Global Action with Fran Siracusa

Fran Siracusa views the world as being in one big conversation into which everyone is invited. If you view her Twitter feed, you will see conversations ranging from her home state of Florida, to Spain and India, to the Philippines. For over twenty years, Fran has invited others to this global conversation as a Spanish classroom teacher, and in her current role as a co-founder and consultant of Calliope Global.

Her work with Calliope Global ranges from co-authoring articles to presenting at conferences. She’s presented at conferences from ISTE to her most recent stint at the Florida Foreign Language Association (FLLA 2016). These venues have given Fran the opportunity to continue the conversation to promote empathy and communication through global education.

As Ms. Siracusa shares her recent presentation experience at FFLA 2016, she is fired up to inspire others to “Design for Action” when it comes to global education.

In our FFLA 2016 workshop session, we set up a Mystery Skype, which started out as a game, an activity, and a lesson modeling for a group of educator conference attendees. What they were surprised to find out, just like our students in our classrooms, they learned about each other through audio and visual modes. They asked questions about each other, mostly in respect to location and geography, but in the brief conversation that ensued, they shared cultural pieces. Also, each participant was actively taking part in the learning process, whether it was speaking to our guest across the computer screen or searching for information and clues on Google Earth/maps.

The pursuit to inspire students and educators through the lens of global education is more than a task on a to-do list for Fran. It is her passion to make a positive difference that compels her to collaborate with others to promote an active global awareness for students and educators. Fran readily volunteers her time in schools to provide professional learning support for teachers in Global Education. This passion is also evident in her work to promote awareness and action for social change with #MatoneDeChiwit, a project to support sustainable clean water for developing nations.

There are four pillars for Global Competence. These pillars form the basis for Fran’s work as a leader in Global Education:

Investigate the World

Recognize Perspectives

Communicate Ideas

Take Action

Her focus as a global educator is readily seen in the “Take Action” Fourth Pillar. This pillar is what inspires Fran to collaborate with others in promoting social change.

One way that Fran takes action is through sharing Buncees via Twitter. Leveraging Twitter as pocket-sized professional development, Fran shared this creation in honor of a recent Buncee Buddies Mystery Skype with her followers:

This particular Buncee is just one of many examples in which our Buncee Ambassador demonstrates sincere outreach for Global Education.

ABOUT AMBASSADOR FRAN SIRACUSA:

Fran, a classroom Spanish teacher for over 20 years, earned her M.Ed. in Educational Technology in 2012. Currently, as the co-founder of Calliope Global, she supports educational teams in meeting the diverse needs of today’s students who will be well-equipped players in the global and creative workforce of the future. Her passions are student-centered learning, global projects, digital literacy, learning space design and World Lang

uage study. Having managed a 1:1 middle school iPad program as an early adopter, Fran creates unique opportunities for teachers and students to develop a culture of innovation through the incorporation of digital technologies and sustainable global partnerships.

Fran particularly enjoys connecting with educational stakeholders in order to authentically improve the educational landscape. She shares her expertise and experience through teaching, speaking, and professionally writing for educational magazines and blogs. Most recently, she has presented at ISTE, ST4T, ECGC16, FETC, K12 Online Conference, FFLA, ECG, SCOLT, FLENEF, ACTFL, FCIS, EdSurge Summit and GEC. Having recently accepted the position of Education Strategist for Monster Math by Makkajai, Fran is an evangelist for “Fun Math” and gamification in the K-5 classroom. In addition, she is the co-founder of EdCamp Tampa Bay, Conquistadors Connect, and EdventureQuests. Finally, Fran happily promotes educational excellence by serving as an Edutopia guest blogger, a Kahoot! founding ambassador, a Buncee ambassador, an EdSpeaker, and an organizer for EdCamp Global, EdCamp Global Classrooms and Edcamp NABSE.

Check out her website & blog: www.calliopeglobal.com & hablamostechnology.blogspot.com. Follow her at @ProfeEdTech

Sean Gaillard