Creating Global Learners! Projects and ResourcesThat Knock Down Classroom Walls!

With the technology we have today, a one-room classroom should no longer exist! All of our students are capable of being or becoming global learners.  We have the ability, using any, or all, of the Web 2.0 tools available, to knock down our classroom walls, and allow our students the chance to collaborate with students in their state, or the world.  During the 2010 school year,  I took advantage of many resources, SKYPE, Epals, Kidblog, (in conjunction with comments4kids), and the various Edmodo communities.  All of  these resources allowed me the chance to reach out to teachers all over the world, and have their students interact with my students. This year I am going to add  Collaborize Classroom as another tool to extend my classroom.

Here are two projects that I have already joined, and one I have created.  I’m excited!  Please feel free to add your class to any of these projects!

1.   Mystery State Skype project – This project is run by a teacher I met on Edmodo.  Our classes were pen pals, and she and I had a chance to meet F2F at the ISTE convention in Philly. Teachers set up a Skype conference and use information they have researched, to guess what state the other class is from.  This can be done with all the teachers who have signed up. When your call is done, you can continue your collaboration with any of the teachers throughout the school year!

2.    Global Read Aloud project 2011 – This is my first time being involved with this project, although it is not the first time it has been done.   The Global Read Aloud  project is exactly what it says. A book is chosen, and students from all over the world interact to discuss this book. The project is divided into a K-3 book, and 4th and up(“Tuck, Everlasting”)The teachers choose the media they wish to guide discussions, Skype, online learning platforms, email, glogs, the sky is the limit! I believe this will be a wonderful learning experience for my class!

3.    ” Penpals Who Write” project – Teachers who are interested in having their class WRITE another class, please sign up and connect! Web 2.0 is acceptable, but you must write letters, that’s part of the experience.  I had two pen pal classes last year and it was a wonderful experience.  Not only did we interact using Web 2.0 tools, but we actually wrote letters and mailed them to each other.  Have you ever witnessed the excitement of a student when they receive their  letter?  How about the anticipation of waiting for the next one? Priceless! This was definitely a project that opened their world and helped improve their writing skills. You can also join the group I have created on EduPLN.

If you know of a project for the upcoming school year, please add it! Let’s move those walls!

“Share Global Classroom Projects” on Lino

Share Global Classroom Projects!

Collaborize Classroom! Creating Critical Thinkers!

We always strive for our students to be critical thinkers, we want them to think outside the box.  As a matter of fact, we want them to think beyond our classroom doors! We promote collaborative teaching among teachers, and we welcome it in our classrooms among our students.   As you know, I am a  fan of Edmodo, but I’ve recently learned about a new platform called Collaborize Classroom.  A FREE online learning platform, yes, I used the “F” word. 🙂

I signed up for it, set up my classroom, and wondered what I was going to do with it.  Then I saw an  online demo, and  I was hooked! I am really excited about implementing this when I return to school.  What I love about it is that it gives you the ability to do what it says, collaborate. Encourage collaboration with the students in your room, another class,  classes in another state, or around the world. You can embed any type of media on the site. You can assign work, projects,etc… and the students work together to produce results. Collaborize has also announced the addition of a Topic Library. They will have lessons already created by teachers, which makes our job a lot easier.

The coolest part for me was the discussion forum. You post questions, your students can vote and/or comment, they can even watch videos related to the topic, without leaving the site! You will get reports of the work each student is doing. Collaborize takes the results and creates a graph which is then shared with your students! And don’t worry about help, they have a wonderful support team who is willing to provide FREE professional development to teachers.

I won’t learn the full extent of what I can do with Collaborize Classroom until I return to work, but I’m looking forward to using it in my classroom!! ! Watch the video to get an understanding of exactly how it works!