Kid World Citizen

My name is Becky Morales, and my passion for teaching youth about the world began way before I started my own multicultural family. I have been teaching ESL since 1994, in public and private schools, in volunteer programs, for recent arrivals, for families, spouses, at the high school level, in community colleges, and university intensive English programs. I run diversity trainings in various settings, and have led several large scale teacher training programs. I organized and produced an International Club at our local elementary school to incorporate global and cultural learning for K-5 students. In an effort to share some of my experiences and ideas with teachers and parents, I recently published "The Global Education Toolkit for Elementary Learners" (Corwin, 2014). I have presented at NAEYC and TAEYC, Asia Society Global Learning Conference, Global Education Conference, National Council for Geographic Education, and local schools.

I am committed to 21st Century learning, global learning, cultural awareness, and world languages. I love using project-based learning that is language rich, student centered. I recently have been interested in the flipped classroom, educational technology, and global collaboration. My goal is to help prepare students to thrive in our interconnected world, by developing their creativity, compassion, digital citizenship and intercultural communication skills.

I won the John W. Price International Understanding Award at the University of Illinois for her work with international students on campus. In 2013 I was chosen as the Top Teacher Mom on Circle of Moms for my educational blog KidWorldCitizen.org.

BA in Spanish Education with a semester abroad in Spain and another semester in Ecuador; MA in Teaching ESL with a concentration in Cross-Cultural Communication from University of Illinois- Champaign. MA in School Counseling from Roosevelt University with a focus on immigrants in schools.

My web site, KidWorldCitizen.org, shares activities to help young minds go global for parents and teachers. My book, The Global Education Toolkit for Elementary Learners, helps teachers incorporate lessons on global learning into their existing curriculum. My podcast, Language Latte, dives into current second language acquisition research, plus shares tips, recommendations, materials, methods, and more for world language teachers. My company One World Trek brings teachers to Mexico for cultural and language immersion travel during the summers. :)