We are proud to announce the very first graduating class of Flat Classroom Certified Teachers. Congratulations to the class of 10-3!

Theresa Allen

Theresa Allen has been the Technology Teacher and Coordinator for the Cathedral of St. Raymond School in Joliet, IL since 1999. Her goal this year was to flatten her classroom by involving all of her students, ages 3-13, in some type of global collaborative project. She has accomplished this task using Web 2.0 tools and 21st century skills through projects in the Flat Classroom Project, Kidlink, iCollaboratory, iEARN, and the Flat Classroom Ning. Her 7th and 8th graders participated in the Flat Classroom Digiteen Project and her 3rd graders participated in the Flat Classroom A Week in the Life Project for younger students. She has also participated in the Flat Classroom Project as judge and her 6th grade class was a sounding board for the project. Theresa recently received the award of Technology Teacher of the Year in the Diocese of Joliet 2011 for the many global projects her students have participated. She is also a board member in the global, collaborative sites Kidlink and The iCollaboratory.

Theresa is married and mother of three children who are involved in various academic and athletic clubs. She enjoys running, working out on the elliptical machine, and spending time with her family and friends. She hopes she can continue her education in Technology Education having the goal of receiving a Masters in that area of study.

She has a professional blog and a class blog.


Eva Brown
Department Head of Technology and Business at River East Collegiate in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Eva is continually seeking opportunities for learners to acquire technology skills needed to be competitive in the 21st century global economy. Her students (digital natives) participate in the Flat Classroom Project researching and collaborating with students from around the world. Eva is a lifelong learner and demonstrates that as she is enrolled at the University of Manitoba in the Emerging Technologies Certificate program. Currently, she is studying Immersive Worlds with the intent of providing curriculum in virtual worlds for her students. Web 2.0 tools are common place in her classroom. She is actively involved in the Girls in Gaming program in Manitoba, a program that provides opportunities for girls to learn about the gaming industry. She is also a course developr, writer and reviewer for the Department of Education in Manitoba. She has been a teacher for 32 years and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in global and technology education for digital immigrants. Some of her learning is posted on her blog

Brian Mannix
Brian Mannix is a husband and father of four who is in his tenth year of teaching 7th grade social studies at Great Neck South Middle School in Great Neck, NY. He was recognized in 2010 by Tech & Learning magazine as Educator Leader of the Year. Mr. Mannix feels that he received this award due to his faith in his students and the belief in their ability to exceed expectations. In the beginning of the year, Mr. Mannix championed an interactive pilot program called the "Connected Classroom" where students utilize Web 2.0 tools with one to one netbooks and one to two Ipod Touches. Through the Connected Classroom, he helped form the East Coast Collaborative, an interactive wiki that enaged students from N.Y., N.J. and S.C. in a study of the American colonies. In addition, Mr. Mannix has recently created the project How Could War Look Different where students from across the world analyze war from the perspective of their own and recreate the intellectual and military fights online. In the "Mannixlab," the second annual Akidemy Awards has just begin where the students create a documentary answering the question: "What is the greatest challenge facing the United States today?" Outside of the classroom, Mr. Mannix created and advises his school's Pay It Forward Club, where he has organized an annual conference on Long Island with over 300 students from 30 middle and high schools exchanging ideas and interacting with local and national non-profits. This year the Pay It Forward conference was brought online as a part of the Global Education Conference He looks forward to being a part of a group of talented educators creating, day by day, the future of education.

Fred Haas
Fred Haas is a high school English teacher at Hopkinton High School, a Boston suburb in Massachusetts, USA. He teaches in a variety of formats including, face-to-face ninth grade English classes, a hybrid/blended journalism elective, and completely online screenwriting course. A late arrival to teaching, he previously worked in the theatre and film industries, as well as spending years as a technology consultant. While focusing on education technology as a consultant, he specialized in software training and broadband network video, long before YouTube. His teaching also extends to professional development as Teacher Consultant and Technology Liaison for the Boston Writing Project. Additionally, he serves as a liaison to the Massachusetts Writing Project state network. Fred has guided multiple ninth grade (14-15 year-olds) classes through various Flat Classroom Projects, as well as serving as a judge and mentor for projects where his classes were not participating. Recently, his essay "False Starts and Failures," about technology integration, was published in The Pressures of Teaching: How Teachers Cope with Classroom Stress. His occasionally updated blog is Haas | Learning.

Honor Moorman
Honor Moorman is the Dean of Instruction for English and Social Studies at The International School of the Americas in San Antonio, Texas. She previously taught English Language Arts and became a National Board Certified Teacher before serving as a secondary literacy specialist for the North East Independent School District, teaching pre-service teachers at Texas State University, and becoming a co-director of the San Antonio Writing Project. Honor currently teaches an innovative high school course called “21st-Century Global Leadership” in which her students develop the global competencies outlined by Asia Society’s International Studies Schools Network. She and her students collaborate with teachers and students from around the world as participants in Flat Classroom Projects.

In addition to her work at The International School of the Americas, Honor is currently an adjunct faculty member in the Education Department at Trinity University, a teacher consultant with the San Antonio Writing Project, a reviewer for ReadWriteThink, and the associate editor for NCTE’s Voices from the Middle. She is also a Google Certified Teacher, a Discovery Education Network STAR, and a Flat Classroom Certified Teacher. Honor has presented at numerous professional conferences and her articles have been featured in Classroom Notes Plus, English Journal, English in Texas, The ALAN Review, and Horace: The Journal of the Coalition of the Essential Schools. In 2010, she won Second Place and a Teacher's Choice Award in the PBS Teachers Innovation Awards and was named Teacher of the Year by her colleagues. Honor blogs at 21st Century Literacy Lessons and has recently begun archiving her workshops on her 21st Century Literacy Wiki.



Kim Cofino
Originally from the US, Kim is an enthusiastic and innovative globally-minded educator. Kim has been teaching internationally for over 10 years; in Munich, Germany; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Bangkok in Thailand; currently she is the Technology and Learning Coach at Yokohama International School in Japan.

An Apple Distinguished Educator, her work focuses on helping core subject teachers authentically embed current and emerging technologies in the classroom to create a global and collaborative learning environment. Her inquiry-based, constructivist approach to teaching utilizes project-based learning experiences developed using the Understanding by Design process combined with the MYP Technology Design Cycle.

Kim regularly consults with other international schools interested in implementing 21st century learning, has been profiled on a number of educational websites and journals, is a member of the K12 Horizon Report Advisory Board 2008 - present, and is a regular presenter and keynote speaker at conferences and professional development sessions throughout Europe, Asia, and the United States. Her professional blog, Always Learning, is an invaluable resource for teachers seeking examples of authentic student engagement.



Suzie Nestico
Teacher of many, mother of one and life-long learner, Suzie is a public High School Social Studies teacher at Mount Carmel Area High School in Mount Carmel, PA, USA. Named one of Pennsylvania's Keystone Technology Integrators in 2009, she thrives on bringing cutting-edge techniques and technologies to her students to open them up to the world. Suzie and her students thrive on global connection through technology use. Suzie and her students thrive on global connection through technology use. Involvement in projects such as Flat Classroom and Digiteen recently afforded some of her students to travel to Mumbai, India for the 2010 Global Flat Classroom Conference. Suzie was also featured by Microsoft Online Safetyunder the Education Highlights section for her work thus far with these global projects. Throughout the past two years, Suzie has participated in Flat Classroom Projects in the capacity of classroom teacher, judge, and most recently coordinated and analyzed the project's multimedia judging efforts for the Flat Classroom 10-3 project. Outside of the classroom, she coaches football cheerleading, serves as the school's Homebound Instruction Coordinator and an instructor, serves as a Student Assistance Program (SAP) intervention faculty team member for at-risk youths in school, and serves as advisor for the school’s Student Government Organization, amongst other extracurriculars. Outside of school, Suzie is kept busy with her seven-year-old son's school, soccer, baseball, and basketball schedules.

Suzie just recently begun blogging at Coal Cracker Classroom to document and share her experiences in an attempt to prove that small-town schools have big ideas, too, and can compete in an ever-changing, globally connected world.