Introducing Yourself to the World

Today's Learning Target: I can produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (CCR 11.W.4)  

Today's Activities:  

• Write a story about yourself that will serve as a script for your "About Me" Digital Handshake for Flat Classroom.
• Your story should include the following:
• Information about you (remember - no last names!), things you like, things you do.
• Your story should include your "sentence" from the Dan Pink exercise, "What's My Sentence?"
• A statement about why you think doing a project like Flat Classroom is beneficial and why it could be of help or importance to you in the future.
• A statement about what you think the project is about and how it will work.
• Once your story is complete, begin looking for and saving pictures that match your story.
• Here are some examples of past students

Find more videos like this on Flat Classroom Project



Find more videos like this on Flat Classroom Project

Creating Your NING Profile

Today's Learning Target:  I can create an online, safe, professional space where I can share my work and digital artifacts throughout the Flat Classroom Project.

Today's Activities:

• Join the Flat Classroom Project NING
  

http://flatclassroomproject.ning.com/

• Click "Sign Up" in upper right corner.
• Use your school email address to register (it is OK that your last name is in the email as it will not be displayed.
• In the profile information, when it asks for your "Full Name" do not put your last name.  Using myself as an example, you would type in "Suzie N."
• For your username, use the following naming convention, "SuzieN_MCA"so that to other teachers, you are easily identifiable.
• For "website" enter the school's url.
• For "blog" enter your class blogspot blog url as we will be cross-posting some of our work.
• Once complete, spend some time personalizing your profile.  You may upload a profile photo, but it should be a clear, professional-like head shot.
• If you are not comfortable using your own photo, you may use tools like http://www.voki.com/ or http://illustmaker.abi-station.com/index_en.shtml or http://www.mms.com/us/becomeanmm/.

Really? The World is Flat?

Today's Learning Targets:

• I will understand more about New York Times author, Thomas L. Friedman, and what he means when he says, "The World is Flat."  
• I can explain the differences between the Globalization 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 eras and the driving forces behind them.

Today's Activities:

• Begin watching the MIT video/lecture where Thomas L. Friedman discusses his book, The World is Flat and summarizes the global economic flatteners.
• Take notes regarding key concepts and also concepts about things which you are unclear.
• We will watch up through 11:30 minutes of this video today and discuss.

Flat Classroom Project

Today's Learning Targets: 

• I can write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning & relevant & sufficient evidence (11.W.1)
• I can conduct short, informal research to answer a question or solve a problem and I can synthesize multiple sources on the subject that demonstrate I clearly understand the subject under investigation. (11.W.7)

Today's Activities:

• Read the post before this and be sure you have completed Friday's assignment.
• Once that assignment is complete, look at what you wrote and turn it into a well constructed, two paragraph blog post on your blog.
• Tag the post with these tags:  flatclassroomproject, flatclass, fcp and fcp113.
• Assignment is due at the beginning of class tomorrow when we will begin discussing Thomas Friedman's, "The World is Flat"

To Flatten of Not to Flatten?

Today's Learning Target:  I can conduct short, informal research to answer a question or solve a problem and I can synthesize multiple sources on the subject that demonstrate I clearly understand the subject under investigation. (11.W.7)

Today's Learning Activities:

• As discussed, we need to make a group decision regarding when we want to participate in Flat Classroom.  Consider the points we discussed yesterday.
• Watch the Flat Classroom Keynote MCA students created based on their experience

• Read this Information about the Flat Classroom Project
• Read the specific information about the Topics within the project (scroll down toward the bottom)
• Click around some of the links, comments, student profiles, videos etc. on my Flat Classroom Ning profile.  Explore what you think is interesting. 

Your assignment is to email me whether or not you feel the class, as a whole, should participate in the project now.  Try not to look at this from an individualistic perspective. You should write at least two paragraphs justifying your position in detail and email it to me no later than Sunday evening.

Getting Our Tech ToolBox Together

Today's Learning Target: I can identify different purposes for a variety of different technology tools that will be useful in organizing and consuming information for class throughout the year.

Today's Activities: Read the following blog post Effort In = Reward Out by a favorite Pennsylvania Principal of mine in the Lancaster Area, Lyn Hilt.

• Pay particular attention to the categories Lyn uses of creating, collaborating, communicating, connecting, reading, and curating.
• View the Tech Tool Box LiveBinder and look at these tools, as well
 

Class Toolbox

• Choose 1-2 tools from each category to explore and we will discuss together as a class.
• Following discussion, we will decide as a class several of these tools to use.

What's Your Sentence?

Today's Learning Targets:

• I can learn to write in narrative form, with purpose, to develop experiences using effective technique, details, and well-structured sequences. (CCS 12.W.3) 
• I can use technology to produce, publish and update an individual or shared writing product. (CCS 12.W.6)

Later in the year, we will participate in globally collaborative projects such as Flat Classroom and NetGenEd.  Works like A Whole New Mind by acclaimed author, Daniel Pink, are used as a portion of the project's content components.  That said, let's take a look at Daniel Pink and think about what motivates us.

Daniel Pink's video below asks us to think about two important questions: 1) What's my sentence?  2) Am I better today than yesterday?

Today's Activity:  Compose your first blog post using the prompt:

• What's my sentence?  Think about this seriously.  You are leaving a legacy, a digital footprint.  What would you want people to really know about you?  
• What one sentence would define you?  Are you too much of a 'muddles paragraph'? 
• In your blog post, be sure to include exactly what you've decided your sentence to be at this point in your life.  
• Also, be sure to reflect on the process of answering this question.  Was it easy?  Difficult? Frustrating?  Share what this exercise was like for you. 
• Let's blog!

Need examples of what said?

Let's Blog!

Today's Learning Target:  I can create a digital platform on which I can write an publish class content professionally.

Today's Activities:

Image Credit: http://thecustomizewindows.com/2011/03/tips-and-tricks-to-start-and-continue-a-professional-and-successful-blog/

• Go to Blogger.com
• Using your school email address, set up a Blogger account
• When setting up your Blogger profile, do not include specific location information
• You may upload a photo, but it should be an appropriate head shot
• For now, name your blog as your name (ex. Suzie N.)
• Name the url the same as the blog name (ex. suzien.blogspot.com)
• If the url is taken, add a number to it (ex. suzien12.blogspot.com)
• Do not add a description yet
• Choose Template, colors, etc.  Make it your own.
• Do not connect your FaceBook account
• Once finished, complete the following Google Form

Blog What?

Today's Learning Target: I can identify three purposes of a blog and understand the basics of creating one.

Activity 1: Watch the following video to understand the basic purpose of a blog.  Be prepared to identify three reasons or purposes for blogging.



Activity 2:  Watch the following video and begin establishing your Blogger account