The document summarized the Global Classroom project from 2011-2012. It discussed how the project connected over 300 teachers from 41 countries on 6 continents. It highlighted some of the collaborative projects teachers participated in, and shared stories from several teachers about the impact on their students, including developing relationships with students in other parts of the world. It concluded by thanking participating teachers and providing details on how to stay involved in the future.

1. Global Classroom - 2011-12
Looking Forwards, Looking Back
Michael Graffin (@mgraffin)
Global Classroom Co-Founder & Coordinator
Perth, Western Australia
http://theglobalclassroomproject.wordpress.com

2. BlackBoard Collaborate Recording
This presentation was held in Blackboard Collaborate on
July 1, 2012.
You can access the recording of our Australia / Asia /
Europe session here:
https://sas.elluminate.com/site/external/jwsdetect/playback.jnlp?psid=2012-
07-01.0309.D.4C3548A84E624FA254CD6511B7CA09.vcr&sid=vclass
We had huge technical problems with our Americas
webinar, but you can access the recording here:
https://sas.elluminate.com/site/external/jwsdetect/playback.jnlp?psid=2012-
06-30.1715.D.4C3548A84E624FA254CD6511B7CA09.vcr&sid=vclass

3. Aims of the Session
It is time to reflect on our stories of
global collaboration ....
Join us as we officially bring this
amazing year of global collaboration to a
fitting end.
As one chapter closes,
another begins ...

4. One Year On

5. The Story So Far
Global Classroom 2011-12 ran from October 2011- June 2012, hosting
over 15 major projects, and helping connect teachers worldwide.
• 41 Countries
• 6 Continents
• 300+ Teachers
• 1/3 Active Members in 2011-12
It has been an AMAZING Year

6. We are forging new connections, and exploring
new ways to learn and collaborate globally.
We've built a vibrant global education community, and are
becoming world leaders in this field.
We're "standing on the shoulders of
giants", and becoming true "voices of change".
And who knows where this journey will lead?

7. Global Classroom Stories

8. "Imagine yourself in the house of your
dreams, fully furnished, beautiful pictures
hanging from the walls and equipped with all
the electronic gadgets your heart can wish
for. A wonderful feeling, isn't it?
Then try to imagine living in this house with
the windows always shut to the outside
world. Now, that's quite different, right?
A classroom without real-life connections to
the outside world is a great house without
windows."
Effie Kyrikakis @WinnersSchools
Wiki: http://winnerseducation.wikispaces.com/
The Sunny Thought Project: http://thesunnythoughtproject.wikispaces.com/

9. Michael Graffin - @mgraffin
Perth, Western Australia
What a year ...
• Establishing the #globalclassroom Twitter Chats
• Meeting Govinda Panthy, Director of the SAV School in Nepal
• Mentoring world-leading #globalclassroom teachers around the world
• Skyping Kerala's Finance Minister, and with Sebastian Panakal's
"small" group of teachers in India [read 200+ teachers...]
• Sending the #globalclassroom scrapbooks around the world

10. Kimberley Rivett (@krivett1)
Our class had an incredible year 'meeting' and chatting with other classes
from the UK, Australia and America through quadblogging and then also
through The Flat Stanley Project that an American class in Pennsylvania
participated in with us.
It involved learning about social
networking and being responsible
online citizens through
Edmodo, blogging together and then
getting to 'meet' through Skype.

11. We are Room 14, Point View
Primary School located in
Auckland, New Zealand.
We are an eLearning
classroom that consists of 16
Year 4 children and 11 Year 3
children.
We are interested in finding out
about and comparing life around
the world.

12. This year it has expanded into us exchanging class mascots, and then
communicating about our countries and learning more about being
global citizens through our deeper knowledge of each others' lives.
We started our own Gruffalo Project and have sent our 2 class Gruffalos
to Lebanon and Singapore, and through their online diaries we have
learnt more about those countries.

13. St. Ignatius School, Pennsylvania
Tina Schmidt (@MrsSchmidtB4)

14. St. Ignatius School, Pennsylvania

15. Cathedral of St. Raymond School
Theresa Allen (@tdallen5)
Participated in:
Global Hero Voicethread
Glimpse Around the World - Lunchboxes
Edmodo K-3 Chats - Monthly themes
Seasons Around the World
Global Hello Project - Sunny Thought Project

16. Effie Kyrikakis
@WinnersSchools
Athens, Greece
Blog: http://winnerseducation.blogspot.com.au/
Wiki: http://winnerseducation.wikispaces.com/
The Sunny Thought Project
http://thesunnythoughtproject.wikispaces.com/

17. One of the most amazing projects we created was The Sunny Thought Project.
Through this work we wanted to encourage our students to focus on the bright
side of their life, at a time when everything around them seems to cause the
opposite. Obviously, the benefits of positive thinking are recognised by the
global educator community, so our project has attracted immense attention.
21 schools and classes from around the world have contributed their Sunny
Thoughts and more than 6500 people have visited our wiki. The project is also a
way to see the immense variety of e-tools that can be used in collaboration and
the power of Skype in education, as students from our Athens-based school
managed to interview Boston-based artist Bren Bataclan, renowned for his
Smile Project.
Effie Kyrikakis @WinnersSchools
http://winnerseducation.wikispaces.com/

19. Sebastian Panakal
Kerala, India
Thanks to Michael Graffin of Global Classroom, who convinced our Finance
Minister of the power of ICT enabled teaching: a rural school in a remote village
was granted a handsome fund for a Multi-Media Lab.
Global Classroom has been a boon to us in Kerala, thanks to the team's cross-
cultural connections and trans-disciplinary learning.
Train Online Online
http://elearning-rajettan.blogspot.in/
Video: The GlobalClassroom Project
Twitter: @sebastianpanaka

20. Kerala's Global Classroom
Thank you Global Classroom!
A team of three teenagers have started an
online English Language Training Centre in a
member's home.
• Accepting a honorarium to cover their
expenses, the team connects weekly with
schools abroad on Skype and has a
cultural exchange where everyone
actively participate.
• They engage online English teachers
from abroad to volunteer at the training
centre. Parents oversee management,
making it a cosy family affair.
• They blog to promote their business
while developing language skills.

21. The Global Classroom Project 2011-2012 in Taiwan
Lin-Lin Tan, Taiwan
workonlittledreams.blogspot.com
For Students:
It enables students to have distinct direct
contact with peers/teachers of other
nations in order to gain new perspective
about the world they live in.
Involved In:
• Skype lessons
• Global Lunch Table Project
• Sunny Thought Project
• Oddizzi Class Pals

22. It provides teachers with various choices of projects in
order to integrate students into international education and
enriches our teaching experiences.
Teachers around the world in the group
(Global Classroom) are dedicated and
help one another in the platform. This
creates sense of belonging.
It is a whole new way to bring
the world to the classroom.

24. How did the Global Classroom
Project impact on your students?

25. Comments from webinar sessions:
• They were thrilled to take part in a project where they could exchange info and show the world
something about our country.
• They loved meeting and speaking to kids in other countries. It was exciting for them to explore the
similarities and differences in our cultures. It made the learning real for them.
• My students would ask, "Who can we talk to today?", or "What new project are we doing?". They
loved connecting and they enjoyed participating in the projects. -Theresa
• My students feel so cool ... to meet other classes across the oceans ... (Linlin, Taiwan)
• My students had the chance to actually "feel" being in the
world that is larger than their classroom. It is beyond
authentic - it is real, and taps into human bonds and
similarities.
• My students felt connected and developed relationships.
It was a cool real-life context, that whole authentic learning.

26. Looking Forward to 2012-13
We will be:
• Exploring new ways to better engage and support teachers'
engagement in global collaboration
• Expanding, and improving our online collaboration spaces
• Experimenting with ways to better include teachers and students from
non-English speaking countries and less privileged economic
situations.
• Establishing a fundraising partnership with Open World Cause and
Govinda Panthy's SAV School in Nepal
• Making sure @mgraffin doesn't lose so much sleep!

27. Global Classroom Feedback Survey
If you were involved in Global Classroom 2011-12, or have
just discovered our work for the very first time, we'd
appreciate your contribution to our Feedback Survey.
The only requirement is an interest in global education and
/ or global collaboration.
http://bit.ly/GCPFeedbackSurvey
Your feedback is greatly appreciated.

28. Upcoming Presentations
• F.L.A.T Action Talk
o http://flats.flatclassroomproject.org/
o July 2012? (Details TBC)
• Working in the Global Classroom
o Australian Computers in Education
Conference - October 2012
• Global Classroom: The Story So Far
o Global Education Conference -
November 2012
o Details TBC

29. Thank You
This project was made possible through the efforts, creativity, and
innovative thinking of teachers around the world.
While many of these teachers are unaware of the impact they have had on
me personally, and the wider #globalclassroom community, there are a
few who I'd like to personally thank ...
Theresa Allen, Deb Frazier, Tina Schmidt,, Rawya Shatila, Stefan
Nielsen, Effie Kyrikakis, Sebastian Panakal, Jennifer Fenton, Edna
Sackson, Lin-lin Tan, Louise Morgan, Karen Stadler, Lu Bodeman,
Rob Sbaglia, Cristina Milos, Jo Hart, David Potter, Vicki Davis, Julie
Lindsay, Lisa Durff, and so many more :)
Michael Graffin (June 2012)

30. Find Us Online
Blog: theglobalclassroomproject.wordpress.com
Twitter: @GCPorganisers (New for 2012-13)
Google Group: Global Classroom Group
Wiki (2011-12): globalclassroom2011-12.wikispaces.com
Wiki (2012-13): globalclassroom2012-13.wikispaces.com

31. The Global Classroom Project Co-Founders
Michael Graffin is a third year relief (substitute) teacher in Perth, Western Australia.
He has yet to teach a class of his own, but takes pride in his role in leading the
creation of the Global Classroom community. He still has no idea where this project
will ultimately take him, but is happy to go along for the ride.
Michael blogs at http://mgraffin.edublogs.org, and tweets as @mgraffin.
Deb Frazier, from Ohio, USA, is currently teaching and learning with 20 very excited
first graders who love learning as much as she does! She began her teaching career
as a special education teacher/intervention specialist, and finds her special
education background a true blessing working in the early years!
Deb blogs at http://deb-frazier.blogspot.com/, and tweets as @frazierde.