This document provides information about an upcoming global education project called "A Week in the Life". The project will involve elementary school students from around the world researching and sharing aspects of their daily lives. Teachers will meet weekly online to coordinate the project, while students collaborate in teams on topics like school, transportation, holidays and more using tools like Edmodo and a shared wiki. The overall goals are for students to learn about other cultures, develop collaboration skills, and answer essential questions about similarities and differences in children's lives globally.

1. A
Week
in
the
Life
Project
14-­‐1
Welcome!
Teacher
kickoff
mee:ng
February
18/19
2014
The
Project
wiki
can
be
found
at
h"p://aweekinthelife14-­‐1.flatclassroomproject.org/
The
project
Teacher
Guide
can
be
found
ath"p://<nyurl.com/awlflatconnect
This
project
is
part
of
the
Flat
Connec:ons
group
of
global
projects
h"p://flatconnec<ons.com

2. Meet
FuzeBox!
Our
virtual
classroom
for
Flat
Connec:ons

3. Where
are
you
from?
Add
to
chat
your
name,
your
city/state/country
and
:me.

4. Agenda
Part
1:
AWL
and
Flat
Connec<ons
Part
2:
Project
details
•
•
•
•
Introduc:ons
What
is
Flat
Connec:ons?
What
is
A
Week
in
the
Life?
Places
and
spaces
•
•
•
•
•
•
Project
content
Project
aims
and
challenges
Project
structure
Project
outcomes
How
to
get
started
What
to
do
now….and
next

5. Introduc:ons
• Project
Manager
– Michelle
McGarvey
• Lead
Teacher
– Tina
Schmidt
• ‘All
Projects’
Coordinator
– Yvonne
Caples
• Flat
Connec:ons
founder
– Julie
Lindsay

6. A
Flat
Connec:ons
project
is
about…..
CONNECTING
● Being
informed
-­‐
making
sure
you
receive
informa:on
● Making
valuable
connec:ons
with
other
par:cipants
● Building
a
learning
community
-­‐
teachers
and
students
● Being
comfortable
with
project
spaces
and
places

7. A
Flat
Connec:ons
project
is
about…..
COMMUNICATING
● Synchronous
teacher
mee:ngs
● Asynchronous
Ning,
wiki,
Edmodo
work
● Sharing
resources
and
ideas
for
learning
to
improve
project
outcomes
● Observing
project
workflow
and
informing
partners
of
school
breaks
and
interrup:ons

8. A
Flat
Connec:ons
project
is
about…..
COLLABORATING
● Contribu:ng
to
all
aspects
of
the
project
● Being
reliable
and
responsible
global
collaborators
● Monitoring
and
being
part
of
the
project
conversa:on
with
students
● Suppor:ng
co-­‐crea:on
objec:ves

9. What
is
‘A
Week
in
the
Life…’?
'A
Week
in
the
Life...'
is
a
Flat
Connec:ons
Project
for
Elementary
School
students
of
approximately
ages
8-­‐11.
The
curriculum
focus
is
Interdisciplinary,
including
concepts
for
how
we
live,
how
we
communicate,
cultural
understanding
and
global
awareness.
Teachers
will
meet
most
weeks
to
discuss
project
goals,
aims
and
progress.
Classes
will
be
grouped
into
teams
on
each
topic.
The
aim
of
the
project
is
to
join
Elementary
School
classrooms
globally
with
a
view
to
exploring
what
life
is
like
in
each
country
through
discussion,
sharing
and
collec:ng
mul:media
to
create
final
products
together.
These
are
then
compared
and
contrasted
and
become
the
focus
of
further
educa:onal
ac:vi:es
aber
the
project.
The
project
is
designed
to
develop
cultural
understanding,
skills
with
Web
2.0
and
other
sobware,
experience
in
global
collabora:on
and
online
learning,
awareness
of
what
it
means
to
live
and
learn
in
a
flat
world.

10. Places and Spaces……
Getting a handle on where to g
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cogdog

11. AWLTeacher Community
• Flat Connection network (Ning)
o Join teacher group (http://flatconnections.net)
o http://flatconnections.net/group/a-week-inthe-life-14-1
• AWL Google group
o Set your own email preferences and make
sure you are receiving mail during the project
For private email communication
• https://groups.google.com/group/flat-classroom-elementary-project
• Email: flat-classroom-elementary-project@googlegroups.com

12. Wiki
http://aweekinthelife14-1.flatclassroomproject.org/

13. Good
Tips
for
Wikispaces
1. Take
this
week
to
get
yourself
comfortable
with
Wikispaces.
Make
sure
you
join!
2. Topics
are
always
on
the
leb
to
click
on
3. To
edit,
first
make
sure
you
are
on
the
page
you
want
to
edit,
then
click
“edit”
in
the
top
right
of
the
screen.
Always
preview
your
changes
before
saving.

14. hgp://flatconnec:ons.net
Ning
Group
–
Important
resources

15. Essen<al
Ques<ons
Which
Will
Be
Answered
as
Part
of
the
Project
• What
are
the
similari<es
and
differences
among
children
around
the
world?
• How
can
we
connect
with
each
other
through
our
commonali<es?
• How
does
your
geography
where
you
live
impact
your
topic?

16. 1.
Do
some
research
in
your
school
around
these
NINE
topics:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
School
<me
Languages
Clothing
Housing
Transporta<on
Leisure
<me
Holidays
Celebra<on
Environment

17. 2.
Collect
mul<media
and
share
with
team
members
• Mul<media
choices:
3-­‐5
second
video,
audio,
slideshow,
cartoons,
etc.
• Share
mul<media
online
via
VoiceThread
and
team
wiki
pages
• Discuss
differences
and
similari<es
between
mul<media

18. 3.
Complete
a
final
project
• Each
classroom
will
be
responsible
to
assemble
a
number
of
team
projects
• Upload
finished
projects
to
the
wiki
• View
all
the
group
projects
and
compare
and
contrast
the
results.

19. Project
Tools
-­‐
Students
• Edmodo
–
Our
‘social’
educa:onal
network
– Students
in
teams
– ‘Handshake’
–
introduc:ons
– Share
ideas,
converse,
solve
problems
– Answer
essen:al
ques:ons
• Wikispaces
-­‐
Our
collabora:ve
working
area
– Co-­‐create
wiki
pages
with
material
share
for
each
topic

20. How
many
of
you
have
used
Edmodo?

21. Good
Tips
for
Edmodo
1. Take
this
week
to
get
yourself
comfortable
with
Edmodo
before
we
add
students.
2. YouTube
official
Edmodo
videos
3. Think
of
Edmodo
as
an
educa:onal
Facebook

22. How
will
Workflow
support
AWL
14-­‐1?
• Online
Teacher
Informa:on
Mee:ng:
before
March
1
• Classroom
and
Student
Handshake:
March
1-­‐15
• Team
Forma:on
and
Project
Discussions:
March
15-­‐April
15
• Mul:media
Collec:on
and
Sharing:
April
15-­‐30
• Media
Colla:on
and
Product
Development:
May
1-­‐15
• Celebra:on,
Summits
and
Reflec:ons:
May
15-­‐
June
1

23. A
Week
in
the
Life
Project
Structure
Edmodo,
Handshakes,
Wiki
Team
Forma<on,
Mul<media
Collec<on
Project
development
and
co-­‐
crea<on
Celebra<on,
Reflec<on,
Sharing
outcomes

24. Adding
Your
School
on
the
Wiki
• All
Teachers
will
need
to
join
the
wiki
• Add
their
school
on
the
home
page
with
– Their
school
logo
– A
:me
stamp
from
clocklink.com
– A
school
photograph
of
students
or
the
school

25. What
are
Project
Outcomes
for
Students?
• Online
learning
community
interac:on
– Real
:me
interac:ons
e.g.
Skype
– Sharing
mul:media
-­‐images,
videos
e.g.
class
handshakes
• Collabora:ve
learning
and
team
skills
• Major
outcome
1:
Contribu<on
to
one
of
the
Team
topics
• Major
outcome
2:
Co-­‐created
ar<facts

26. Crea:ng
the
Handshake
● Handshake
phase
○
○
Reach
out
and
“shake
hands”
over
the
next
week
Share
this
experience
via
the
Ning
or
the
Wiki
● Tools
for
the
Handshake
○
○
○
You
decide
Skype
-­‐
Mystery?
Video

27. What
now?
• PM
will
email
a
mee:ng
summary
and
recording
link
for
this
kickoff
(and
this
info
will
be
on
the
Ning!)
• Invita:on
to
Google
group,
Ning
group,
Timebridge,
join
the
wiki
• Week
star:ng
February
24:
– Another
teacher
mee:ng
run
by
Michelle
and
Tina
– Teachers
start
introducing
students
to
the
project
– Real
:me
connec:ons
explored

28. Badges
-­‐Teachers
&
Students
Flat
Connec<ons
will
introduce
‘Badges’
this
semester.
More
informa<on
coming
soon!
h"p://credly.com

29. Discussion
and
Ques:ons

30. Final
words………
• Anyone
who
has
never
made
a
mistake
has
never
tried
anything
new.
-­‐
Albert
Einstein
• The
important
thing
is
not
to
stop
ques:oning.
-­‐
Albert
Einstein

31. FLAT
professional
development
Flat
Connec:ons
Global
Educator
FLAT
encounters
Sydney
June
2014
FLAT
projects
for
K-­‐12
hgp://flatconnec:ons.com

32. Global
Portal
Teacher
Network
Email
Twiger
Julie
Lindsay
flatconnec:ons.com
flatconnec:ons.net
admin@flatconnec:ons.com
@flatconnec:ons
julie@flatconnec:ons.com