Exciting Updates from Flat Classroom® - January 2013

01/14/2013

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We have lots of exciting news to share about Flat Classroom®. If you are still on holiday (southern hemisphere) I recommend you save this email and come back to it in a week or so. We don't want you to miss out!

Teachers, make sure you join in on our Flat Classrooms Ning for educators only, that is where the conversations are ongoing about global learning and global collaboration; that is where partners are found and global innovations in learning are shared!

1. Flat Classroom Projects - We are launching all of our projects again in February 2013. Our goal is to facilitate the best global collaborative projects in the world where students co-create. Make sure you get your applications in! Download a brochure to share.


2. Flat Classroom School Subscription  Co-founders of Flat Classroom, Julie Lindsay and Vicki Davis, have a solution for schools who want to 'go flat' and include more classrooms and teachers in Flat Classroom Projects each year AND provide professional development opportunities for teachers. Become a Flat Classroom School!
Prices for 2012-2013
  • Bronze Level - $195 for up to 100 students
  • Silver Level - $495 for 1 certified teacher and up to 200 students
  • Gold Level - $995 for 2 certified teachers and up to 500 students
  • Platinum Level - $1795 for 3 certified teachers and up to 800 students
Each category includes access to all projects across the full year up to the number of students noted. There are three Flat Classroom Certified Teacher courses/cohorts to choose from during the year.
View our current Flat Classroom® Schools on the website!

3. Flat Classroom Certified Teacher course. The next cohort will kick off in February! Come and join us or a PD experience that will not only build your PLN but transform your teaching and learning.
ANNOUNCING! Flat Classroom Certified Teacher - Group discount for schools and organizations (2012-13)
$2000 - 5 certified teachers
$3500 - 10 certified teachers
Contact Flat Classroom now to tailor your professional development needs. [email protected]

4. Flat Classroom Conference  Come and join us at the Yokohama International School, March 8-10 2013 in Yokohama, Japan for this unique, challenge-based event that brings student and teachers together from across the world. We invite you to browse our updated website and consider bringing students to this life-changing opportunity. Teachers looking for course credit for attending this conference watch this space for important updates coming very soon. Virtual participants invited to attend also - watch this space for application form coming by the end of January! REGISTRATION is OPEN!

5. Projects Databank - This is a place for Flat Classroom Certified Teachers, and others, to post their projects and attract classrooms from all over the world to participate.
We invite global project designers to join our Project Databank because:
  • This wiki will be the face of each project but the real power will be in the searchable database currently being built
  • Flat Classroom style projects are about community and networking - and we will provide this for our Flat Classroom community to thrive
Congratulations to Aaron Maurer, Flat Classroom Certified teacher cohort 11-1.
Aaron is running an incubator project, Bald Eagle Project you must see!

6. Future Learning Action Talks (F.L.A.T.s) - We invite you to consider presenting in Blackboard Collaborate and share your global adventures and successes. An archive of past FLATS are on the website. Upcoming F.L.A.T.s with Australian Chris Betcher, the FCP 12-2 keynoter, on January 29, 10pm AEST / 6am EST USA. Topic: The Flat Classroom Project - Taking the Long View.

7. Announcing: The World Wide Think Tank is a joint initiative by THINK Global School and Flat Classroom. It is a student initiated and student driven global student leadership forum. It was launched by students, Hannah, Yada and Paul, during a presentation at the Global Education Conference, 2012.
AIMS:
To foster leadership skills.
To encourage global conversations.
To generate change.
CONNECT WITH WWTTJoin the SPOTX online community
Like the Facebook page
Complete the online form to be sent further updates.
Browse the website to learn more and sign up: WWTT website.
Please spread the word!! #WWThinkTank is our hashtag - tweet it out!
Join in for the next online meeting (week starting January 28), volunteer to be a student leader!

8. Global Events - We invite you to use the Flat Classroom Educators network to advertise your global events. Make sure you keep an eye out for what is coming up!
What’s coming up?
  • Meet the Flat Classroom - The next opportunity to meet Julie Lindsay and Vicki Davis in an online information session will be Monday January 21, 8pm EST (January 22, 1am GMT). Check your location for date and time.
  • Join a virtual book club -  A new virtual book club is being led by Kyle Dunbar @edtechdunny based on our book, ‘Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds’. If you want to join, there is still time! Julie and Vicki will be coming to some of the sessions. The meetings are about discussing the concepts found in the book for flattened learning, making connections and learning from one another.
  • Projects, F.L.A.T.s and more!

Questions about Flat Classroom®? Please email us: [email protected]

Julie Lindsay (Australia) and Vicki Davis (USA)
Directors and Co-founders, Flat Classroom®
[email protected], [email protected]
Lisa Durff: Flat Classroom Coordinator - [email protected]
http://flatclassroomproject.net
http://twitter.com/flatclassroom
Hashtag: #flatclass
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Stories of the Flat Classroom®

08/18/2011

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 Using the tools learned from the completion of the Flat Classroom® Certified Teacher Pilot Program in March of 2011, Theresa Allen gained the confidence and knowledge to create and put into practice a project of her own, Virtual Vacation.  Students from Sweden and her 8th grade students collaborated in small groups using Skype to talk live to one another and Google Docs to eventually create a presentation on the vacation of their choice.  The Flat Classroom® Certified Teacher program prepared her to create a project where students from almost any part of the world can participate.  The goal of the Flat Classroom® Certified Teacher Program is "for teachers to become leaders in global collaboration within their schools and internationally" (Julie Lindsay, Vicki Davis).  Theresa also managed the Digiteen 11-2 project with students from 3 countries.
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Flat Classroom Certified Teacher Graduates 2010

03/30/2011

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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.


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