Tips for Success: Global Collaborations in the Classroom

This guest post comes to us courtesy of Paige Badgett (@PTPIPaige), Director of the School & Classroom Program, at People to People International (PTPI).

The benefits of exposing your students to their counterparts in another country are endless. Each year, teachers participating in PTPI’s School & Classroom Program are matched with a partner teacher in another country and then receive a Program Manual with tips for success, global collaboration best practices, and project ideas. We are happy to share our Tips for Success with this great forum of educators today!

• Communicate.  Stay in touch with your partner teacher.  This is the key to success. Be honest and clear about your intentions and expectations.

• Contact your partner teacher in a timely manner.  When beginning a partnership, introduce yourself to your partner teacher as soon as possible.

• If you do not receive a response to an email message, resend your message.  The reason is often that the message was not received.  Often spam filters get in the way. Try again.

• Share school and holiday schedules. As a holiday nears, provide your departure and return dates.  Learn the difference between your time zone and that of your partner.

• Guarantee positive representation of you and your country.  Remember that you and your students represent your country.  Students should neatly compose letters and projects using their best spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

• Ensure language is cross-cultural.  Consider what needs explanation or description for an audience from another culture.  Slang and colloquial language needs to be used carefully and meanings should be explained as needed.

• Learn about international mail and customs policies for your partner’s country. International mail requires different postage than domestic mail.  Your post office can help you with postage rates for airmail, the preferred method to send letters and parcels.

• Ask questions. If you are unsure how to proceed on any matter, ask.  Be honest with your partner teacher when you are confused about any communication discrepancies.

• Be a responsible partner.  If for any reason you can no longer collaborate, please inform your partner so a new classroom can be assigned.  When a partnership is ended without explanation, students tend to take this personally, questioning whether their partner disliked them. Most importantly, if you plan to continue working together, stay in touch with your partner teacher during the summer or winter breaks to assure them of your continued interest.

• Record your partnership. Take pictures of your students writing letters, opening letters, and working on projects with their partner.

Join our growing community of educators from 127 countries by registering for the School & Classroom Program today! People to People International connects people of all countries and cultures because we believe that understanding one another is the best way to create peace.

For more information about this program or to register for the 2013-2014 school year, please contact me at classroom@ptpi.org or follow me on Twitter! Check out past posts from Paige here and here!

Signs that you are a Connected Educator

This is a guest post from @JosePopoff, an amazing Science educator from Honduras. He blogs at http://www.josepopoff.com/, and this post was originally published here.

Yes, I know.  You have probably read an article with a like title before.  But I promise you I have not read any and this is a list I came up from my own personal experience and that of those other amazing educators that I take pride of being connected with.

So, you are a connected educator and let´s face it, something in you  has changed.  You don´t even speak the same way you did when your classroom had those wooden or brick walls that you have brought down.  I collected some symptoms that you may have been through since you decided to go international.  In no particular order, here they are:

You are on Twitter.  I’ve read remarkable teachers tweet that this social network has expanded their knowledge in a few months much more than five years of college preparation.  They can’t be wrong.

1. You find tremendous value in global connections and understand how great and valuable these experiences are for your students.
2. To you, the world is flat!  Period.
3. You blog and comment on blogs.  You’ve understood that blogging is an amazing way of sharing  your  knowledge and experiences with the world and building together.
4. You make an extra effort to report your measurements in at least two units.  This one is especially easy if you are a Science teacher.  But you are sensitive enough to understand that, unfortunately, not all of us are familiar with the same units.
5. Every time you meet a teacher from a foreign country you think: “Mystery Skype!”  Or am I the only one?
6. Remember when you used your fingers to count and add in elementary school?  Now you use them to count time zones and figure out how many hours ahead or behind your new contact is from you.  You know you do!
7. Your plans for the future include visiting some members of your PLN.  Of course you are already practicing all your “oh, you look so much better in person’s, “you look so much younger”s,  ”I didn’t recognize you’s, etc.,  for when that moment comes.
8. You have realized how international the English language is.  Of course, you respect those who speak it with funny accents because that means they speak at least two languages.
9. Every time a teacher asks you to connect, well, let´s just say we all pretty much know what the answer to that is.
10. You have substituted your “Good morning” and “Good evening” with “Good morning/afternoon/evening!” or simply “Hello”.
11. You belong to at least one global community.  Where else would you get all those amazing connections from otherwise?
12. If you are on the move and have to make a stop, first thing you do is look for a wi-fi hotspot.
13. You do not own a Blackberry, or if you do, you want another phone since you discovered that RIM does not have a Skype application.  What!?  Ok, maybe that´s just me.
14. Have to get up at 5 am to get the kids ready?  Ugh, what a drag! Have to get up at 4 am to Skype with a class in Japan?  No problem!
15. The verb you use the most in your spoken and written language is “skype” and most of its conjugate forms.  The funniest thing is that “skype” is not even a verb!  Luckily, “hanging out” is a verb.
16. You are watching less TV.  I mean, when was the last connection you made through FOX, right?

If you are manifesting any of these symptoms, please go to your nearest local teacher and infect them!

I was going to write as sign #16 “You write a comment to this blog post”, but of course I am not going to write such a presumptuous remark.  But, can you think of any other sign I missed here?  Add it, join the fun, and keep rocking it in this international endeavour.  Thank God the world is such a small place!

Building and Maintaining a Global Perspective~ My Global Experience

The one post that forever changed my perspective on life and teaching, I can never go back, nor do I want to.

On May 5, 2011 Wanted! A Global Classroom~.was published along with a simple tweet. These humble beginnings led to global connections that are far beyond what I could have ever dreamed possible!

In Awe of Twitter~

Shortly after sharing this post on twitter I was on my way to making connections and building a global PLN. I watched in awe as the connections became a reality. I was new to Twitter at the time and had no idea what to expect. Twitter has amazing people who are there just to support and learn from one another. One such tweep is @mgraffin from Perth, Australia. Michael saw my tweet and kept it alive on the other side of the globe! Michael retweeted my tweet as I slept, making it possible for me to reach the global audience I was seeking.

The Global Classroom Begins~

Quickly, teachers like @surreallyno (Romania), @claudiaru (Guatemala), @mgraffin (Australia) and @ICT_Integrator (Cape Town) were joining my first global project! This was an amazing experience and has forever changed the way I teach and my perspective on education and society.

A Whole New World~

The students in my class became familiar with countries around the world and saw themselves as part of a global community. Often kids referred to their friends in Romania or Mrs. Stadler in Cape Town as easily and as frequently as they referred to teachers in our building. As our global classroom continued to grow the students shared more about their daily lives and asked more questions to learn about others. It quickly became obvious (even to my first graders) there were far more similarities than differences in this global community.

There’s No Looking Back~

I knew I could not go back to teaching within my four walls. We had experienced the possibilities of expanding our community, of sharing with others and  bringing others in. The students valued diversity and recognize similarities in other cultures. We learned to see people above all else, we experienced the value of collaborating in a global community. As 1st graders we came to expect to talk with people in Romania, Australia, Cape Town and other countries throughout the world.

Imagine yourself having global connections in first grade! Where would you be now?

Life Presses the Pause Button~

As lives events unfolded I found myself stepping out of this amazing project for a bit, not sure how I could manage my ever changing personal life, new curriculum and the Global Classroom. Fortunately, Michael and the entire Global Classroom community have continued to flourish. As I have begun to dip my toe back into the global waters I find my PLN still here, still willing to connect and learn as one!

You are amazing people!

A New Humble Beginning~

Last week my kids and I began a new global project, Lunches Around the World. We would love to have you join us! If you would like to join us you can tweet us @Frazier1st, tell us what you had for lunch yesterday and send a picture, we will upload your picture into the VoiceThread. We will then invite you to visit the VoiceThread and add your audio comment!

We hope you will dip your toes into our Global Waters! Click on the photo below to view our VoiceThread.

The Global Classroom has blossomed into a plethora of opportunities, taking on an even bigger reach thanks to the dedication and perseverance of Michael Graffin and the participants of this global community!

You are all amazing educators and are making a difference in our children, our communities and our world~  I can never express my THANKS adequately!

Is it really over? (Virtual Book Club)

I must have been in denial.

It has taken me almost a month to get around to listening to the recording of the final session of Virtual Book Club. This opportunity to connect with educators around the world about a topic as important as #globalclassroom with a text as rich as Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds has been an unbelievably powerful growing experience. Listen to the last session yourself and hear the multi-layered, reflective conversation yourself!

We’ve come a long way baby.

Our first session was jammed with over 30 teachers from all around the world. We had loads of Blackboard Collaborate newbies that cruised up the multitasking learning curve and learned how to listen, type, read, and talk all at once. As the sessions rolled on, we all settled in and began to develop comfort with the mike and chat room and even tried out the breakout groups and learned a lot about how to enjoy the virtual side of a virtual book club.

The content of the conversation broached a number of different critical aspects of learning, technology, and global awareness. We challenged ourselves to find ways to connect our classrooms and to break down walls that prevent students from learning about the wider world. We wondered about how to find connections, feel valued by our administrators, and how to stay motivated and energized. We listened to success stories and shared the near misses and almost great moments. We supported each other, shared links and offered words of encouragement.

Our final session was probably our most probing and thoughtful and, interestingly, also concrete. We challenged ourselves to come up with creative ways to get more students access to educational technology  (after-school tech clubs, blogging clubs and graphic novel book clubs). We explored what a digital divide might be: a lack of access to technology for educational and professional purposes. And we reflected on the idea that an education with out global connections is like a 2D world. Akram, Joanne, Elena all shared thoughts about why it is so important that we have our students working with and collaborating with students from other places.

And we really pushed ourselves to think about our

big three

This idea comes from a section in Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds called “If You Only Read One Thing, Read This.” Basically, it suggests to choose three things that you are going to work on. Just three things. So we put ourselves into breakout groups and committed to each other three things that we want to work on. It was a really nice way to begin to wrap up the group and begin to plan for the future. (My apologies if you are listening to the recording because there will be about 10 minutes of dead space while we do this.) To see what some folks committed to, check out Chapter 12: Rock the World.

And then, it was over! (I’m getting sad again just listening to the end of the recording.)

Vicki and Julie- thank you so much for writing such an important, powerful and practical book! And thank you for your professional generosity. You probably have no idea the impact your support had on me, let me just say, it was tremendous.

Lisa, Michael, Tina, Theresa- From that first tweet I saw from Michael about gathering interest in Global Classroom projects, I have thrived on the collaboration and connections that GlobalClassroomProject has created. Thank you so much for all your support, interest and ideas throughout this project and others.

Jim and Mara- For taking a risk to help me! You were both great co-moderators. Don’t worry, I’ll be contacting you again for our next book club!

All the ACPS teachers – it was so wonderful that you chose to join the Virtual Book Club, whether you came to one or all sessions, you learned more about what is out there, and tried something new. I hope you also got a little inspiration to make some global connections!

Finally, I never like to say something is really over. Please click here if you would like to add your name an Twitter handle to a list of participants in Virtual Book Club. And please click here if you would like to suggest titles and ideas for Virtual Book Club II.

Visits from friends: Global Connections in South Africa

We are very privileged to have a visitor from Pennsylvania, USA at the moment. Flat Tyler is from Mrs Tina Schmidt’s class and he has come to find out about our children and our school. We are all very excited and the class teacher  has been taking photos for a slide show that the children will present to the rest of the school on Tuesday.

We have a visitor from the usa from Brenda Hallowes

These global projects are wonderful for developing literacy in a real world way. The children have to read about their friend and write about their adventures and they do so in a motivated and unstressed way. They also learn about continents, hemispheres, day and night and time zones by participating in global projects. This particular class are now going to make their own flat friends and send them out to classes around the world.

We have another Grade 2 class waiting for the arrival of a Travelling Rhino.  Through this project they will be made aware of the plight of rhinos and the scourge of poaching.

Our other two Grade 2 classes are participating in a Global Pen Pal project in Edmodo. Edmodo is a Facebook social network look alike for children. It is a closed environment but through the class teacher we are able to make connections with other classes.

We are excited about all the connections we are making and the children love to pore over our large wall map of the world and a big atlas we have in our library. Technology helps us to flatten our classroom walls and make connections whilst we learn and grow.  The technology at our school is only available in the lab where we have 17 six year old PC’s and an internet connection but it’s amazing what one can do with a little. My dream for our school is to have a laptop and a large monitor for every classroom so that teachers who catch the vision for integrating IT into their lessons can do so. One day …..

“Flattening Science Education” March #globalclassroom Chat Archives

Via @ReidGower

The March #globalclassroom chats were a nightmare to organise; however, they produced some fantastic discussions about the importance of science education, and how we can inspire students to engage in science through connecting with real world science projects, and interacting with working scientists.

From my perspective, the chats were a great research opportunity, enabling me to connect with some amazing science teachers, and learn about the innovative projects happening in schools. A mid-chat tweet to the leading Australian science communicator @DoctorKarl later led to some great Twitter connections (including @realscientists and @IASAus), which will help me immensely as I plan my upcoming (er, first) ‘keynote’ presentation.

Thanks to our fantastic archivist @CliveSir, who’s ensured the chats are recorded for posterity on our chats wiki. Click here to access.

Thanks also to @Jennysfen, who created a Pinterest board collating links shared in the chat – you are most welcome to contribute!

Can you help connect my Grade 5/6 students with Asia?

cc licensed ( BY NC SA ) flickr photo shared by Stuck in Customs

As some of you will know, I am working with a local primary school in Perth, Western Australia, as a temporary ICT Integrator.

My Year 5/6 students are researching Asian countries, and I’m hoping to introduce them to global connections through a simple inquiry project.  I’d like to use Skype and Edmodo, but given that this isn’t my own class, I’m keeping things relatively simple (for now at least!).

Over the past week, almost all of my students have contributed some questions to a class Google Doc, which I’m sharing with my PLN around the world. While their questions barely scratch the surface, I hope that this project will start to raise awareness of global perspectives and connections within the school, with a view to forging deeper connections in future.

If you are a teacher or a student living in one of these countries, or you know someone who does, could you help answer my students’ questions?

You can access the public Google Doc here.  Thank you!

• Malaysia
• Mongolia
• Myanmar (Burma)
• Vietnam
• India
• Nepal
• Japan
• Laos
• Thailand
• South Korea

Cross posted at mgraffin.edublogs.org.

Tonight! Meeting #5 of Virtual Book Club – How do you celebrate?

I can’t believe our 5th meeting of the Virtual Book Club discussing Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds by Julie Lindsay and Vicki Davis is already this Monday, March 4th at 7:30pm EST (that’s Tuesday, March 5th at 12:30am GMT)! For your time zone, click here. We will be discussing Chapters Nine and Ten – Celebrating, Designing, and Managing Global Collaborative Projects.

Add your voice to our group! Use this link (https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?sid=2007066&password=M.065891D192F8072208BF5756999CE0) to log onto the live session or watch this space for a posting of the recording afterwards.

I am really looking forward to sharing ideas about how to best celebrate student projects. This is a weak point of mine so I’m excited to review the ideas in Chapter Nine with teachers. And I’m already thinking about how we can celebrate the closing of Virtual Book Club at the following meeting. Ideas welcome!

Chapter Ten also has so much rich material for discussion. This chapter really walks you through how to design and manage a global project. It will be so meaningful for our network of teachers to share what they have done that works, what new ideas they got from the book and what questions they still have.

Join us and add your expert or novice voice!

Call for 2013 #globalclassroom Projects

Are you a creative, forward-thinking educator?

Are you interested in creating and running your very own global collaborative project?

Do you have an idea, but are not sure where to start?

Are you struggling to find global collaboration partners?

Need a professional mentor? 

Then why not explore the possibilities with Global Classroom 2012-13? 

Over the past few years, we’ve “built the collaborative spaces, resources, and community to enable teachers and students to share, learn and collaborate globally” … and we’ve succeeded beyond our wildest dreams.

Through our current 2012/13 projects , our students are contributing to global travelling scrapbooks, working to raise awareness about rhino conservation, learning about the world via Mystery Skype, supporting Malala’s fight for girls’ right to education, and building penpal relationships via Edmodo …

And there’s more to come …

We’re here to help teachers around the world share and build their ideas for global projects , big and small; and we’d like to share  YOURS.

Please get in touch. 

Email: globalclassroomorganisers AT gmail.com

Twitter: @gcporganisers

Register via the Wiki: http://globalclassroom2012-13.wikispaces.com

Offering Choices – for Students and Teachers

Ways to offer students choices was the theme of Session #4 of the Virtual Book Club! If you weren’t able to join us, listen to the recording here: Virtual Book Club Feb 18th/19th and please share your thoughts on this blog: Virtual Book Club. We have been reading and discussing Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds by Julie Lindsay and Vicki Davis  and our focus this time was Chapter Seven (Choice) and Chapter Eight (Creation).

We began with some great comments:

• @Durff shared that she tells students on 1st day that they are all intelligent (Gardner), it is her job to find out how to make them shine
• Jim shared that he believes teachers should be helping students learn, not giving them the answers
• Laurel mentioned that some students need content delivered directly from teachers before they are able to make choices in the classroom (and shared an interesting book: Why Students Don’t Like School?)
• Monica added that she likes to model how she learns so that students feel comfortable making mistakes in her classroom

We also struggled with considering how teachers can create choices in the classroom in a time of standardization and high-stakes testing (at least in the United States).

• Paul shared that part of personalizing the classroom is establishing relationships with students – it isn’t just about content, it is about connecting
• Michelle talked about the need to let teachers have choice as well – when something is working, having the freedom to pursue it, not have to stay lock-step with a scripted program
• Elena introduced the idea “of individual teachers being ‘experts’ with specific tools and working collaboratively with their peers is a more manageable and realistic approach for interdisciplinary teams.”

https://saveourrhinos.wikispaces.com/

We also shared our own struggles and challenges with creating and maintaining electronic spaces for learning with choice in mind. We all agreed that monitoring electronic spaces are difficult to maintain and that we would love to have ongoing eportfolios that follow students through their years of learning in a school (Google Sites, KidBlog, Evernote, Weebly and even PhotoStory were shared as ideas). We debated a bit about how to choose new tools – what is trendy, and what is trendy with a purpose? Paul raised a great point about involving students in planning electronic spaces and many shared stories about ways they’ve done this.  As part of this, we also wondered how to make sure more students have access to technology beyond the classroom.

From there, we talked about how to structure learning experience that offer students ways to make meaning. Rocky shared the idea of students meeting with teachers to create useful materials for them and Robyn shared a bit about a project her students are doing to save rhinos! Interestingly, we found we have less experience offering students chances to invent or build. It would be fun to talk more about how we could build these concepts into our teaching more.

We ended by trying out the break-out room feature in Blackboard Collaborate. I guess I modeled the idea of the “teacher” not being perfect but willing to take risks since I had no idea how it would work! Thanks to everyone who was there for humoring me and experimenting along with me.  I think we’ll try these small groups again next time with a focus question. Big virtual hugs to @Durff for telling me more about how to use this effectively at future sessions. And my apologies for those of you listening to the recording since there will be a long pause when you are listening (another important aspect of this tool for me to understand!).

Thank you again for everyone that participated. I’m reminded of the quote by C. S. Lewis cited on page 34 of this book:

The next best thing to being wise oneself is to live in a circle of those who are.

Thank you for being in my circle and adding to my wisdom! And to Mara for agreeing to co-moderate. If anyone is interested in co-moderating next time, please leave a comment or send me an email, I’d love your help!

Our next meeting will be Monday, March 4th at 7:30pm EST (that’s Tuesday, March 5th at 12:30am GMT). For your time zone, click here. We will be discussing Chapters Nine and Ten – Celebrating, Designing, and Managing Global Collaborative Projects. Hope to “see” you there!

Handshake

I am new to the Global Classroom Project but have found the content and ideas fascinating. I am hoping to invest some of our limited library time to pursue some of the activities. After looking through some of the “handshakes” that others have posted, I showed them to a group of fourth graders. A group of kids that can be easily distracted was fascinated by the descriptions of the other classrooms. When I had them brainstorm ideas of what WE would tell others about us, they were quite creative. They were also still engaged the next week when I had them write descriptive sentences about the things they want to tell others about them. Hang on, out there. We’ll get those handshakes posted yet!

The Making of Digital Citizens

What a rich discussion we had during Session #3 of the Virtual Book Club! If you weren’t able to join us, listen to the recording here: Virtual Book Club Feb 4th/5th and please share your thoughts on this blog: Virtual Book Club. We have been reading and discussing Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds by Julie Lindsay and Vicki Davis  and our focus this time was Chapter Five (Digital Citizenship) and Chapter Six (Contributing and Collaborating).

We confessed, bragged, questioned, shared tips and traded resources on the topic of Digital Citizenship. It seems there is always more to consider from using images in our presentations to setting our privacy settings but we all agreed that we need to model strong digital citizenship for our students and explicitly teach them how to be a thoughtful contributor in the digital world.

• Connie shared “Just as we model and teach ways to effectively present and collaborate in face to face groups, digital citizenship is just another layer.“
• Joseph agreed and asked, “Students need to understand that there are differences in communicating on facebook, twitter with friends versus using this type of media in school…but how to teach?“
• Elena commented, “It[digital communications] also provides an opportunity to evaluate how we interact with each other face to face. Sometimes in the middle school environment, speaking to others with a certain tone or attitude can become the norm.“
• Amy agreed, “Not only do we need to relate to our students using technology but we need to teach them how to communicate in positive ways using technology“

Some of the great resources that were shared to help with teaching digital citizenship were:

• For images: Creative Commons, Pic4Learning, MorgueFile
• For music: Royalty Free Music, Free Play Music, Sound Bible
• For teaching about Digital Citizenship: Common Sense Media, Digital ID, Read. Write. Think.

Some tips given about getting students to care about digital citizenship:

• Use real-life examples (read Chris’ story here) and facts (thanks to Laurel for sharing that 70% of employers look at digital footprints)
• Have students create Digital Citizenship materials (Digiteen and Digital ID are examples)
• Provide an authentic audience (when students see that others are actually reading/listening/watching their work, they care more)
• Make it easy for students – provide them with music and images that they can use
• Model by adding the URL for photos within classroom presentations
• Use your librarians! They often have lessons ready to go on this topic
• Start with a private wiki or an Edmodo class where you can monitor and give feedback to students before collaborating with another classroom.
• As Rocky has done, actually contact authors and artists to request permission to use their materials. (Read more about what Rocky has done here)

We wrapped up by sharing a bit of advice about getting started with global projects and we all got really excited about trying Mystery Skype. And, as usual, the time flew by. I never knew an hour could pass so quickly!

A huge thank you to Vicki Davis for joining us in between prom planning and Flat Certified teacher training. Your professional generosity is unending. Another thank you to Jim for picking up as co-moderator. It is so helpful to know someone else is listening, reading, typing and talking as fast as I am! And a thank you to all the busy educators who took time out to share, question, and connect.

I’m looking forward to our next meeting on Monday, February 18th at 7:30pm EST (that’s Tuesday, February 19th at 3:30am GMT). For your time zone, click here. We will be discussing Chapters Six (Choice) and Seven (Creation).

KNOCK Those Classroom Walls DOWN!

WAIT a minute … before you take that TOO seriously, PLEASE continue reading. Put that sledge hammer down … we’re not talking demolition … we’re talking global connections! That’s right … you can’t BUILD global connections without FLATTENING those CLASSROOM walls!

There is something SO empowering when students feel personally invested in their learning journey!

This month, our #globalclassroom chat will focus on the POWER of blogging with your students. We are SO fortunate to be teaching in an age when the SKY is the LIMIT with technology. Skype has become a staple in MANY classrooms. No longer are BOOKS our sole way of learning about the world … and, while relying on Google to enrich our inquiries is STILL important, we are NOW able to connect in REAL time with others around the world. This ability to connect synchronously and asynchronously, collaborating with other classes on the other side of the WORLD, has changed our learning FOREVER. We are NO longer just learning ABOUT the world. We are in an age where we are learning WITH the world.

Writing for authentic reasons creates MAGIC moments when your students chant “We should BLOG about this!”

Some things to think about PRIOR to our February chat:

• Why is blogging a valuable tool for connecting and sharing global inquiries with a global audience?
• What skills can students develop by sharing their learning with a global audience?
• If you don’t have access to an NGO, (Non-Government Organization), where do you find collaboration opportunities? How can you find projects to join?
• How can you create you OWN inquiry to share?
• How do you fit it into EVERYTHING else you need to accomplish in a day?
• How do you come up with “post” ideas for your blog?
• What are some resources you use? Books? Sources of inspiration?
• How do you address digital citizenship? Global citizenship? Online safety?
• How do you attract readers to your classroom blog?

If you are interested in learning more about flattening YOUR walls and creating a global classroom for your students, you should DEFINITELY check out the Global Classroom Wiki and the Global Classroom Blog! This learning community is ALL about sharing and mentoring, and there are projects already on the go to help you get your feet wet or to continue to enrich you and your students’ learning journeys! TRUST me … once you START blogging with you students, connecting and learning WITH the world and no longer just ABOUT the world, you will NEVER look back!

After you’re done checking out THOSE awesome resources, mark the February #globalclassroom chat on your CALENDAR! See the times below … we’re looking forward to CONNECTING with you!

Chat 1 – Saturday – February 9th (10:00 GMT)

• 10AM London, 3.30PM New Delhi, 6PM Perth, 9PM Sydney (AEDT), 11PM Auckland
• Click here to find out when this is in YOUR timezone. 

Chat 2 – Saturday – February 9th (19:00 GMT) 

• 11AM Los Angeles, 2PM New York, 7PM London, 9PM Cape Town,
• 8AM SUNDAY – Auckland
• Click here to find out when this is in YOUR timezone.

Chat 3 – Saturday – February 9th / Sunday – February 10th (02:00 GMT) 

• Saturday night – 6PM Los Angeles, 9PM New York
• Sunday – 7.30AM New Dehli, 10AM Perth, 1PM Sydney, 3PM Auckland
• Click here to find out when this is in YOUR timezone

New Project: On The Same Day in March

Marilyn Singer wrote a children’s book “On The Same Day In March” that describes the weather and climate for countries around the world. I would like to give elementary classrooms an opportunity to compare the climate and weather in your area with others around the world. You can also add pictures and tell a little about your area.

Join us for a project based upon the book: On the Same Day in March by Marilyn Singer. Classrooms will compare weather with each other. This can be as simple as adding data to the page and writing about YOUR school or you can go a step further and pick out other activities to do.   Are you interested in joining the project?

The project is located at: http://samedayinmarch2013.wikispaces.com, and you can contact me on Twitter – @chrisgrnbc.

In the News: Willowbrook Students Visit Antarctica Via Skype

We’re really excited to share this great article from Northbrook Patch, which features the work of @DKarnoscak, one of our Global Classroom teachers in the USA. This article was originally published here, and is reproduced with permission of the author.

Willowbrook School third grade teacher David Karnoscak and his students have visited 14 countries and six continents so far this year, and they haven’t even left the classroom. By using Skype and The Global Classroom Project, Karnoscak connects his class with educators across the globe.

On Thursday, Jan. 17, all the third grade classrooms met in Willowbrook’s Collaboration Cafe and used Skype to meet with penguin research scientist Jean Pennycook, who is currently stationed in Antarctica. It’s summer on the continent, but temperatures remain below freezing.

Pennycook answered the children’s questions and talked about how a scientist lives a “very rustic” life, while conducting research in Antarctica.

Pennycook said her favorite penguin is the Adelie, because it is an active and engaging animal, as opposed to the Emperor penguin, which just “stands around.”

She says there are more Adelie penguins than any other penguin species, they live in the south and have to cross many kilometers of ice to reach where they can build their nests in the spring.

Students heard about the living conditions in Antarctica — a solar panel is the scientists’ only source of electricity, which they use to charge their computers, cameras and radios.

All waste products are stored in big drums and must be hauled out by helicopter after the scientist’s eight week stay. Pennycook showed the students the tent where she lives, as well as the outdoor scenery, which consisted of rocks and ice, and a view of the ocean. She said Antarctica is “stark, like the moon.”

Melted snow is used for washing, not drinking, because of its high salt content. She stated that there are no plants, trees or bushes in Antartica, nor is there a permanent population of human beings. Animals that live there only survive by eating creatures and fauna from the ocean. Students also heard about the different types of seals, whales, seagulls and skua that live in the region.

Karnoscak, the Willowbrook teacher, emphasized that his passion for Skyping around the world has rubbed off on his students. In December, the class Skyped with students in Greece and exchanged holiday greetings. He says he enjoys seeing the kids becoming global citizens, who are learning about different cultures and people. They recently visited a school in Nepal, and everyone was very surprised at how different it was from Willowbrook School.

“Our favorite game is Mystery Skype, where students take turns asking geographic questions about an opponent’s location. Students must use geographic knowledge, map skills and logical reasoning to find where another class is located,” said Karnoscak.

The other third grade teachers who collaborated with David Karnoscak on the Antarctica activity were Allison Safran and Jessica Gomberg.