Oh the Choices!

The Choices Program from Brown University engages students in current events, critical thinking, analyzing multiple perspectives, and congressional simulation. "Immigration in the 21st Century" and "International Trade: Competition and Cooperation in a Globalized World" are the two that I have used with my Advanced Academic classes.  Students really enjoy the simulations...especially the role playing.  Choices also has a Youtube channel with excellent video clips to introduce concepts.  They feature foremost scholars, such as Gordon Wood.

Teaching Globalization

How in the world can we define globalization in a typical short definition?  ...We can't!  Globalization is one of those concepts that has ton of depth and complexity.  I created this assignment --called "Globalization Descriptors"-- to help students form their own definition of globalization.  I created a Wordle about globalization, and students were tasked with writing five statements describing globalization...based on the Wordle.  Check out the student sample below...this student even grouped the words by color coding.