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"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!

Fab read. I've only highlighted a few paragraphs... then it goes into concrete ways to improve tech integration using the example of the iPad. ---- "n: Just bringing new technology in your classroom and working it into day-to-day routines isn't enough. The iPads arrived two days before my students, and I quickly made plans to integrate them into our curriculum. Despite my high hopes, the next two months were less than successful. A casual observer would have witnessed a sea of students glued to glistening tablets, but the effects were superficial. The iPads were not helping my students make substantial progress toward self-efficacy, academic achievement, or social-emotional growth. Around the end of September, I took a step back-it was time to evaluate and reflect on what was happening. I asked myself: "What have we been doing so far with this technology?" Students used math apps instead of math card games. They'd made slideshow presentations for isolated units. They'd done some research on the Internet. In short, things were going ... OK. Nothing to write home about. Not what I would consider "worthy" of a $20,000 grant. Clearly it was time for a change. The problem, I began to realize, was my own understanding of how the iPads should be utilized in the classroom. I had seen them as a supplement to my pre-existing curriculum, trying to fit them into the structure of what I'd always done. This was the wrong approach: To truly change how my classroom worked, I needed a technology-based redefinition of my practice."

Fab read. I've only highlighted a few paragraphs... then it goes into concrete ways to improve tech integration using the example of the iPad.

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.

The topics are standards-based and of global interest. Each project is designed to be used as is or customized to your classroom's needs. An easy way to find a classroom with which to partner is to check the "Connect with Classrooms" forum on the project index page for posts by interested classrooms. Topics include holidays and festivals, digital storytelling, spanish, global warming, habitats, weather, and natural disasters.

List of projects that make use of global connections to study various topics for late elementary to middle school aged students. I love how the project calendar lays out a specific timeline for when to introduce concepts and exchange emails. The website provides a forum to find cooperating classrooms. The possible pitfall could be not finding a class to exchange ideas.

Did this project with my classroom this year and they loved it! They send holiday cards to 32 different classrooms around the world, and we received 32 cards back from those classrooms. We got to skype with some of the classes and we got to continue conversations with those classrooms afterwards! It was a fun and creative project for the kids!

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

Classroom Challenge -- (PS If the entire school signs up and does it, then they might get prizes) -- The tutorials for learning how to do computer coding are also awesome math and critical thinking lessons! "Even if you aren't a student, you can take the Hour of Code yourself during Dec. 9-15. And you can help us recruit others to join the movement - at school, in your workplace, in the community. If you are an educator, host the Hour of Code as an activity in your classroom. If you're an organizer or employer, host an Hour of Code event as a team-building exercise, after-school activity in a club, or elsewhere in your community. Click the appropriate tab, and start planning your Hour of Code!"

Awesome questions to ponder and apply

Discovery Education provides engaging digital resources to schools and homes with the goal of making educators more effective, increasing student achievement, and connecting classrooms and families to a world of learning. Tons of Web 2.0 tools to utilize in your classrooms.

Project Densho The Densho Educational Web site gives students access to a wealth of primary source material relating to the incarceration of Japanese-Americans during World War II. Project Densho's partnership with historians at Stanford University produced curriculum to help students and teachers use these valuable resources in classroom activities. This is a powerful tool to bring inquiry-based learning into middle and high school social studies classrooms. This is a powerful site for inquiry-based learning for upper grades; however, there isn't anything already created that we can enroll our classes in... unless it's there and I'm missing it.

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...

This looks like a great opportunity for teachers who want to connect with other classrooms.

The Global Classroom Project wiki is a collection of resources for teachers who want to collaborate globally. There are several big ongoing projects for all grade levels, as well as a huge directory of teachers you can contact on your own if you want to find a collaborator for a project.

The flip this classroom button makes it easy to turn TED videos into lessons for class...

If you are looking for collaborative opportunities outside your classroom walls, these are some fabulous pbls to look into. I love that there are some for HS, JrH and some on Elm all on this site. Let me know if you are interested, or pass this on to your team. Thanks!

See this list of collaborations to join. They are fabulous and for K-12

This website introduces the educators who have developed the concept of a "flipped classroom", where direct instruction takes place at home and work that would traditionally be assigned to do at home is now completed at school.