Today I saw a new soccer ball design, created especially for next year’s World Cup in Brazil. And I saw people protesting against the government in Ukraine and Thailand and others waiting to vote in India. I probably wouldn’t have thought about any of these things had I not spent a few minutes looking through the Guardian’s Best Pictures of the Day. It occurs to me that this set of pictures, which are updated each day, would make a great resource for encouraging global curiosity; observation; critical thinking; considering different perspectives; questioning and a bunch of other useful skills in students. Here are some ideas about how to use them in the classroom:

The enormity of the natural disasters like Typhoon Hayain can leave us with lots of questions about how we respond in schools. Below are a few thoughts and resources: Red Cross Newsthink has a collection of activities to help students reflect, explore and share their own ideas about natural disasters in the wake of Typhoon Continue Reading

Here are a couple of resources that you might find useful when teaching about the importance of growing things (including beans), nurturing the land and our environment, and living sustainably.