The teacher summit -K2 Building Bridges

It was with great disappointment that I missed out on the teacher summit held online using Blackboard Collaborate for the pilot K2 Building Bridges project (a newbie on the scene for the Flat Classroom Projects). The summits are great – a time for reflection, a summary of the total learning that has taken place and a sharing of experiences. Each teacher involved is asked to create a slide in MS Powerpoint to show what the project looked like and felt like for them. Below is my slide:-

My grade prep/one class was part of group 9, together with a class in Phuket, Thailand; Connecticut, USA and Washington, USA. Here is my one minute summary of this fabulous project:-

1. A view from our window was fun. It showed how very different it is where we all live.  I enlisted one of my year 10 students to help with this task. Students told Sean what they could see and he proceeded to take photos on that basis. These photos were shared and uploaded onto a youblisher ebook.
2. Our topic was ‘Part of a Family’. Our students were split into four groups. Students shared one of the following  ’their family at school’, ‘Our homes’, ‘Bedtime Rituals’, ‘Family Activities’ with photos and captions. The results were shared on a google presentation and will be embedded on our wiki page.
3. I loved being part of an enthusiastic, creative and innovative group of teachers. This project was designed by us all – bottom up!
4. From this group I learned of many new tools for connecting collaborating and creating.
5. A wonderful network has been established with the opportunity for further connections beyond the project.
6. The input from parents of my students was amazing. I found them to be digital, online and willing to work with their students at home. This was vital to the project success, as I only teach these students ICT one day per week. Images of family activities were called for and it was requested that student faces not be shown in full. Parents used a variety of angles to enable this to happen, without detracting from the message of the image. A further network has now been established –  the parents! 

Below are some of  the ‘Views from our Window’

There are lots of leaves on the ground as it is autumn

Our playground where we love to play. It is right near our classroom.

Behind our classroom is a paddock where we sometimes see sheep and cattle.

Our school chooks. Sometimes we collect the eggs

Does our school look different to yours? Do our families look different to those of your students?