Giving Compass' Take:

· Zerifa Radlein-Grant left her home in Jamaica to come to North Carolina and teach third grade. In an interview with EdSurge, Radlein-Grant explains how she uses technology and live video to foster social-emotional learning and connect her students to classrooms around the world.

· How is this teacher going above and beyond for her students? How does embracing global education in her classroom expose her students to new ideas and ways of thinking?

· Learn more about SEL and the future of education.

Zerifa Radlein-Grant is quietly changing students’ lives by introducing them to the world.

When Radlein-Grant finished her teaching degree in 2015, she left her home in Jamaica to teach third grade in Fayetteville, NC, where one in four children lives below the poverty level. Many of the students in her classroom at Teresa C. Berrien Elementary had never been outside the city, couldn’t name the state capital and had never met someone who wasn’t from the United States.

Undeterred by her students’ circumstances, Radlein-Grant decided to bring the world to them in any way she could. She started by sharing her own culture and working with another teacher to arrange a field trip to the state capitol. Eventually, she discovered a way to bring other parts of the world directly into her classroom through video calls with international classrooms—an experience her students are still talking about.

Radlein-Grant talks about how her global education lessons create opportunities for social-emotional learning (SEL), expand student thinking and give her students hope for a bright future.

Read the full article about a teacher using technology to foster SEL and connect to classrooms around the world by Wendy McMahon at EdSurge.