Skype Connections in Grade 3/4 via @RobynThiessen

Totally agree with @robynthiessen “Once you go flat, you never go back!!”Power of authentic audience and purpose #globalclassroom

— Tasha Cowdy (@tashacowdy) May 12, 2013

Children love to learn from other kids. That is where I have seen the power of being connected. #globalclassroom

— Matt Gomez (@mattBgomez) May 11, 2013

Learning from my chats w/ #globalclassroom #edchat #ntchat #ptchat &more. Can’t begin 2tell u how you’ve impacted me as a person & educator

— Faige Meller (@dubioseducator) May 12, 2013

The May #globalclassroom chats were some of the liveliest and productive we’ve had in some time. With contributions from leading early childhood educators around the world, it is hard to sum up the true impact of these chats …

I highly recommend exploring the archives for great links, resources, and ideas for integrarating global perspectives into the early years.

Archives

• Chat 1
• Chat 2
• Chat 3

Thank you to our moderators – @WarwickLanguage, @learningmurd, @MrsMorgansClass, and first time #globalclassroom moderators @tashacowdy & @tori1074.

Guiding Questions

We are lucky enough to have some amazing early childhood educators in the #globalclassroom community, and its time to give their stories and experiences centre stage. If you know of an early childhood educator, please let them know about these chats! We’d always enjoy meeting new faces!

• What online communities and projects do early childhood teachers find useful for connecting and collaborating globally?

• How do we ensure that our students have the skills and understanding necessary to participate in a global collaboration project?

• What strategies and tools can we use to support very young children’s participation in global projects?

• Can you share your stories and advice for K-3 teachers interested in exploring the possibilities of global connections?

• What options are there for K-3 classrooms without reliable Internet connections to get involved in global projects?

Chat Schedule & Times

Chat 1 ~ Saturday, May 11th, 10:00 – 11:00 UTC

• 11:00 London, 12:00 (noon) Cape Town, 15:30 New Delhi, 18:00 Perth, 20:00 Sydney, 22:00 Auckland
• Click here to find out when this is in YOUR timezone.

Chat 2 ~ Saturday, May 11th, 18:00 – 19:00 UTC

• 11:00 Los Angeles, 14:00 New York, 19:00 London, 20:00 Cape Town, 06:00 SUNDAY – Auckland
• Click here to find out when this is in YOUR timezone.

Chat 3 ~ Sunday, May 12th, 01:00 – 02:00 UTC (Saturday in N & S America!)

• Saturday night – 18:00 Los Angeles, 21:00 New York
• Sunday – 06:30 New Dehli, 09:00 Perth, 11:00 Sydney, 13:00 Auckland
• Click here to find out when this is in YOUR timezone.

Signing into Twitter earlier this morning, I was surprised to realise that today, May 5, marks two years since @Deb_Frazier sent the following tweet, ultimately leading to us co-founding  The Global Classroom Project community.

So where have the past few years taken us?

2011

Our first ever project involved 6 teachers from 5 countries, and centred around one project – the “Global Classroom VoiceThread”. It was Deb’s first global project, and my second; and at the time, we had no idea what we’d started.

As I’ve blogged elsewhere, this was a time when I was about to teach a Grade 6 class for four weeks, and saw a ‘retweet’ of Deb’s request late on a Saturday night …

The project proved to be a great success, and you’re welcome to explore our students’ work (and the VoiceThread) at http://globalclassroom2011.wikispaces.com. I wrote about my experiences here, and you can read Deb’s side of the story here.

2011-12

When Deb Frazier suggested that we try our hand at running a second #globalclassroom project, I was keen to be involved in some way, even though I didn’t have my own class. With Deb thinking we’d try and involve more teachers, across 6 continents, we created a Google Doc and waited to see if anyone would be interested …

Well, with 50 signups in the space of a week, it seemed that a LOT of people were interested! So, a naive Australian relief teacher with time on his hands decided that he’d try and create a community like Flat Classroom Projects, run by teachers for teachers.

Through a collaborative process involving a group of educators spread across the globe, we set up our collaborative spaces, and set out into the great unknown. Little did we know what http://globalclassroom2011-12.wikispaces.com would become.

By the end of the 2011-12 project, we’d grown to involve over 300 teachers from 41 countries; and hosted a wide range of K-12 projects. Some major project milestones included the launch of the #globalclassroom chats in November 2011, and our #globalclassroom lead teachers’ presentation at the Global Education Conference.

It was also a big year for me personally, as I made my first ‘live’ presentation at the Australian Computers in Education Conference in late 2012 (with the help of my my good friend Nigel Mitchell).

2012-13

Our 2012-13 project was launched in November 2012, and is set to conclude in late June 2013. It’s been a great and rewarding time for the #globalclassroom, and I look forward to learning more about what’s been happening when we organise our “Looking Forwards, Looking Back” webinars over the coming months. Who knows what the next few years will bring. (http://globalclassroom2012-13.wikispaces.com)

What’s your #globalclassroom story?

Two years ago, I was not a particularly happy teacher … yet, my #globalclassroom journey has taken me to places I’d never thought possible. I’m a better person, and a better teacher, because of the friendships and collaborative connections I’ve made through through The Global Classroom Project. And I’ve loved every minute.

But, this project isn’t about my story. It never has been.

The Global Classroom Project is a testament to the power of community, and as such, is home to a world of stories.

We’d like to take this opportunity to invite #globalclassroom teachers around the world to share their stories – on their blogs, Twitter, and in the comments below. If you’re interested in guest posting, please let us know via Twitter (@gcporganisers), or in the comments below.

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.

This is a guest post from #globalclassroom teacher @LParisi. Lisa blogs at http://thelisaparisi.com, and this post was originally published here.  

I belong to an amazing group called The Global Classroom Project.  I love this group.  The teachers have fabulous ideas, talk about the ups and downs of global connections, and seek out collaborators.  If you haven’t looked at the site, you must check it out.

Recently, a blog was posted by Michael Graffin as a reposting of a blog created by a student in Honduras. The class had just completed a mystery skype call, and this student was discussing the awkward, nearly offensive questions asked by the mystery class, which turned out to be in Texas. The two questions in point: “Do you guys use cell phones?” and “How does your house look like?”  You can read her blog to see her view about these questions.

This started a conversation in the Google group about being careful how we communicate with each other and what questions we ask.  So I just want to put in my two cents on the subject.  (You should note that I already talked online with Michael about my response. He, as usual, invites conversation.)

My purpose for Going Global with my class is an idealistic one.  I hope that my kids do a better job than we have.  I want them to understand, accept, and connect with others, regardless of language, religion, race, gender, etc.  I want them to learn that we are all people, deserving of respect and consideration.  And I want them to remember this when it comes time to work with others, have discussions with others, argue with others.  We are all people!

When I was growing up, in the 60s, we were just starting to talk about differences as positive.  ”Be yourself.”    ”Love who you are and love the one you’re with.”  But, along with loving each other, I was taught not to insult anyone.  And it was insulting to stare, to ask questions, to recognize differences.  So we never even looked at each other.  Really.  If a person of color walked into the restaurant where I was eating, in my very white neighborhood, everyone would look away.  To make eye contact might indicate that you were afraid of them or didn’t want them there.  So, in order to show our respect, we just didn’t look.  Strange but true.  I wasn’t taught to do this.  It was modeled for me.

Did this work?  Of course not.  I learned that people are different and deserve different treatment from one another.  Poor and rich, black and white, abled and disabled.  Labels were important.  They defined for us how to act and how to treat each other.

But I have grown up.  I have learned that this is not the way.  And I have taken it upon myself to model differently for my students and my own child.  I ask questions.  I talk about clothing, jewelry, political beliefs, religious practices.  I ask questions.  And I keep talking.  And I make eye contact.  And I smile.  And I invite people to sit down with me.  And I make plans to go to dinner, the movies, a book club.  And I ask questions.

My students recently did a Mystery Skype call with a class in Texas.  Once we figured out the states we came from, the questions started flying.  They thought we were all gangsters (New Yorkers are usually depicted that way).  We thought they were all cowboys.  After finding out the truth was quite the opposite, we laughed about our misconceptions.

What did we learn?  That Texan students like the same music we do, watch the same movies and tv shows, and shop at the same stores.  Hmmm.  Not so different.  The accents were certainly different but not much else was.  And my students now have a new understanding of Texans and other Southerners.

I work in a very multicultural climate.  We often have conversations about similarities with our religious rituals, our family dinners, and our weekend responsibilities.  We are so different and yet so similar. I don’t ever want my students to stop asking questions.  Eventually, their questions will get more mature, less “insulting”.  And, maybe someday, they won’t need to ask questions about each other.  They will just accept and understand.

What do you think?

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!

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.

The author’s journey to Cape Town, South Africa in 2001 included this “first:” being stuck on Table Mountain, at night, in winter, with no mobile phone, having missed the final tram car off the summit. Good times.

In honor of Michael Graffin’s first international trip abroad to Doha, Qatar this July, it seemed timely to suggest that the April #GlobalClassroom Chat theme be, A Journey of Many Firsts.

My iEARN colleagues around the world have spent the past 25 years focusing on helping teachers and students begin their first journeys into global classroom collaboration. The iEARN annual conferences and youth summits are attended by many, like Michael, who have never traveled abroad or worked on global online projects. The impact of this journey can be profound. Here is a student who travelled to Cape Town, South Africa for the iEARN Youth Summit in 2001:

Last summer was a Journey of Many Firsts thanks to receiving the Debra Kurshan iEARN Scholarship. After winning half a scholarship to attend the IEARN Youth Summit Conference in Cape Town, South Africa, my life changed forever. It changed my life in a way that I never dreamed possible before. It’s hard to say, but it is like I have moved to a higher level in my life. I’ve worked so hard to accomplish so many goals in my life that this was a reward for all my efforts.I never realized that winning this scholarship would be so much fun and give me the opportunity to experience so many “firsts.”

Some of the first experiences for me are the following:

• first plane ride
• first time I knew there was cold weather in Africa
• first time seeing wild animals including the cheetah, penguins, and seals
• first time seeing a modern mall in Africa, I always thought people lived in huts
• first time seeing a Township and the poverty that went along with living under those conditions
• first time seeing two oceans meet and mountains covered with clouds
• first time meeting and talking with a boy who was a “Child Soldier”
• first time meeting and sharing time with kids from 23 different countries
• first boat ride and trip to Robyn Island the prison where Nelson Mandela stayed
• first time working with a group of kids from around the world on an Environmental Project
• first time attending a Global Conference with teachers and students from 70 different countries and making a presentation at the closing ceremony
• first time raising funds to cover expenses for a trip
• first time getting a passport

When school started I encouraged my classmates to get involved with the IEARN Learning Circles Computer Chronicles project. We communicated with other kids from Belarus, Kuwait, Netherlands, New Jersey, Miami, and Botswana. These projects connect us to the world by the Internet…I think this trip made me a better person and I am able to connect with people better from a variety of different cultures. I realize that I am one person but I can make an important difference in the lives of others.

Can groups of kids work together on environmental projects for the first time without ever being in the same room?

We understand that travel is impossible for 99.99% of the iEARN network (and the vast majority of teachers and students worldwide), and each conference participant represents thousands of others who will need to rely upon virtual, rather than face-to-face, interaction to begin their journeys of firsts. But is this possible? Can activities like #MysterySkype and monthly chats like #GlobalClassroom help educators and students begin their journeys towards greater global awareness? Are profound international experiences only possible for a small percentage of travelers? Are groups of kids able to work together on environmental projects for the first time without ever being in the same place?

I like Anne Mirtschin’s eloquent thoughts in this post last January:

There was a time … I thought that:

• Christmas was celebrated by Christians across the world on the same day – 25th December
• New Year occurred for all on the 1st January each year
• All countries experience four seasons
• School years started and finished on the same dates globally
• Education was a right that all should and do experience

Now, through an amazing global professional network that spans countries across the world from developed to developing countries, across hemispheres, time zones, geographical barriers, language difficulties, ideologies, etc that my knowledge, understanding, perception and experience of the world is through the ‘eyes’, experiences, feelings and passions of those who live there. Empathy, tolerance, compassion and a deeper appreciation of what the world is about, why it is what it is and an ever increasing acceptance that the majority of global citizens want peace, happiness, a healthy world – a world featuring tolerance, empathy and generosity to those who have less.

Some questions for Twitter chat participants this April:

What global awareness “firsts” have you had as part of a global classroom collaboration – either as a participant, or leader?

Have you had a global awareness “first” as part of this Twitter chat?

Are virtual exchanges able to result in, “empathy, tolerance, compassion and a deeper appreciation of what the world is about”?

Chat Schedule

Chat 1 ~ Saturday, April 13th, 10:00 – 11:00 UTC

• 11:00 London, 12:00 (noon) Cape Town, 15:30 New Delhi, 18:00 Perth, 20:00 Sydney, 22:00 Auckland
• Click here to find out when this is in YOUR timezone.

Chat 2 ~ Saturday, April 13th, 18:00 – 19:00 UTC

• 11:00 Los Angeles, 14:00 New York, 19:00 London, 20:00 Cape Town, 06:00 SUNDAY – Auckland
• Click here to find out when this is in YOUR timezone.

Chat 3 ~ Sunday, April 14th, 01:00 – 02:00 UTC (Saturday in N & S America!)

• Saturday night – 18:00 Los Angeles, 21:00 New York
• Sunday – 06:30 New Dehli, 09:00 Perth, 11:00 Sydney, 13:00 Auckland
• Click here to find out when this is in YOUR timezone.

“an ever increasing acceptance that the majority of global citizens want peace, happiness, a healthy world “