The Globaloria Community - What is your role?

In any community, each citizen has some sort of role, and hopefully some sense of responsibility. This is in fact one of the basic ideas behind the focus on Civics as pertains to Globaloria. As our classes and our students work to create civics based games, we have the larger goal that they (as well as the end users of the games) will learn to think about their role in the community, the state, the country, and the world.

However, we can also scale back and consider the Globaloria community a place where roles are important. We are all working independently in our individual schools and teams trying to create our games. In some cases, we are even in competition with one another as we enter the contests for Civics and STEM games. But when it comes down to it, the community as a whole only truly thrives when we (Students, Teachers, Mentors, Interns, World Wide Workshop Staff, Administrators, Researchers, etc.) step into our role and not only do our best to complete our piece of the pie, but also share our successes with those who can benefit from them.

Students - Have you found a skill that you are comfortable with (i.e. Art or Coding in Flash)? If so, how are you using that skill to help those in your Globaloria Community?

Teachers - What are we doing to not only help our students, but to make sure that as we gain knowledge, it is shared with those around us?

The tools for these interactions are readily available to us with our blogs and the wikis.

In order for our community as a whole to grow and move to "the next level", we must be willing to learn from each other and stand on the shoulders of the giants who have had success in various areas. Borrow good code, and try to understand it. Then share it with others. Ask for help in areas where you need it, then don't be shy about sharing your strengths with those who may benefit from your assistance.

It is our civic responsibility to the Globaloria community to find our roles and maximize our strengths within those roles. What can you do to achieve this?

Within the next week, try to reflect on your role and examples of sharing strengths in the community. Write a blog post of your own in which you discuss your reflections.

Till next time.....

Science Projects and Globaloria Games: Solving Problems

Last October, President Obama held a science fair in the oval office, to recognize the importance of thinking about solutions.

The president said:

"If you win the NCAA championship, you come to the White House. Well, if you're a young person and you produce the best experiment or design, the best hardware or software, you ought to be recognized for that achievement, too."

We are looking forward to seeing achievements that come from Globaloria students in West Virginia, Austin and Brooklyn.