 This post written by Aaron Mauer: I know, you are probably thinking what in the world can I possibly have to talk about in regards to the Eracism Global Debate project? I have blogged about this project several times(see the end of post to see past reflections). Well, I have some more ideas to share. I have learned that I am not good enough yet and have made preparations to be better as an educator. Talk about a model learner! Yes, I admit that I could have been better as a teacher. That is the truth and I accept that. Doing this project for the second time, but with a younger group was essential for me to learn that I have more to learn. Without this opportunity I would have never known. Working with sixth grade students on this project has really changed the operations of this project. Here are some issues that I did not discuss in the first 6th grade reflection. 1. They need more strict guidance and focus because they are just too immature mentally and socially. 2. Many don't use Facebook or social media tools so this just debunks the whole notion of them all being online using these tools. 3. Wait......why are they not online connecting to learn besides the apps that lead to nowhere good? 4. Structure on how to do research because they really have no idea how to gather research and piece it together as a team. 5. Teach them how to listen. They don't know how. So, what I am going to do about it?1. Google Research in Google Drive - I recently realized that I am an idiot for not using this tool. I will require this tool for them to research. I will teach them and the first thing we do is create an annotated bibliography using the tool to gather research and work through the How-To's. I made the mistake of assuming that they could find an article, extract the proper information and share it with their team. They made a feeble attempt, but I needed to give more step by step direction and then let them go. I left it too open too soon and we struggled in this area at least in the first round. 2. From the annotated bibliographies of each student I will have them critique the informationprovided to get them ready to create rebuttals in the debate. Having them look critically will help them listen. I think by doing this activity throughout in terms of arguing the merits of the article or book will help them process the information while at the same time working on persuasive skills needed to debate. While debating we wanted to talk like it was a summary and not really sell our ideas. 3. Teach them to create a chart and how to document the information shared by the other team. As opposed to just a blank piece of paper to capture ideas I will give them a template to follow. I have found that the open piece of paper is too broad and they miss out on key phrases and facts to respond to. There is not enough time to listen to the debates twice so they have to be spot. When I judge debates for this project I use a grid system and for some reason I never thought to teach my students the method. We used it second round and it worked so much better. It forces them to key in on key facts and phrases and learn to scheme and strategize much more efficiently. 4. Evaluate their scripts and statements for grammar and spelling. We often don't have time to cover this in great detail, but with so much time on speaking, listening, writing, and research why I am not hammering this big time? Time to bring out the guns and teach them. This will help them in organizing ideas as well as speaking. 5. Kick kids out who don' work. I give them chance to work and warnings, but this is not required. If you are just going to goof around and mess up the document, leave immature comments in the Google comments, and not contribute.....see you later. Grow up and try again. Sometimes I need to be a bit more harsh. I like to let them learn and let the group bring them in, but 6th grade they don't do this. In 8th grade they will call the person out, but not at this level. I need to be that person. I think I remove them after giving some warnings and vision about what to do. If it continues, then remove them. They need to realize this is a great opportunity to learn. If you don't want to be passionate about it, then perhaps this is not for you. I really believe that sometimes removing a student from an opportunity like this can be a wake up call that they need to take advantage of what is being provided to them. I don't think they always understand this. Once they have lost that chance, they will realize it and next around they will be more focused. And yes, I have that luxury over most teachers as this is an enrichment opportunity. I am blessed to hold that over their heads which I know most classroom teachers don't have this, but I need to use this when needed. It has been an interesting journey for me. I have found myself more frustrated with the sixth grade compared to 8th grade, but I have remember they are lacking several key tools, skill sets, and thought processes that 8th grade came to me with. My frustrations stem from me not preparing them as well as I should have and therefore I point the finger at myself and not them. I have to step back and teach them. I assumed too much and that lead to my frustration. Next time I will take care of the gaps and I know that it will resolve the frustrations I felt during this sixth grade enrichment. I have high expectations and I need to remember that if don't equip them properly how will they ever achieve this status? With that all being said, I am so proud of how much we turned things around from the first round to the second round. I implemented some of these ideas and the students realized they did not quite work to their potential. I think it was a great wake up call to not win the first round. It knocked them down a notch and made them realize they had to improve and I had to do the same. We were in this together as a unit, the students and I, and as a unit me modified our system to make it work. It has been another wonderful experience for myself as a teacher and creating a classroom that was able to see growth in learning and engagement. The learning did not stop with a letter grade as I did not give a grade. I told them the world was listening to them and that should be all they needed in order to do well because who wants to sound unprepared to the world? The learning has continued beyond the debate class and I am so excited to work with these students on new projects this year and the years to come. Any suggestions or thoughts? I would love to hear them. Especially on how to teach listening? 6th Grade Debate Project: EracismMarch 15th, 2013: Flat Classroom Global Debate Project: Eracism "How do I operate my classroom and run the day to day operations of preparing for a global debate?" 8th Grade Debate Project: Eracism December 19th, 2012 Round 2 Reflection of Eracism: Global Debate, An Amazing Learning ExperienceDecember 14th, 2012 Eracism: Global Debate, An Amazing Learning ExperienceDecember 12th, 2012 Global Education/Flat Classroom: Discussion with Dr. Leigh Zeitz and Students from UNIOctober 25th, 2012 Flat Classroom: Eracism Round 1: AMAZING!
 Spread the word about the NEW project starting in February, Eracism 13-1. We are madly working in the background to bring you the BEST asynchronous global debate we can. Thank you to those who provided feedback via our survey from the last project, and we have listened and we are acting NOW to make improvements:
- We have tidied up the Eracism wiki - most details are there now for the new semester!
- We are reviewing all protocols and procedures, including the judges rubric, to ensure all language is clear and provides a 'flattened' learning environment for all global participants
- We are joined in partnership with ObaWorld from the University of Oregon's College of Education to offer, for this semester, a free online platform (ObaWorld) for teachers, judges and students to form a community around this project. Many comments we have received in the past were about the challenges of communication between teachers and the need to get students connecting across classrooms before, during and after the debates. ObaWorld will help us solve this, and be a lot of fun as well!
- We have reviewed the project Timeline and have the current Calendar dates on the wiki - we are giving MORE TIME for each asynchronous debate so that schools can work more efficiently around holidays and interruptions and judges can provide feedback in a more timely manner
- We are carefully considering the Eracism 13-1 Debate Topic, and will provide a Topic and Resource page on the wiki to help clarify and share resources - the topic should be finalised this coming week! Watch this space!
So, spread the word! Applications for classrooms and debate teams are due February 7. Expressions of interest to help with judging and coaching will be taken any time from now on. Classrooms applying and Judges and Volunteers fill in the same online form: http://tinyurl.com/Eracism13-1. We need more classrooms from all over the world to take part!
What teachers said about Eracism 12-2:- Hearing how the other teams debated was fascinating because we learned about how/what other people think about key global issues.
- Working with the students in my school in a different context was a spectacular opportunity to know them better.
- Loved the whole thing. Despite the amount of work and sacrifice it entailed, it was a ton of fun and our team learned a lot about debating. Next time, we will be more prepared.
- The final live debate was a highlight!
- This makes learning applicable and real for the students. They no longer care about a grade, but instead want to do well as the world listens in.
Will YOU be part of the next global debate??
Written by Aaron MauerThe team at workThis morning I was lucky enough to have another group of students take part in a championship round debate in bracket B of the Eracism project. We came to school early arriving around 7:15 to get ready for a 7:30 am debate. This is a small sacrifice to make compared to our friends and debating opponent, AISG from China, who had to stay at school until 9:30 pm to take part. I have not had the luxury to actually meet with my students since the semi-final debates which were a few weeks back. Between then we have communicated through some emails back and forth. I was just hoping that we would have enough students to come in early to debate as I had not heard from many of them. However, they were all there except for a few so we were ready to go. Trying to make sense of notes and rebuttals More random notes to organize on the fly! We did have a major scare. I am not sure where the miscommunication was between the students and myself, but my students came to my office ready to debate the wrong side of the debate. They had all their notes and information ready for the negative side. We did not catch this error until 7:27 am which was three minutes before we started. In a mad scramble and panic we printed off a few notes for the affirmative side and the students were left to quickly change their mindset, their arguments and really to have all plans fall to the wayside. To say that I was proud of these students is an understatement. Here we are hearing the beep of Blackboard telling us it is time to speak and we have nothing prepared. Our first speaker took our notes and crafted a great opening based off the bullet points of our research from months ago. During this time we quickly assembled small squads - The winning pose! - some were developing a framework for our second speaker for rebuttal, which when even organized and prepared proves to be the hardest speaking part of the debate
- some were constructing a conclusion to wrap up and drive home key points that we were speaking on the fly
- some were simply working an organizing any notes that we had and preparing for the other team and getting prepared to argue back
Our secret ingredient: donuts! If you read my first reflection on this project then you have seen the office that we work in. It is small and quite cramped. We have to shut all the doors which makes the room cook us like hot dogs as the heater in the ceiling pumps a ton of hot air. As we started and continued through the debate not only were we sweating from the heater, but from the intensiveness of this debate as we scrambled to sound intelligent. In the end, both teams did an amazing job. The topic is difficult. It is not easy, but to listen to these students articulate their thoughts is impressive. I am not going to be redundant from my first post reflections because many of those ideas still reign true(click the link above to read), but I would like to reflect on some other ideas. - I love the ideas that AISG brought up in the debate. The whole notion of new emerging leaders who are empthatic is a great thought to absorb and think about. I need to follow the new emerging leaders and start to figure out how their empathy affects the countries that they lead. We argued back stating that conflicts of many lands go back generations to almost the beginning of time and a new leader cannot make change, but I would like to believe that this perhaps a start of something positive
- I love the whole notion that AISG brought to the table about education. Projects like this where students from all over the world work together to increase their learning is powerful. How can we continue to push this global education concept to the next level? We debated against one another, but how can we take these projects further where students can begin to build empathy and understanding of one another so that when these students become leaders the acceptance and equity of all people are just common nature? As I was wrapped up with the idea of current events and education from the debates last week, this new thought of mine is also taking hold of any extra brain cells that I have.
- Debating and communicating with students from all over the world does two great things
- Raise the local bar of expectations - Our students knew that they had to bring their A game in order to be ready for these debates. We came across some amazing students, research, rhetoric, and speaking skills. This was a good wake up call that perhaps we are not as amazing as we sometimes like to think. (I don't think the students would ever admit this, but just an observation from a teacher perspective)
- With all the hype in the media about American schools falling apart and not being ready to compete globally with other children is just that....hype. Our students proved that despite all the negative press of education in America, our students are doing high level thinking and can do anything they want to do. The key as a school system is create more opportunities for them to feel motivated enough to challenge themselves while they are within our walls and school days. If we don't provide the necessary challenges and relevant issues we miss opportunities for our youth to expand and explore.
As I bring this post to a close I just want to say that all credit goes to the kids. I shared our victory with my staff and they were all very happy. The kids were ecstatic who participated. It is the joy of their emotions that reminds me that projects like these must continue. They were beyond the notion of grades. They were beyond the notion of just doing school for the sake of school. They wanted to do well. They wanted to make sure they could articulate their thoughts. Even during the moments of this debate when we struggled here and there to figure out what to say they continued to work hard and take measures to do all they could do(being ready for the correct side would have helped with this :)) The intrinsic motivation to learn was beyond anything that I could create in a regular room. My new favorite line that I read on another blog was - I'm the chief learner in my classroom of middle school students.This line is so true. I have acquired many new thoughts, ideas, questions, and development of my teaching skills through the observation of these students. Eracism has given me a new sense of how amazing students can really be and when we don't think students can do this or that, they can(that is a great reminder for ourselves as teachers!)! Today they could have just quit and said no when we realized we prepped incorrectly. Instead they thought on their feet and did awesome. Their quick thinking to prepare in 2 minutes was more impressive than actually thinking on their feet during the debate. Thanks to everyone who judged, participated, and helped to organize. There are too many to name. However, I would love to create a Google Hangout to talk with others about their takeaways, questions, thoughts on global ed, etc. Let me know if interested and I will work on setting a date. As Vicki and Julie state, "Once you go Flat, you never go back!" My passion for global education has only gotten stronger through the participation of this project. All of these students that I had the opportunity to work with through both teams that we operated have done nothing but remind why I love my job! Kids are amazing! Simply put. When they shine and show their talents and you know that it is all them that have done the work, then as a teacher/leader you know you have done your job. I simply sat back and watched them blow my mind. It is amazing what kids can do when you place them in a situation where there is no ceiling but the ones they place on themselves. When they remove that ceiling WATCH OUT! because it is a spectacle to behold.
 After two months of hard work, the Eracism 12-2 finals have started. There will be three finals debates, the first debate last week was Bracket C: 3C - THINK Global School (Argentina) Class 2 - Affirmative 2B - Bettendorf Middle School (USA) - Negative Judges: Catalina Valenzuela (Lead Judge), Karin Linehan and Leigh Zeitz Recording for this debate Congratulations to the Affirmative team, THINK Global School for being the adjudicated winner of this debate! The Eracism 12-2 finals this year are being held synchronously in the virtual classroom, Blackboard Collaborate. Student teams must be ready to speak, respond and rebut with very little preparation between each speaker. Judges are sent to a breakout room at the conclusion of the debate and have about 5 minutes to deliberate and return with their conclusion and decision about the winning team.Teacher from Bettendorf, Aaron Maurer, who is also a Flat Classroom Certified teacher (although this is not a requirement for inclusion in the Eracism project) shared a thoughtful blog post after the debate last week. In this he says:"These two pictures show education at a high level. We have students listening, analyzing, and trying to process new ideas and concepts in real time without much time to finalize as a team. During the short quick breaks they quickly dispersed ideas and had to quickly gather all their ideas, write ideas down and looking for that one loophole that we needed to win. It was remarkable. I sat on the floor with my coffee and just watched it unfold. I try very hard to keep my thoughts and ideas out as this is their debate. I do give them things to ponder, but never give facts or information directly." Aaron has another team debating this week, this time against a team in China - and you can imagine the logistics behind how we have finally determined a time for teams to debate live, given that China is 14 hours ahead of where Bettendorf is located. Eracism Project fosters a global debate, it also fosters learning about the world through interaction with others who live in different circumstances and have different ideas and opinions. It also teaches both educators and students how to use the technology available to connect and communicate effectively. Please join us for the live final debates this week:Link for the Debate classroom.TOPIC: "Global management of natural resources will cause more harm than good" Bracket A Date and Time of Debate Final: Monday, December 17th, 2012 at 9:00 a.m. EST, 14:00 GMT. Find YOUR DATE and TIME for this event 3A - Quality Schools International Bratislava (SLOVAKIA) - Affirmative 6A - Lounsberry Hollow MS (USA) - Negative Judges: Karin Linehan (Lead Judge), Catalina Valenzuela, Susan Adams Bracket B Date and Time of Debate Final: Wednesday, December 19th, 2012 at 8:30am. EST, 13:30 GMT. Find YOUR DATE and TIME for this event 8B - Bettendorf Middle School (USA) - Affirmative 3B - American International School of Guangzhou (China) Class 4 - Negative Judges: Leigh Zeitz (Lead Judge), Catalina Valenzuela, Susan Adams and Andrew Csizmadia Apply for Eracism 13-1 NOW - Involve YOUR students in this global debate next semester!
Applications open until February 7, 2013.
 Global debating kicked off on October 3rd with three full brackets of eight teams each ready to debate "Global management of natural resources will cause conflict between cultures". This project includes fourteen schools from seven countries - Argentina, Canada, China, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, and the United States. The school teams are researching their debate topic and preparing to post their position in Voicethread. Round 1 debates will be complete by October 29th at which time the judges will listen to the debates, collaborate within the judging teams and post the results in Voicetehread. All Voicethreads will become public after the judges have recorded their feedback. The public is welcome to comment on the Voicethreads at that time.
October 10th - The Judges' Training Session was a great learning experience with Marcia Alessi. The judges include teacher education students from the University of Northern Iowa with Dr. Leigh Zeitz, as well as teachers in the project who will be judging brackets and teams other than their own schools, and volunteers from around the world. This global project is so rich with great expertise and amazing educators from around the world! Stay tuned for Round 1 results at the beginning of November.
 Press Release September 8, 2012.
Announcing, the Eracism Project 2012, (another Flat Classroom® Project) - a global student debate that joins diverse cultures and includes authentic debate for global competence and international mindedness.
Fact based debate is a very essential skill with students who often equate the term "debate" with argument. The Eracism project: A Flat Classroom® Project was envisioned by the winning student team from the 2009 Flat Classroom Conference held in Doha, Qatar and their concept was to hold debates using Web 2.0 tools to improve cultural understanding.
Schools selected for the Eracism Project 2012-2 will be asked to enter a 4 person debate team, with the remaining students in the class being researchers around the topic,
"Global management of natural resources will cause conflict between cultures"
The initial debates will be held asynchronously but in what organizers are calling a "simulated synchronous" environment with the final winning teams debating live in a virtual world. This project was first carried out in 2009 and was run again in March 2012 and will now start again in September 2012.
We welcome applications NOW from teachers and their classrooms around the world. We also need judges and volunteers to help with debate coaching. To apply for this project as a class or judge or volunteer or request to be involved in the teacher information meeting, please complete this form.
Classrooms in Upper Primary, Middle and High School are encouraged to apply (students of age 11 and above). Organisers will create two strands in this project based on demand.
Application deadline is September 24, with announcement of project classrooms by Friday September 28, 2012.
The first teacher online meeting will take place near October 1, 2012. Actual date and time to be advised. Tentative Timeline
This project has a planned start date of October 1, 2012 with debates beginning October 15 and concluding with the final debate held in a virtual world (and to be streamed live) in late November/early December 2012. Schools applying must specify their school holiday dates so that they can be best placed in the project on the debate grid.Phase 1 - Research & CoachingThis will happen at the school level as classrooms research the topic and practice debate at their local level.
Phase 2 - Asynchronous Debate RoundStudents will use VoiceThread to debate with each round taking approximately one week.
Phase 3 - Synchronous DebateThe top two teams will debate live in a virtual world with the debate streamed live on the web for students and educators around the world to watch.
Phase 4 - ReflectionStudents and teachers will reflect on ways to improve the methods for global debates.
Process
Due to the asynchronous components used, Eracism will use a hybrid debating style that is based on Conflict or Initiative Debating.
The teams prepare their cases; they present their arguments and evidence; and, they rebut the other team's arguments and evidence. The debate cycle will generally align with the Middle School Public Debate Program found at http://www.middleschooldebate.com
Each debate will be adjudicated by 3 judges and the winning team advances to the next round.
Most of the debates will be carried out on VoiceThread with the final debate being streamed live in a virtual world.
Thank you to the sponsors of this project: Voicethread, Wikispaces, Blackboard Collaborate. (Virtual world platform to be announced soon)
Co-founders of Flat Classroom® Projects, Julie Lindsay and Vicki Davis, are delighted to have the leadership of Flat Classroom® Certified Teacher, Eva Brown, and her students from Red River College, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada take charge of this inspirational global collaborative project. The project opens eyes and hearts as students debate on an issue that will bring together diverse ideas, develop transferable skills and create lasting friendships.
More information about Eracism: http://www.eracismproject.org
Application Form for Eracism 2012: http://tinyurl.com/Eracism12-2
Flat Classroom Projects: http://flatclassroomprojec.net
Contact us: fcp@flatclassroom.org
Directors, Vick Davis and Julie Lindsay
For more about the pedagogy and benefits of adding global collaboration to your curriculum, buy Julie and Vicki's book Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds from Pearson Publishing. www.flatclassroombook.com
Eracism Project 2012 Forming NowPress Release February 1, 2012.
Announcing, the Eracism Project 2012 - a global student debate that joins diverse cultures and includes authentic debate for global competence and international mindedness.
Fact based debate is a very essential skill with students who often equate the term "debate" with argument. The Eracism project: A Flat Classroom ProjectTM was envisioned by the winning student team from the 2009 Flat Classroom Conference held in Doha, Qatar and their concept was to hold debates using Web 2.0 tools to improve cultural understanding.
Schools selected for the Eracism Project 2012 will be asked to enter a 4 person debate team, with the remaining students in the class being researchers around the topic,
"Government regulation requiring immigrants to adopt the beliefs, habits, and language of the dominant culture does more harm than good."
The initial debates will be held asynchronously but in what organizers are calling a "simulated synchronous" environment with the final winning teams debating live in a virtual world. This project was carried out in 2009 and is being run again starting in March 2012. A limited number of applications will be taken.
We welcome applications NOW from teachers and their classrooms around the world. We also need judges and volunteers to help with debate coaching. To apply for this project as a class or judge or volunteer or request to be involved in the teacher information meeting, please complete this form - (http://tinyurl.com/eracism2012)
Classrooms in Upper Primary, Middle and High School are encouraged to apply (students of age 11 and above). Organisers will create two strands in this project based on demand.
Application deadline is February 29, with announcement of project classrooms by Friday March 2, 2012.
The first teacher online meeting will take place near March 5, 2012. Actual date and time to be advised.
Tentative Timeline
This project has a planned start date of March 5, 2012 with debates beginning March 25 and concluding with the final debate held in a virtual world (and to be streamed live) in May 2012. Schools applying must specify their school holiday dates so that they can be best placed in the project on the debate grid.
Phase 1 - Research & Coaching - This will happen at the school level as classrooms research the topic and practice debate at their local level.
Phase 2 - Asynchronous Debate Round - Students will use VoiceThread to debate with each round taking approximately one week.
Phase 3 - Synchronous Debate - The top two teams will debate live in a virtual world with the debate streamed live on the web for students and educators around the world to watch.
Phase 4 - Reflection - Students and teachers will reflect on ways to improve the methods for global debates.
Process
Due to the asynchronous components used, Eracism will use a hybrid debating style that is based on Conflict or Initiative Debating.
The teams prepare their cases; they present their arguments and evidence; and, they rebut the other team's arguments and evidence. The debate cycle will generally align with the Middle School Public Debate Program found at http://www.middleschooldebate.com
Each debate will be adjudicated by 3 judges and the winning team advances to the next round.
Most of the debates will be carried out on VoiceThread with the final debate being streamed live in a virtual world.
Thank you to the sponsors of this project: Voicethread, Wikispaces, Blackboard Collaborate. (Virtual world platform to be announced soon.)
Co-founders of Flat Classroom (TM) Projects, Julie Lindsay and Vicki Davis, have been planning for two years to once again run this ground breaking and inspirational global collaborative project. The project opens eyes and hearts as students debate on an issue that will bring together diverse ideas, develop transferable skills and create lasting friendships.
More information about Eracism: http://www.eracismproject.org
Application Form for Eracism 2012: http://tinyurl.com/eracism2012
Flat Classroom Projects: http://flatclassroomprojec.net
Contact us: fcp@flatclassroom.org
Directors, Vick Davis and Julie Lindsay
For more about the pedagogy and benefits of adding global collaboration to your curriculum, buy Julie and Vicki's book Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds from Pearson Publishing. www.flatclassroombook.com
 Global collaboration starts with connecting yourself to the world. Students are the greatest textbook ever written for each other. The same is true for teachers. We are passionate about connecting and facilitating effective collaborations between classrooms because we’ve seen the power of how it can engage students and teach them the skills they need to be successful in the 21st century. We want to bring in people who are nervous, who don’t know how, or who have tried to connect and were frustrated. We also want to bring back those teachers who tried it and got burned out. Now it is time to enlarge the circle of global collaborative excellence in a massive way. It is our vision that if we can have enough educators linking together and learning about this at the same time, that a natural byproduct will be the creation of many new, exciting global collaborations. It is time to get past the cute stories of global collaboration into the nuts and bolts of the pedagogy that makes it happen. (Although there are a lot of powerful stories to tell.) To help facilitate this conversation, we felt like that it would be best if we, the authors (Julie Lindsay and Vicki Davis), step aside, and invite our friends Ben Curran and Neil Wetherbee of @engaginged to facilitate the conversation. They’ve done book clubs before and this is another pedagogy that we want to work out: that of having a book club that is truly global. We’d like to do this to promote conversations that transcend borders. The easiest way to get this out of the box is to get out of the classroom and connect with other educators. Every week for 10 weeks we will meet at an alternating time - 12 hours apart. (For the East Coast USA it is Sundays at 6 pm Eastern or Monday mornings at 8 am eastern - Visit our Book club calendar to convert these times to your Time Zone. Subscribe to this calendar via Google calendar to keep up with events.) This is Sunday evenings at 22:00GMT alternating with Monday mornings at 10:00GMT in our Blackboard Collaborateroom http://tinyurl.com/BookClubRoom .It is free and everyone is welcome. We’re also inviting the educators featured in each chapter to be with us for the conversations about “their” chapter. You’ll meet people from all over the world just like you who are doing wonderful, amazing things. This is a global story that transcends just one project, although we’re mighty proud of ours. While you are welcome to just “drop in” you can register with the Book club mailing list and we’ll remind you each week about the session, let you know who is coming, and we’ll mention any special events that we’ll be having as part of the launch. If you run your own book club, you’re welcome to come by the club anytime for ideas and discussion points. The hashtag for our conversations is #flatclass and the book club is, of course, free. Anyone can join us. There’s no homework - just conversation and learning. We’ll all be there to discuss the future of education with each other. We hope global collaborators from around the world will join us and share their stories too. Conversations will hinge around our new book, Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds. The book will be available in ebook format, although we’re not sure yet which ebook formats. So, to get ready: - Order the book Amazon Barnes and Noble Pearson Publishing ebook format
- Sign up for the book club - run by Ben Curran & Neil Wetherbee from @engaginged
- Mark your calendar with the dates and times
Thank you to everyone who has made this possible Vicki Davis @coolcatteacherJulie Lindsay@julielindsay Co-founders Flat Classroom Projects@flatclassroomBen Curran & Neil Wetherbee @engaginged 4th and 5th Grade teachers Co-founders of Engaging Educators LLC How will this global book club work? Will it really transform my teaching?Have you ever read a book about teaching and thoroughly enjoyed it, only to get done and ask yourself "Now what?" Or maybe you've read something that was motivating, inspirational and chock-full of ideas, only to find after sharing it with colleagues that they "just aren't that into it?" If so, this book club is for you. We hope it will be a gathering of inspired, motivated, similarly driven friends from around the globe. Here's how it will work...each week we will focus on approximately one chapter. Each meeting will be divided roughly into three parts. The first part will focus on implementation--how all of us have or can implement the main theme of the week. We'll also dive into and discuss the activities (Vicki and Julie refer to them as "challenges") that are embedded in the book. The second part will be more of an open forum for everyone to discuss other topics in the chapter or other issues pertaining to the subject. This will be a great time for making connections with other teachers for possible collaborations and getting answers to questions that you have. Finally, and perhaps what we are most excited about is that each week we hope to be joined by the friends mentioned in each chapter. They will be able to share their firsthand insight on the weekly topic as well as stories from their own experiences. On top of all this, Engaging Educators will be providing short, free “boot camp” style webinars along the way to help you master some of the topics that might be new to you. What we hope to facilitate is a perfect companion to Julie and Vicki's book, an experience that goes beyond "just reading" and demonstrates what a network of connected educators can learn and accomplish. Welcome to the club! Ben Curran & Neil Wetherbee @engaginged4th & 5th Grade teachers and Co-founders of Engaging Educators LLCtechnorati tags: flatclass engaginged bencurran neilwetherbee coolcatteacher julielindsay
We are delighted to invite you to an online ‘Meet the Flat Classroom®’ meeting early next week. This is an opportunity to learn more about Flat Classroom® Projects LLC and our non-profit organisation, Flat Classroom® Conference and Live Events Inc. At this gathering we will - Explain and review all current projects
- Share Flat Classroom® Certified Teacher course details
- Detail our upcoming live events and workshops
- Talk about how to get involved with Flat Classroom® as a classroom teacher, as a leader as a pre-service teacher and as an expert advisor
- Share excitement and details about our book, “Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds: Move to Global Collaboration One Step at a Time”, due for release January 2012
- and more…..!
Come and join us in BlackBoard Collaborate and hear how you can connect with other educators and students globally and embed collaborative learning into your curriculum. Time and Date: Monday August 29 8:30pm EDT, Tuesday August 30, 8:30am China Check your time at Meet the Flat Classroom on timeanddate.com For those who have already applied to projects for 2011-12, this is not the project launch meeting, but an opportunity to learn more about Flat Classroom®. We hope you can join us! The online meeting room URL: http://tinyurl.com/flatbusiness1112
We are looking for students and educators who are interested in joining us virtually for the Flat Classroom Conference 2011, to be held in less than 3 weeks time. All details on the wiki at http://conference2011.flatclassroomproject.org/Virtual+ParticipantsThere will be TWO online meetings in the next 2 weeks to discuss this further. Come and join us! If you have students who are interested please let us know and encourage them to sign up. The first information/ training meeting is tomorrow morning, Tuesday February 8, 2011 at 7am Eastern with Julie Lindsay.
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