Planning Projects - up first ... The Peace Project

In case I haven't said it before but I am so excited to be in a classroom once again! I enjoyed the last 4 years I spent in the library at Harwin Elementary, yet I have missed and even craved having "my" own students. One of the reasons I want "my" own students is for project work and this year I'll be off and running with some collaborative projects. The first project my class will be participating in is called the Peace Project.

For teachers wanting to be a part of global projects the first step is to get connected. We need to network and contribute to the larger community. It doesn't matter if you use facebook, twitter, or blogs just reach out outside of your own comfort zone (your own school and district) and start connecting.

How did I hear about the Peace Project? My FABULOUS twitter network! I have participated in a number of collaborative projects over the years and come to 'know' teacher leaders in a number of different countries. Bob Greenberg is one of those educators. Bob sent me an email about the project and I knew I was in.

Time lines will be tight. School hasn't started and I need to have 21 seconds of video ready for sharing by September 16. Students won't even be assigned classes until September 9th. That'll leave me only a week with students to get this done.

I am planning on introducing the project with a few books. I'll be reading Todd Parr's "The Peace Book", Karen Katz's "Can You Say Peace", and Shelia Hamanaka's "Peace Crane". Together the students and I will brainstorm ideas for our video. Then we will upload our finished project to a shared dropbox and students in Garrett Ferguson's grade 4 class will piece the videos together. The finished project will be ready for International Peace Day on September 21.




Stay tuned!