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Technology is in the forefront of everything we do as collaborators in the classroom. Teachers incorporating the use of technology while lesson planning increases engagement and rigor. Lessons are enhanced and students are focused. Many of the projects we were involved in incorporated technology and we collaborated with others at the school site and across the district. Valuable relationships were formed among the students and the teachers. Teachers not involved with the collaboration process also benefited from this through observing what was taking place in our classrooms. These teachers then requested to be involved in the program. Relationships were built, the use of technology was increased, and a 21st Century classroom was created.

Those students are going to be coming up to the junior and senior high so prepared. Thank you! Knowing that they are coming up to the higher grades with the ability to work with technology and work with each other at the same time is reassuring. Excellent work, guys!

I love how your video focuses on how becoming a 21st C classroom is a process that we (teachers & students) are somewhere along the spectrum.

This global collaborative project at http://ciese.org/curriculum/squareproj/ -- Registration closes SEPT 30 Driving questions: Why HERE and not THERE? Presents students with a world map and two animals/insects from different areas (EG Monarch butterfly and Australian stick insect specimens). Pose a challenging question: Why here and not there? Why there and not here? How can we find out? Register class on Square of Life, an Internet-based collaborative project that has students investigate their local environment and share information with students from around the world. Students examine a square yard of local ground and organize what they find into categories they define themselves: living and nonliving, plants and animals. Through close examination, they organize small creatures into groups by shared characteristics, and learn to discriminate between classes of animals, including insects and isopods. Theorize about the role of habitat and niche in insect distribution. Share their findings with Australian students (or students from around the glove) and report their conclusions about Why here and not there? Why there and not here?

Being a visual learner, this was perfect. I was imagining my year's experience as I listened to your presentation. Yep, so many of us were all locked up at the beginning of the year and have since allowed ourselves to be unlocked to what technology has to offer. I know I'm somewhat unlocked. My lock is still rusty and the inside mechanisms don't move smoothly, but then there's next year for that! Thank you.

Loved the video. It does a great job of showing the journey and how the excitement spreads when collaboration is involved. I'm wondering how we can "free" those still locked in the dungeon.

Superb summary of your/our experiences for this year.

Global SchoolNet's mission is to support 21st century learning and improve academic performance through content driven collaboration. We engage teachers and K-12 students in meaningful project learning exchanges worldwide to develop science, math, literacy and communication skills, foster teamwork, civic responsibility and collaboration, encourage workforce preparedness and create multi-cultural understanding. We prepare youth for full participation as productive and effective citizens in an increasing global economy.

Global SchoolNet partners with schools, communities, and businesses to provide collaborative learning activities that prepare students for the workforce and help them become literate and responsible global citizens. The Project Registry has more than 800 online projects providing teachers a chance to collaborate and share learning experiences. The most recent partner programs include "Mosaics of Life" (a global art project culminating in the creation of eight collaborative glass tile murals made up of original art and expressing understanding, concerns, and insights in themes that affect and shape lives both locally and globally) and the U.S. State Department-sponsored "Doors to Diplomacy Competition" (an educational challenge for middle and high school students about the importance of international affairs and diplomacy, with prizes including scholarships, cash, and a trip to Washington, D.C.).

This year our coaching experiences ranged from nervous anticipation to almost feeling like we knew what we were doing. The redeeming facet of our task was that so many of our peers benefited from the collaborative efforts from each house/team, the grade level, and throughout the school. As a result, our students have demonstrated amazing academic results. Please see the website to learn more about our perspectives from this school year.

It is refreshing to know that others felt the same way I felt when beginning this collaboration journey. The nervous anticipation was there as well as a feeling of dread because of the unknown. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

I love how everyone contributed something different to your Chronicles. It really showcased all the resources that are out there to fit every personality and teaching style. Your presentation showed that the collaboration process works! I love the animation---I'm going to have to try that.

"The mission of ePALS Classroom Exchange is to offer safe, innovative ways for learners to make contact with other cultures. They currently connect over 4.5 million users from 191 countries, speaking 136 languages, by providing built-in Webmail language translation and safety features such as monitored e-mail and profanity filters. All of the tools and resources on the site are free to anyone with a computer, anywhere in the world. The site also offers collaborative projects that students can join, as well as tools for creating projects and contacting students in remote locations."

ePals is the social network optimized for K-12 learning. Over half a million classrooms in 200 countries and territories have joined the ePals Global Community to connect, collaborate and exchange ideas. ePals now translates in 35 languages! The benefits of the site are that the students can connect with other students and classrooms around the globe. You connect with them by the projects that you are working on in the classroom. This gives the common ground to talk about back and forth. The possible pitfalls are if you get a classroom that is not as involved as yours. It could be a let down and you may have to find another classroom that you could connect with.

This site is free and connects you with other educators seeking to connect classrooms for global projects. It has great safety features and has a variety of projects for all content areas and grade levels. You can form e-mail pen pal connections with classrooms around the world. Very cool!

"Students analyze and explore poetry through a class blog and podcasting  Questions to Consider How do the "guiding reflection questions" support students' thinking? What skills are students practicing as they create their podcast? How did the class blog contribute to collaboration among students? Scroll down on this page to see the worksheet with reflective questions that they used Common Core Standards ELA.RL.6.4, ELA.RL.6.7, ELA.SL.6.5"

Also see: http://www.relayforlife.org/learn/relayforeveryone/studentrelays/relay-recess "How can your students become superheroes in the fight against cancer? Relay Recess brings Relay For Life to elementary schools nationwide. It provides students, teachers, and administrators the opportunity to become heroes in their own communities. It also brings cancer education and community service to the classroom in a fun and exciting way. It also engages elementary school students in the fight against cancer through fundraising activities that support cancer programs and services in every community. It gives students the chance to get out of the classroom and have fun with entertainment and activities that reinforce what they have learned. Because the program is so flexible, it's different at every school and is an excellent opportunity to showcase unique qualities about your school and your community."

Sending this to the Collaboration Coaches in case your school is looking for an outreach that your students can help organize and get involved in...

Square of Life: Studies in Local and Global Environments is an Internet-based collaborative project in which students will investigate their local environment and share that information with other students from around the country and the world. Participants will: Identify living and non-living things in their school yards. Revisit this site in mid-August for information about the Fall 2012 run of the project.

Colleen, I love this project. I would totally do this with my 4th grade students. :) It would be fun to post our findings on our blog and try and get others involved too.

This looks like neat project to do. I would be interested having a "Key Pal" through the project to really engage students and introduce them to who will be their audience.

I always love learning from Ledesma. Here's another one that I so agree with.

Lots of global collaborations listed here by Miss W, who creates the Edublogs Student Blogging Challenge

This site brings local, global, and regional business together for students to collaborate with.

This is a good site for older kids. It could provide them with an overview of what it is they will be learning and how they can interact with the teacher and other students.

global collab The Project Launched at the 2013 Global Education conference, "Out My Window" was born from a quest to have students gain global perspective. "Out My Window" classrooms share their world. Inspired by the five themes of geography, students reveal cultural awareness and understanding through original poetry and photography. The Process 1. Take a photo "out your window". 2. Write a poem incorporating the 5 themes of geography - place, location, human environment interaction, region, and movement. Look below for poetry and 5 themes resources 3. Edit your photo to your liking. Look below for editing tips. -We suggest overlaying the text onto the image like the example shown, but you can also add it separately if you'd like. 4. Share! Sharing 1. Create a Flickr account if you don't already have one. The Flickr #outmywindow group is public and by submitting you agree to the group norms 2. Once you have logged into Flickr and been added to the #outmywindow group, you can start uploading your finished product! 3. Be sure to use our Twitter hashtag - #omw1415 to continue sharing your work!

Mystery Class starts January 30! This is a fun 11-week project that engages students science, technology and global collaboration.

Peer-Ed Video Contest, March 1 - April 15. Join the Peer Coaching Video contest! Share YOUR 60 second video that focuses on coaching roles and responsibilities, the value of administrative support, making time for coaching, or coaching impact on student learning or school culture. ------------------------------ I am so excited about this! I had to share!

The International Education and Resource Network (iEARN) is a non-profit global network that enables young people to use the Internet and other new technologies to engage in collaborative educational projects that both enhance learning and make a difference in the world. iEARN has hundreds of projects to join (some with a nominal joining fee). Some have been ongoing for years, and many have received national/international recognition. An example of a new project is "Proverbs and Idioms." Facilitated by students and teachers in Iran, Pakistan, Nigeria, and India, it is a worldwide exchange exploring the commonalities and differences in proverbs throughout history and culture worldwide.

The Mystery Class investigation is an eleven week hunt in which students try to find ten secret "Mystery Classes" hiding around the globe. The changing amount of sunlight at each site is the central clue.

I think that this could potentially be a great anchor activity for students.

I've seen it done with 5th grade years ago and it was great! Mrs. Hamman's class did it this year also. See her post http://blogs.goaj.org/mrshamman/2013/04/11/journey-north-mystery-class/

The Mystery Class investigation is an eleven week hunt in which students try to find ten secret "Mystery Classes" hiding around the globe. The changing amount of sunlight at each site is the central clue. Students take an inspiring journey from knowing only sunrise and sunset times to discovering exact locations of the ten sites. Benefit: This sounds like problem-based learning at its best!

Wow T.O., This project sounds great! I think it is a great way to get our students to become problem solvers.