation of educators in Maryland. As a part of the program, students take four courses: Child and Adolescent Development, Teaching as a Profession, Foundations of Curriculum and Instruction, and the Teacher Academy Internship.
During the Teaching as a Profession course, students are exposed to a variety of information about the demands and requirements of the teaching profession. Among those topics, students study factors that affect student learning, including gender, cultural background, socioeconomic status, and disability. To help enhance their understanding of all of these things and to help them understand how to be a culturally responsive teacher, students will engage in the telecollaborative activities, through Voices of Youth, which are outlined on this website.
Project Goals
Introduction
Voices of Youth identifies its goal as follows: "to forge cross-cultural interactions between adolescent students from different countries, helping them develop their communications skills, define and articulate their position on global advocacy issues, and in the process become active and engaged global citizens."
The goal of Voices of Youth aligns well with the Teacher Academy of Maryland curriculum goals, which are outlined below:
National Standards
InTASC Standard #2: Learning Differences - The teacher uses understanding of individual differences and diverse cultures and communities to ensure inclusive learning environments that enable each learner to meet high standards.
InTASC Standard #3: Learning Environments - The teacher works with others to create environments that support individual and collaborative learning, and that encourage positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self motivation.
BCPS Teaching as a Profession Curriculum Objectives
Content Standard #8 - Analyze factors that promote and hinder students' performance and success.
Through completion of the activities involving connections with Voices of Youth, the Teacher Academy students will be exposed to individual differences and diverse cultures throughout the world. They will also be required to participate in positive social interactions as they develop content to submit to Voices of Youth, as they participate in discussions with other users, and as they post comments to others' works. These telecollaborative activities will help enhance students' understanding of what it means to be culturally responsive and to understand the diverse needs of individuals. Voices of Youth makes all of these things possible in an authentic way because they provide students throughout the world with the opportunity to connect and share things that are important to them.
