Communication+and+Collaboration

Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others. Students: a. interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media. b. communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats. c. develop cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with learners of other cultures. d. contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve problems.

Students in each class across the grade level will contribute to a blog. They will post weekly updates as to exciting events and activities that are going on (both in class and in the community). There will be a "book nook" where students can summarize and give reasons why they would recommend a book they have read during independent reading. They will post videos that they can create on their own related to topics covered in class - weather reports, news bulletins, commercials, etc. They can create polls and quizzes as well. The link will be shared with parents and administrators so they can follow along! (Christine Caranante)
 * Grade Level Blog (Elementary)**

This is a variation on a Sara Denson's entry below. The teacher will connect with a teacher from a school in a region of the world the class is studying and set up a GoogleHangout between classes (to get to know one another). Each class will create a virtual tour of a historic site near their school for the other class by attaching photos, videos, and audio files to a KML file - so the American class could use a famous battlefield or Washington, DC, and a class from France could use Normandy or Paris. The files are exchanged and each class can take a "field trip" to somewhere that would normally be out of reach for them. Afterwards, the classes would again get on GoogleHangouts and ask and answer questions of one another. (Will Smith)
 * GoogleEarth Virtual Tour**

Coming up with an idea that hasn't been discussed is difficult. I think it would be very educational if students in our country learned about other cultures around the world. Since Facebook is such a rage, have students find and friend another student from a different country. Set up times (with parental help and permission) to Skype, Facetime, etc.) and interview them. Have students create a presentation comparing their culture to the culture of their new found friend. (Christy Washington)
 * Video Communication**

Using a free web-hosting site such as Wix, secondary students assigned to cover a topic such as the Great Depression, for example could build a website based on a set of general guidelines that the teacher provides. Students would learn about how to present that material to others, meaning they would gain skills on how to think from the perspective of other people, the end user of the website. This enables them to think critically about material that they would include on their web pages. This assignment could be completed by groups collaborating with one another. It could be adapted to virtually every subject. The website could be built for a particular unit, or the teacher could use it as an ongoing project with different web-pages devoted to various different units or project based assignments throughout the year. Alternatively, the website could be a whole classroom project whereby the teacher and students work together to determine what points or materials from each unit should be included on the collaborative classroom website. Wix for example allows the websites to be published for free. The link could be shared with the parents of the class. It would be a good way for teachers to share the ongoing classroom material that has been covered in the classroom. (Theresa Dezellem)
 * Communication and Collaboration**

In collaborative learning groups, students could produce multimedia presentations, utilizing at least three different types of digital media (for example, powerpoint, video, music). These presentations would showcase a snapshot of our culture - family, community, and school. Then, we could locate a class in a different culture and exchange videos. This would be sort of a digital pen pal project. Students would learn about other cultures and would be creating original digital media. If possible, the two classes could ‘meet’ via Skype. (Sarah Dugger)
 * Digital Pen Pals:**

**Creativity in Video Communications:** Students in the advanced video communication class created a video that showed 3 seniors and their plans for after high school graduation. Their stories on the video was shared with the acting director and shared among other students in schools around the world. The project was presented that 3 students who were going to college, military and the workforce but could be created and presented in any fashion. Our students chose to do a media project and made a video that could be uploaded and shared with many. It allowed them to communicate, be creative and take ownership of the project. I hope it is something that is continued in the years to come. -SC-

#|Collaboration and Communication: One way I would use Communication and Collaboration in my classroom is through the use of Springpad. Springpad.com is an online public and private notebook site that can be set up for each student. Springpad allows users to create and organize documents and pictures and share/collaborate with other students in an established group. I would use this online notebook for student to student collaboration, teacher and parent communication line, and student portfolio creation. This way collaboration and communication lines would be open and flowing while keeping student progress documented. -Kathryn Suzanne Schumann


 * Collaboration and Communication:** I have numerous ideas using this. One way that I used this was to get all my students parents email addresses (home addresses if no internet) and would send out the weekly spelling list with what words their child may need to work on. This was something that they could expect every week. It seemed to work very well, one thing I added was if the parents had any questions over helpful hints on how to help their child remember the words. This opened up a great line of communication between myself and the parents. I personally feel that this standard is one of the most important ones. We need to have and keep open lines of communications between the student, parent, teacher, and admin. Along with the weekly spelling list, the students would go to a specific #|website (spellcity.com), where I would upload a pretest (given on Monday) and a posttest (given on Friday). This website would allow for me to give several chances to the children who need those attempts. I also gave the parents a password that they too could access the past and present list to check up on their child.**Janelle Clemons**


 * Collaboration and communication:** This standard is very important in the foreign language classroom. I will start using a multiple communication methods. One idea I have is to attache audio files to e-mails, sending a partner a message in the target language and having the other partner respond and forward the communication to me for verification and assessment this would be done by recording on to MP3's uploading to the computers, then writing the message and attaching it as an audio file. The same would be done by the responding partner. This activity integrates technology and establishes communication in the target language. Thomas C. Odor

**Collaboration & Communication - Google Docs:** Working together is a vital skill for students to learn and includes important skills they will need as adults in a workplace. The difficult part of collaboration with students of all ages is ensuring that all students contribute and gain understanding from the work. Today, Google Docs provides an all-inclusive and easy to use format for collaborative work and can be used in a classroom with much success for all students and reassurance for teachers of monitoring student involvement. I would begin with students working as a group in the classroom, with each one on a separate computer but all working in the same Google Doc. If they’re creating a “power point”, each one could be working on a different slide. They can have chat open and can be discussing their content and making suggestions. The important part is starting this in the classroom so I can help monitor and make suggestions as to the use of different features so that they will eventually be able to collaboratively work on their document from home as well as at school. The good part for the teacher is that Google Docs allows you to see the editing history and you can see who did what and when. So I will not have to rely on classmates to tattle on the one who didn’t contribute or just added some in at the last minute, I can see for myself. Eventually, students could use these skills to work with people in different states or countries or even in a different classroom. This collaborative work can also be shared online with their families (even distant relatives who are far away) or other students from around the world, without giving access to too much personal information. Also, once students are comfortable with these skills and with contributing to a group project and working collaboratively, they can begin to work in other programs that allow multiple users and will be productive and participating members of a group. **Stacie Wilson**

In classroom I would assign students to groups. Each group would represent a different culture and students would learn about the food, religion, and other key information about that culture. Each group would then be videotaped explaining the key facts about their culture. After all the groups had videotaped what they had learned, a day would be set up for parents to come in. Students would be asked to dress how the people of that culture dress and bring a food item that was related to that culture. Parents and students would enjoy watching the video on all the different cultures and then a festival of foods. Students the next day would create a Venn diagram on the computer comparing two of the cultures of their choice. Students would then blog about what country if any that they would like to visit and why.
 * Collaboration and Communication: Cultures around the world- Heather Erickson-Wallace**

I have created a way for my students to communicate and collaborate within the classroom and school. The majority of my students have autism and visual schedules of their school day is important. Next year, my goal is to implement this strategy using the technology of our classroom iPad. I have taken pictures of my students doing Reading, Math, circle time, lunch time, and etc. Each student has a visual schedule folder on iPad. When it is time for a transition to a classroom job, therapy, or task; I can visually show them pictures of themselves completing the task. This limits behavioral issues or meltdowns. Children with autism need structure and visual representations of everything they do. This strategy will help me create pictures or video of students completing tasks which will lead to effective communication.Collaboration between students can also be used with this strategy. For students with limited communication skills can use the iPad as their voice to answer questions during activities or tasks. My goal is to get more iPads for our classroom to make this a success. -Chassie Combs //**Collaboration and Communication: Piece of (digital) Cake! - Meredith White**// In foreign language, this standard is very engaging and very simple to incorporate. As learning a foreign language is a performance-based content area, digital media becomes even more effective and useful. By video and audio recording themselves speaking, acting out scenarios, and much more, they are communicating information to audiences using a variety of formats, contributing to produce original works, interacting, collaborating, and much more. By using our class set of iPods, for example, students can record audio samples that describe themselves, we mash them up to alter the voice (very fun, very funny), and then we play samples for the students and they guess who is describing him/herself. Low prep time, it uses a relevant device in a relevant way, and it achieves our instructional goal of recognizing adjectives and self-descriptions to identify others, etc. When introducing that material, this is a great way to get students thinking about what they are actually saying and who they’re describing and the fun aspect of the voice changing makes it a very low-anxiety activity (which is key, especially in setting the tone at the beginning of the year). Later, they can take these audio samples, typically in groups, combine them with video or pictures or other images, and put them together in a PhotoStory3 project, for example, or an iMovie, or even just an AutoCollage (Microsoft) and they have put all the aspects together (content, creativity, technology) in a final product format. They can then be shared on our website, with other classes, etc. to engage other learners, as well.
 * Collaboration and Communication: Visual schedules**

Communication and Collaboration I feel this standard would be more useful in parent/teacher collaboration within my classroom. A class website is the ideal way to implement this standard. I can also communicate with my students about an assignment while we are out on long breaks. My students can also communicate with their fellow classmates through a classroom website chat room.~Stephanie Davis

Collaboration and Communication: Katelyn McFadden
Although I have not used this idea in my classroom yet, it is one that another coworker and I thought of last year and would love to apply and use during this upcoming school year. We teach a unit in first grade about the different cultures around the world. During this unit we would teach the students about a culture and complete all of the standards for that unit. We would then Skype with a classroom of that culture allowing the students to interact with other students from the culture we had just learned about. The students could then ask questions and experience how those students talk and how their schedule at school run. We would then learn about another culture and complete the same activity. The students could then use Kidspiration to create a Venn diagram to compare and contrast the different cultures.

Communication and Collaboration I see that many people have discussed the use of pen pals. I too like this idea. I would locate a school in another country and have my students establish pen pals via classroom web site. I would collaborate with the other teacher and we might be able to come up with some type of assignment that my student and his/her pen pal can do together such as comparing and contrasting where they live. I think it would also be very neat for the students to communicate via webcam. - Dawn Artemis

Pen Pals

O.k I kinda borrowed this idea from Yosha Howe, but I torqued it a little bit. I like the idea of using Google Earth, but I would like to keep my students in the same area. So, instead of having all of my students all over the world we could stick to one continent. For example, we could find a school in Australia. I could communicate with the teacher and ask them if it was alright if our class participated in a pen pal activity. After approval, we could make this a weekly assignment. When students write to their pen pal, they can send pictures and videos to one another. At the end of the lesson, we could post our findings on the classroom blog. This allows students to make contact with people from different cultures and to potentially make life long friends.

By: Sara Denson

**Flat Who…** **T**he students will use Google Earth to locate a school, then class to become pen pals with. The students will share PowerPoint presentations and various voice threads with the other students via emailing the corresponding teacher. **Supplies:** digital photos **PowerPoint Presentaion** **Google Earth** Computers The teacher will divide the students into partners. In partners the students will chose and pinpoint a location on the earth. With the teacher’s assistance the students will find a local school and email the teacher to get permission to email and share information. The teacher will assist the students in creating PowerPoint presentations to share. This concept is somewhat based on the Flat Stanley concept. [|VoiceThread]

By: Yosha Howe

Communicating information with Xtranormal
Students love videos! We live and teach in the era of YouTube, and links to videos can be found on all of the social networking sites. With Xtranormal, students can create their own digital storytelling videos that share information about the concepts/topics being covered in class. Last year, I used Xtranormal with my Physical Science students as an extra credit project. They had to select one SPI from the second semester (physics content) and create a video that "taught" their classmates the necessary information for that standard. The students were graded on the content, but also on their use of the available technology. At the time, everything on Xtranormal was free. Now, there are charges associated with some content, but a lot of it is still free. This is an excellent tool for effectively communicating information in a fun way. It also gives students some practice in writing, as they have to come up with a script written in their own words. To incorporate more technology, students could share their videos and communicate their responses to one another's videos via ePals, which has been a tremendously effective collaboration/communication tool we've used on our team with 7th graders. ~Jennifer Burch =Politics and math= I think it would be fun to find a school in another state and discuss how many representatives that they have. We could use this to discuss ratios. Does each state have the same ratio of representatives to citizens. We could bring in the idea of senators and discuss if students feel that it is fair that the larger state has the same number of Senators to population. These discussions could later lead into discussions of proportion and unit rate, ie., How many citizens should there be per representative? I like this because I could get together with my social studies teacher and we could cover quite a few standards in the same lesson.

I think in this instance the best way to collaborate with the other school/class would be through a blog. Maybe we have groups discussing with a specific group in the other state. Whatever works best, as long as there is frequent communication throughout the lesson. This would be a great way to make the math and the social studies relevant and have the students see that others are learning the same material across the nation. **__//Heather Fish//__** Communication and Collaboration-Idea Sharing Within my school our written communication goal for 1st grade is to concentrate on a few of the 6 traits. One being Ideas. At grade level we could establish a wiki or google doc and each month select a topic and let the kids share their ideas on it through writing. We could even do a web cam project with another school where the kids read their completed writings on the topic. I think they would enjoy this very much and would look forward to improving their stories to the best of their abilities.- __**Dean Hook**__

Tales from Another World (Continued) by Sarah Sanford
The students will take the stories they collect from other cultures and compile them in an online documents site such as Google Docs where the entire class has access to the stories. They will then collaborate on groups and who is working on producing each story and how they are producing it.

Communication and Collaboration - Flower Power Part 2
(Creativity and Innovation - Flower Power Part 1) The students should post and keep a log of their project on Ning. They need to post at least twice a week, on their own time, about the progression of the project. They need to give comments and ask questions about other projects they are reading about in addition to their progression post. ~Amy Vaughn

**Communication and Collaboration** I would implement this standard by teaming with a class of students in another country. I would divide all of the students in both classes into teams of 4-5 students each and have the students create a multimedia presentation. Each group would choose an event that affected both countries (i.e. World War II) and examine it form both viewpoints OR they could choose to compare and contrast their cultures. Their project would have to be created with technology that would allow the finished product to be published to a joint classroom website and it would have to include pictures and audio and may include video if applicable to their topic. - Sharley Ross =Plan A Trip To A Country by Taylia Wallace= My students are currently working on a country project found on [|www.edhelper.com]. Each student has been given a specific country to plan to visit. The students are to plan everything from the itenerary to purchasing the best flight, car rental, and hotel package. This project is the perfect opportunity for students to seek out ways of connecting to students from their project country. The students can get advice and first hand information about their country to help plan their trip by way of the web. =​ Communication and Collaboration:= When thinking of how I would implement this standard, the idea of and "over seas" pen pal came to mind. I would like to use some type of interaction between classrooms from a different country so that students would be able to exchange information between one another. This could be between emails, skype, videos, live chat, etc. It would be interesting if each student in the classroom had skype set up and at a specific time, each student got on the computer and their pen pal from "China" or whatever designated country, logged on to skype as well an discussed their activities from their past weekend. The students could be allotted a total of five minutes with their pen pal and when the five minutes was over, the students would then regroup with their regular classrooms. The students would then share, one at a time, what they learned from their pen pal and about their activities they participated in over the weekend. By participating in an activity such as this, the students are learning and hearing of activities from another culture other than their own.
 * Jill Blankenship**

[|Youth Noise] offers students an opportunity to speak out in their own
 * Youth Noise**

[|blog] , join a

[|cause] , or participate in a

[|global community forum] dealing with a number of youth issues, including school, dating, authority, and health. Students will be encouraged to visit the website and participate in activities that are consistent with their own interests. This website can be featured on the School Counselor’s website to acknowledge commitment to Personal and Social Development, which is one of the standard domains prescribed by the Tennessee Model for Comprehensive School Counseling.

Patricia Golden -5611

Students will analyze various rock samples collected from school grounds. They will work within a group to analyze the samples and research the internet to identify the rock sample and how they were formed. Students will then communicate via chat with students in another part of the state working on a similar project. Students will compare rock samples found at their school with those found in other parts of the state. - Gina Taylor
 * Rock Research**

Communication and Collaboration- Health Lesson What are we eating and what do they eat? Each student will need to have an e-mail site for the classroom and blog site. Must have contact with other students from one country by e-mail, blog, or chat.

By the 8th grade a student has learned about the basic food groups and what is required in a daily diet.

Students will need a refresher on the basic food groups. Have them research it on the web and find a site that explains it to them. The students will create a visual aide on what a serving size looks like. Example: 1 ounce of bread = 1 regular sized slice1 regular sized slice is about the size of a CD and as thick as your finger. They should add pictures and if possible record their voices on the presentation. Students must provide and site at least three the websites that they found their information from in their presentation. Have the students send their presentation to you via e-mail. Once you have graded and approved the student’s presentation send it back to them. Each student will be required to post their approved presentation to their blog. Each student will vote on the best presentation that represents the class as a whole on the teacher’s blog. Once picked the presentation will be sent to classroom in another country. The main question to the foreign country students should be what do you have for lunch every day? Please see what we eat. Just see where the discussion leads.

Quiz- List the basic food groups and in your own words what explain what each of the serving sizes for each food group looks like. - Hilary Mann APSU

Communication and Collaboration

To implement the Communication and Collaboration standard, I would set up a pen pal network for students to collaborate with others in other countries and schools. The use of video equipment (web cams) would be a great tool in collaborating with others that are learning the same content (maybe in a different way). I would have students think of questions in the content area (with the teacher prompting for more critical thinking questions) that they would like to ask other students. Students after conferencing with other students, would then write (in a word document) their experience of conferencing with other students, what they learned and how they could apply this experience with their lives outside of school.

Jamie Foote

Average Sixth Grader
== For this standard I would have students work on collecting data from the entire sixth grade (or just our team if the other does not want to participate). Students would work collaboratively to develop survey questions that would find interesting facts about the sixth graders at our school. Students would create questions independently, share them with their group. As a group students would consider each question and critique it. Each group would create a presentation of their questions for the class. The class would then get together and decide on the final questions for the survey. For right now, my plan is to use [|Surveymonkey] to create the #|survey. I would then link the survey (or most likely surveys as free accounts are limited to 10 questions) to my webpage and have students take the survey using a set of COWS or the computer lab. My other idea for this is to use CPS to collect the data, as I will be recieving a set of clickers that can also collect numerical responses (in the event of using some sort of scale. With the collected data, students would need to determine which mearure of central tendency best fits the data (mean, median, or mode). Students will then create a physcial respresentation of the average sixth grader ( I am not sure how ambitious I want to get with this--maybe the average sixth grade boy and girl). I envision students creating the actual person, but also then showing visually other data (such as info about texting, foods, etc.). I would like the person to be made to scale, so if the average sixth grader is 5ft 2 in, then their person should measure that also. Much of this can be created on the computers and printed. I would like to put this display of data on the walls outside of my classroom. I am still thinking of other ways that more of this can be done electronically (blogs, web2.0 tools, etc). If you have any ideas, please share! ---Dan Przybylski

I love this activity, and I think it is a great way to incorporate data analysis standards in a real world context that students would understand and enjoy. There are so many possibilities for modifying this as well for different grade levels and integrating subject area curricula. I would have 4-5 groups, each with a different question to collect data on and then have them survey the rest of the grade level. After analyzing the data for measures of central tendency, I would have each group create two different graphs to represent their data using either [|createagraph] or excel. Next, students would create a blog posting their two graphs and discuss what the graph tells them about the data or which graph best represents the data and why? Another great add-on to this activity would be to coordinate with 4-5 schools in different regions of the U.S. and compare similarities and differences among students in different parts of the country. ~Jamie Shroyer


 * State Pen Pals**

Student will be assigned a state and a pen pal from that state. Student will be given a questionnaire to ask the pen pal to discover state facts. The student will also create/add to the questionnaire 5 questions of his/her own. Student will continue communication with the pen pal and create a journal to document communication between the student and pen pal. Students will collect questionnaires to create a class state facts book. Angela Pryor

To implement the communication and collaboration standard in my 10th grade English class, I could create heterogeneous reading groups of about five students each, and assign each group a blog on which they will voice their opinions on various library books that they are reading. Then, once every month, I could have one person from each group record a podcast of their book reviews—except this time go more in-depth about the book. The result would be a collection of blogs and podcasts about library books for other students to reference so they can be more informed about what book to check out from the library next time. Michael Stein
 * Online Book Babble**

Standard 2. Communication and Collaboration

A 5th grade Social Studies class will be finding the cultural similarities and differences between the four major geographic regions in the United States. The class will be broken up into 4 groups, each taking a region to research. The students will search names, locations, and photographs of the major tourist and historical sites of their region. They can use

[|Flickr] or

[|Google images] to find photos and copy them into Microsoft Publisher.

The students will Skype with students in classrooms from the different regions. They will ask questions about life styles and observe the differences in the clothes and popular trends of the children their age. (This gives them a chance to really relate to the project.) They will record this information into Publisher along with their

photos. The students will then create a map on Inspiration or Kidspiration and label the sites. Included in the map, will be a link to their finished Microsoft Publisher product. The students will present their final product on a Smartboard in front of the class.

Kari Armstrong

Working in conjunction with a journalism class from another state or country, students develop an online newspaper, reporting news, sports, and social events from different geographic areas. They can include photos, videos, podcasts, and traditional written reports including editorials/opinions. This way, students gain experience reporting actual events, and can learn about the news from other states or countries. -Michael Gallagher
 * Online Newspaper**

Working with Students in Multiple countries the students will #|design a webpage or website together. Through collaboration the design of the site will be arranged and once a consensus is reached on the content each student will then convert the completed site into their respective languages. Through this style of cooperation each student will be immersed in multiple languages and cultures and will have the ability to relate to the different cultures around the world. -Stephen Paulk-McGinley
 * Multinational Web Page**

Mathematics is a challenging subject to teach and to learn. Parents frequently don't remember some of the skills or simply don't know how to help their child with the assigned math homework and turn to the Internet for guidance. One possibility to assist students and parents would be to create an Internet webpage to aid in virtual math tutoring. This would be an interactive page where teachers could leave suggestions for websites to help students learn various mathematics skills, from basic skills to upper level classes. Teachers from the participating schools could provide a list of web addresses for online textbooks and associated textbook websites. In addition, teachers could create “how to” podcasts or videos to help guide students through a variety of examples of problems. Further, teachers could create a list of helpful websites to aid in drill and practice for skills that need more attention. Students could contribute by asking questions on a discussion board and having their peers or teachers respond about that topic or skill. This could be a wonderful math collaboration to help ensure student success. -Kathy Gott
 * Math Tutorials**

**Reading** I will ask my ESL students to use different online media to collaborate on a reading project with a student in another school. Each student will be paired with a peer in a middle school or college in China. They will be assigned to the same reading topic and work together to collect all the information related to the topic, share their findings and write a summary about it. Because students come from different cultures, they can develop cultural understanding as well during the collaboration. The basic communications tool students will use is Email. They may also use instant messenger applications like MSN messenger to quickly transfer files and media. They are encouraged to create their own blogs about the reading project as well. At the end of the project, students will do a peer review which allows them to reflect on the work completed by their peer and give feedback. The project of each group will be published on the course web. - Ling Wang
 * Buddy**

The way I would implement communication and collaboration to my students is by introducing them to [|Gogglewave] "Gogglewave is an application running in a Web browser that creates a shared online desktop where two or more users can interact easily. They can exchange messages as they would do in e-mail or instant messaging conversation." Students will be required to create a wave and add people to it, discussing the pros and cons of their current diets. The goal is to connect with other students in different parts of the world and discuss what they are doing to improve their diet, school menus, and meals at home. Students are able to share images, text and graphics to display what their school is participating in for physical education and to suggest improvements that have worked for their school. Students must collaborate with at least 2 other students from different parts of the world and submit a final document on how they would improve a school's menu and physical education program for a grade. -Onita Walker
 * GoggleWave**

I would like to set up a social network for students for area specific subjects. I feel that sometimes students communicate better with other students. Teacher-student interaction sometimes breaks down and students will need to be able to learn from others. So, I could monitor and add suggestions to the network as I see fit. Video presentations of problem solving would be promoted as well as student collaboration. Websites that present topics can be submitted for review and to insure that it is relative to the concepts being presented. It can also be used for review questions and communication with previous classes. Any social network that can be controlled can be used. By Roger Taylor Good Books Blog As it stands my kindergarten students only get to interact with other kindergarteners classes during recess and specials. By creating a Good Books Blog for kindergarteners my class would be able to interact with other kindergarten students by sharing posts about their favorite book from each week. The students would work in groups to identify the reasons they enjoyed the book and I would post them on the blog. I could also scan activities the students completed with the book to upload with the posts. Since kindergarten teachers from my school, district, and across the globe would be able to participate in this digital ‘book club’ I would need to discuss with my students what it means to be a good digital citizen. We would talk about what things are and are not ok to share on the Internet and why we need to make safe decisions about what to post. When we read other kindergarten Good Book Blogs, before making a comment we would check to make sure that it follows good digital guidelines and is kind and appropriate. This activity would be a fun way to begin teaching students how to conduct themselves on the Internet as safe digital citizens and teach them how to participate in literary discussions. -Molly Wilson From Afar, but Together 3rd grade students will collaborate with another 3rd grade class in the same district using a story from their reading series. The story __Cocoa Ice__ is about two girls from different ends of the hemisphere who need something or enjoy something from the other. One girl is from Maine and the other from Santo Domingo. The family from Maine delivers ice to Santo Domingo while her family gives chocolate to the Maine family. Students will work together to gather information about both settings and communicate through Skype to share their findings. The classrooms will work together through a wiki to compile a facts book about Maine and Santo Domingo. Students will also investigate the trade route that the family took and the benefits of trading between different cultures. In pairs, students will be assigned two-three chapters in the novel we are reading. Each student pair must record a podcast in which they give plot summary, discuss the literary devices found in their chapters, and give personal reactions to what they have read in a conversation between each other. Students will listen to the podcasts and create questions from what they heard. As a whole class, students will ask their questions to each other in two-three minute interviews. These interviews will be posted to the class website. Students can watch their interviews as a means of reviewing for the test. If a student has missed class, he or she can review these interviews to keep up with the rest of the class. -Erica Coleman
 * Communication and Collaboration**
 * -Carla Sensing**
 * Podcasting!**

Fairy Tales
Students will work in groups of 5-6. Groups will work together to illustrate a fairy tale. The fairy tale will be of their choosing. Once students are finished with the illustrations they will be uploaded to []. Students will narrate their stories using voicethread. Once all stories are complete our class will then link up to another class. Using the [] website, the teacher will select a classroom from another country to view the voicethread story. Students from the selected country will then record the narration of the story in their native language. Students will listen and compare both stories and languages. -Tabitha Sirmans

Please let me preface this by saying that the original idea for this letter campaign is NOT my idea; however I do not have access to the title of the program at this time. J Each year my students search #|online for a middle school somewhere in the United States. Students spend a great amount of time selecting a school or area in which they are interested. Then, they write a letter to a student at that school. They tell the student a little about themselves, our school, and our community. They also ask the student questions about their interests, school, and community. The students also request that the student respond. The student letters are accompanied by a letter from me to a language arts teacher at the selected school. In addition, we (as a hall) always select one of the letters that we receive during the year to answer. We then bombard that lucky student with 150 letters! We usually pick a student whose school is offering a great prize for receiving many letters. This same idea could be used to let students connect with students from other cultures. Students could search online, collaborate with peers about the school to collectively select, do some research on the area, create a group letter, use an online translator (if necessary), and send the letter in hopes of receiving a response. -Cindy McClenathan
 * Friendly Letters**

eBooks (Greg Brown) For this idea I would combine peer tutoring with creating an eBook. I would have 3rd-5th grade students’ work with Kindergarten or 1st grade children to create an eBook. The Kindergarten / 1st graders would come up with the story line (with peer assistance) and the 3rd-5th grader students’ would write and publish the eBook. The Kindergarten / 1st grade student would then read his or her story to their own class. For example in Kindergarten students are working on word families (-at word family with words like cat, hat, and bat; or the –ig word family with words like pig, dig, and big) so the 3rd grader could and work on developing a story with his peer partner. The kindergartener would then dictate the final story to the 3rd grader who would take the story and format using a word processing program. Then the two peers would get together and illustrate their story using digital photos or images from the Internet. Then publish, share with the class and post on the Internet.

=**Class Blog**=
 * Students would create a class blog. Each student would be required to post a video or picture and post at least two comments about school events weekly. One comment would be for their picture and the second comment on a fellow classmate's picture or post. Student may work in groups or individually. School events may occur before, during or after school.**
 * Stephanie Youngblood**

Interview a veteran. As a special veterans day project each student would have to pick a veteran and interview them. This would be a Question and Answer type of interview. They would have to develop their questions, and get them approved. Find the veteran they want to interview. Write up the interview and include a summary at the end about what veterans day means to them

Daniel Moran

This lesson will require students to collaborate to create a presentation in Google Docs about the Revolutionary War. In this lesson students will be placed in three groups. Each group will research and address different topics concerning the Revolutionary War. The following are the standards that each group will research: Students will be required to turn in a copy of their research with at least two sources for each area addressed (this will ensure each student has contributed to the group task). Each team will work together to combine their research papers into a presentation. They will need to cite their sources and include images in the presentation. Each group will present their presentation to the class.
 * Create a Presentation in Google Docs (Brittany Adams) **
 * **Team 1** : Understands how political and religious ideas joined economic interests to bring about the "shot heard round the world" (e.g., interests and positions of Loyalists, Patriots, and other groups; resistance to imperial policy; the English tax on the colonists to help pay for the Seven Years War).
 * **Team 2:** Understands the creation of the Declaration of Independence (e.g., major principles set forth, historical antecedents that contributed to the document, individuals who struggled for independence).
 * **Team 3:** Understands the social, political, and religious aspects of the American Revolution (e.g., opponents and defenders of England's new imperial policy; decisions leading to crisis of revolution; efforts by Parliament and colonies to prevent revolution; ideas of different religions; economic and social differences of Loyalists, Patriots, and neutrals).

Design Software Solution For Given Problem (Jason Hatton)

 * This would be for a college level Computer Science course.**

Students from 2 different majors would come together for this project. The student that is not a Computer Science major would come up with an idea for a new program. A program request with the goals of the program would be given to the Computer Science student. The Computer Science student would need to communicate with the non-technical student to develop a plan for the program. The students would need to work together to develop the best design.The actual coding would not need to take place. A full design including schematics, a GUI, specs and additional information would need to be created.

This project would mirror a real world experience where a software developer would create a program at the request of a non-technical user.


 * Literature Blog** (Andrea Jackson)

Students will start a blog at the beginning of the year based on literature read inside and outside of class. They will communicate their thoughts and feelings. Other students will comment on blogs. Students will be assigned a choice of historical novels. They will then do research as a group on the background of the novel and present the information on each of their blogs. They can publish using http://googleapps.blogspot.com/. This will give students the tools to express feelings, but also communicate their thoughts on assigned readings to be used as an assessment tool.


 * __ Communication and Collaboration (Carrie Ellzey) __**

Students can buddy up with another class in the school of the same grade level. Students can be matched to someone potentially with a different cultural and background. At first they can email back and forth with their buddy. Then they can interview their buddy to find out more about them. The teacher can give students a list of questions to ask and the length can be depending on the grade level. The questions can consist of favorite something to family and culture. After the student has learned everything about their buddy then they can put together a short PowerPoint to share with both classes. This would be a fun project and a good way to get to know other students that may be from a different background.

Office Communicator ( Ryan Heady)
Communication in our organization has really sped up over the past few years. One of the ways we have adapted to this need is through the use of instant messages. Our region is spread out across middle TN and makes communication more difficult than just being across the hall. Our employees are now all familiar with the use of Office Communicator to communicate with each other via the interent. They have the choice to simply send instant messages back and forth, do video or voice conferences and even share their computer screen to coworkers. This technology has encouraged our agents to work in small group clusters, and has allowed for timely communication with regional and IT staff. The concept was foreign to many in the beginning, but has been received with open arms.


 * International Sports Game**- By Jake Peterson- In my High School PE class (as a class) we will research for and find a game that is played on international soil and not here in the USA. EX) **Net Ball** (A game played in and originated in England) I would find a way to get in touch with an instructor of a school in England and hope to get a few kids from their class to explain the rules, strategy and goals of Net Ball. The ultimate goal would be to SKYPE into a classroom and use a projector screen so everyone in the class can easily see the demonstration. In return, we would explain rules, strategy and goals of a game that only we play in the USA. The kids would be able to communicate through SKYPE and learn what different cultures introduce during their PE units.

I have spoken to many students about starting an in-school or in-class book club this coming school year. Students would read the same novel, and then discuss, communicate, and collaborate with other members through a program called voice thread. VoiceThread allows all students to make observations, comments, or narration about a photograph or graphic. It is an interactive video discussion board that students would be able to use to discuss the themes, characters, and action in the novel. If you have never used voice thread, it is an excellent tool to use at all levels, but especially the middle and high schools. Voice Thread Link
 * Voice Thread for Book Clubs**

By: Whitney Joyner


 * Wikki & Email Pen-Pals (Sara Rohde)**

This would be an activity that would be appropriate for my first graders. Because the students I teach are young, most of them either do not remember living in another place or this is the only place they have lived. Our school system not only has schools in the United States but overseas as well. This gives our students the unique opportunity to connect with students like them. Although the students are alike in many ways, the experiences that they would have because of their location would be different. I would create a class email account (older students could use individual, teacher monitored accounts). Another option would be to create a Wikki where both classes could post. In either case, I would also have students use digital cameras to document where they lived and things around them (our classroom, field trips, playground etc.)

=
Students will, after reading “The Kid Nobody Could Handle,” write a play in order to illustrate the differences between the genres of short stories and drama. They will also edit others’ work and their own to see the differing ways a short story can be interpreted into a drama. The editing should also reinforce the writing process. Finally, they will write a paragraph detailing how their and their peers’ scripts differed in meaning from the original short story; they will ask themselves, “What is gained?” and, “What is lost?” The lesson should take no longer then two classes in a 45 minute day.=====

=
The students will open web browser and log in to their gmail account. The teacher will ask them to search templates for “3 Scene Ideas” as the teacher does this on the overhead. The teacher will then quickly review the general plot of “The Kid Nobody Could Handle.” The teacher will read the directions for the project. The teacher will review the format for the genre of drama. The teacher will show and go over a completed assignment (using another text) as well as the rubric used to grade the assignment. The teacher will show the students how to share their assignment with other students and how to comment on other’s assignments. The students will begin the assignment (they may use the text). The teacher will observe progress and answer questions. When it is time for students to share, the teacher will pull up on the overhead a sheet indicating the gmail addresses each student will be sharing with.=====

Have advanced students who require more challenging learning experiences? These students in my world geography class Skype-ed with students from other county schools who are also in our RISE program. We gave them the topic of "Crisis in Darfur." Students researched the topic and shared information, videos, resources, pictures, and articles through Google Groups. They would Skype once a week to discuss their new knowledge and project suggestions. Students created a presentation in Google Docs that they presented to each of their classes through SlideBoom.
 * The Skype is the Limit (Beth Austin)**

__**School Problem Solutions**__ I would break my class into groups of 3-4 students per group. I would assign each group a different school topic. (Bullying, cell phones in school, uniforms, peer pressure, etc.) I would then have the students research the problem and come together as a group to create a solution to the problem. The students would type up a paper and present their problem and solution to their classmates. Whitney Morris

__**Student Power Point Presentation**__ I plan to use communication and collaboration by a Power Point presentation. Students will be broken into groups of four to present their projects on different cities within Tennessee. Students will contribute to the project, interact, collaborate, and explore digital environments. Students will present to their presentation to the class by using a microphone to expand their voices. Students’ presentation will be recorded as a keepsake and to show their friends and family. Jameeka Benford


 * Music Genres (by Heather (Frost) Burkeen)**

Students will be paired up a student in another state they will communicate through email, blogs, and skype. They will discuss music 4 different genres of music. They will have to discuss the characteristics of each and create a PowerPoint presentation to upload to a class blog. The presentation must include with description of the genre using musical terms, examples, composers or artists that perform in this genre.

Reader's Theater with a Twist For this project students would be divided into four groups. In these groups the students would work together to create a story, or play. Once the students created their play they would need to make props and costumes. After practicing their play for a while we would tape each individual groups play using a video camera. This would work in much of the same way as reader’s theater. Except the children would be in charge of writing the play, although they would need help from the teacher to help them create their story. After each group had gotten the chance to perform their play for the camera we would present the plays to the class for the end of the unit.

You could make this specific as you wanted by giving the students their topic to create their play around, or allow them to be a creative as possible by having them select their own topic. Lisa Nedow

Glogster To teach my students the seven nutrients in a fun innovative way, I have them create a glogster. Each student is assigned a nutrient. Then I give them a tutorial worksheet on how to complete a glogster(www.glogster.com). For their assignment they have to include the following in their glogster: Communication and CollaborationTo teach my students the seven nutrients in a fun innovative way, I have them create a glogster. Each student is assigned a nutrient. Then I give them a tutorial worksheet on how to complete a glogster(www.glogster.com). For their assignment they have to include the following in their glogster:

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">1. Write a paragraph describing the function and benefits of their nutrient. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">2. Include 5 to 7 pictures and graphics related to their nutrient. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">3. Include at least east one sound or video related to their nutrient. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">4. Include one professional website link that talks about nutrients.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">After their glogsters are complete, I give my students one class period to review/grade three of their classmates glogsters (which I assign to them). Lacey Reed

__**Diversity Quilt**__ This is a Guidance Lesson in Diversity for grades 6-8. Each grade (6 & 7) will be divided into teams and given a particular culture or religion to research. Teams will put together a brief online Powerpoint presentation based on what they learned and then share it in an online blog which will be accessible to the whole school. The 8th graders will view each presentation and use them all to create a “diversity quilt” which will contain pictures, color, and patterns that represent the cultures and religions that were researched by the lower grades. 8th graders will create the design online and then (with the assistance of the School Counselors) have the quilt made to be hung in the school. **Christopher Richardson**

**<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Communication and Collaboration **
<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">I teach 4th grade social studies and the students are always fascinated by the Native American myths and creation stories. For the majority of my students it is the first time that they have encountered and discussed religions other than Christian in which people may believe in more than one god. They find it equally as fascinating the myths that try to explain natural phenomenon, such as, lightning or the stars in the sky. I think that combining Communication and Collaboration into a lesson that I often have the students complete individually but would certainly work with a partner. Students would work with a partner to collaborate and publish a myth or creation story complete with illustrations, pictures, or clip art using Powerpoint to present to the class. This would help the students develop cultural understanding of other cultures, which is often very abstract to 4th graders. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Teresa Koons

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Communication & Collaboration <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">I think a good way to integrate this standard would be in the form of an online school newsletter. Students can work in groups to create the newsletter. They could write articles about current events within their school. Students could video record interviews and post them in the newsletter. They could also be in charge of finding images to go along with the written material. Another idea might be to have a select group reteach a topic they've recently learned. It could be videotaped by other students. Parents could also benefit from reading this online newsletter. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">--Sarah Cost

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Communication & Collaboration <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">I feel that the best way to communicate with parents of students in special education is to do a weekly newsletter. Many parents may not have access to the computer to communicate on the classroom website to find out information. Each newsletter will feature a new student and will tell the classroom about special activities within their family. Lanika McClendon

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;">For English III students, persuasive writing dominates much of the curriculum. I would have assigned in class and out of class partner peer reviewers via email (2 student groups) which would be given a rubric, and each would be responsible for the success of each others persuasive essay. As said, each student would have one partner, and they would correspond via email with that one partner, and at the end of the prescribed time frame, would show evidence of that correspondence to the teacher in context created a gmail account, and each student would submit their papers during assigned due dates for rough drafts and final versions showing improvement and evidence of constructive peer review. A mobile lab or computer lab time would be given in consideration of students that do not have access to computers at home. The objective is that through practice, peer review based off of objectives determined by the rubric, proof reading, and further refinement, the students will write a well polished and convincing persuasive essay. Adam Carter
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Communications and Collaboration- Peer review email correspondence **

One of my favorite projects that relates mathematics, science, technology, and social studies is the shadows project. Students from all over the world collaborate via technology such as Blogmeister to determine either the circumference of the Earth or the distance between schools. Geometry students research the methods of Eratosthenes, an ancient mathematician who used the shadow method to determine the circumference of the Earth. Depending on the level of students, they could do this before or after they have developed their own methods. The calculations involve measuring the height of certain objects and their shadows and keeping detailed records of dates and times. The mathematics that comes out is ratios, parallel lines, and central and congruent angles. Students can check their solutions at the end as well. In addition, there are a wealth of other mathematics lessons that can be taught using the shadow data they have collected. One neat idea may be for the collaborating teachers to team teach one of these lessons via video conferencing. Audrey Bullock
 * Circumference of the Earth **

**Communication and Collaboration** I love the idea of having a class blog. it allows for a safe place for students to collaborate together. they have the ability to make meaningful posts and respond to each others ideas. I also would like to see web conferencing used within the classroom. I think that in opening a line of communication with a class of students in a different environment from which you are, it allows for different outlooks on ideas. These two programs could be combined by having students discuss and ask questions throughout the blog, and have a video conference once a week where they discuss important topics in an open forum. This will not only allow for communication and collaboration, but also encourage an open mind to new ideas and different cultures. Kaitlyn Lindblad

**Digital Brochure**

Students will create a digital brochure about a place they would like to visit. They will chose their place from a list the teacher gives them. The teacher will have arranged video conferencing with classrooms on the approved lists. Before students communicate with students in the classrooms, they will devise a list of items that will help them create their web page or digital brochure using iGoogle. The items will need to make tourists interested in going there. Then they will video conference and communicate through email with students in the approved classroom to ask questions and gather information about the area that will make others want to visit. Students will take the information they have gathered and use iGoogle to create their digital brochure. They will present their project to the class and will be scored using a rubric provided at the beginning of the project. **-Kimberlee Taylor**


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Google Drive **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- During the Shakespeare unit, students will submit a video production of a various scenes from one of the plays. The catch is that they must produce their scripts, complete with stage directions, without meeting in person or talking on the phone. All their collaboration is done via Google Drive as is their final written script. They also submit the chat transcript which I use for their participation/collaboration grades. It helps to alleviate the problem of one or two from the group doing all the work; I see, line by line, who contributed what to the project. I have found that both communication and collaboration have increased with this method (for this particular project). - **VALERIE SHAW**

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> **Communication and Collaboration -** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> This is such an important standard to use as a teacher. I use a class webpage, and emails to communicate with my parents weekly. A way we communicate with others in our community, classroom, and school is by keeping a class blog. There is a link on my class page (only sent out to parents) that connects them to our class page. When we do something exciting at school, on a field trip, or even sometimes outside of school we share pictures and a short blurb about the activity. When students get a 100 on their test they may be featured in the blog that day. Parents are also allowed to send in pictures of outside activities to share. Example: Bob's team won their baseball game, or Jill got a new puppy. This is a fun way each student gets to share about themselves. **- Jessica Allen**

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">**Communication and Collaboration-** In each of my classes, I will implement the use of Google Groups. Using Google Groups, teachers can set up a safe, common place for classes to collaborate and communicate online. Google groups is easy to setup and easy to use. Using Google groups, rather than social media, is a safer and more professional way to integrate online discussions. I would lead a class discussion covering the material learned in class, having the students add to the discussion.- Michael Holt


 * Google Hangouts with a Partner Classroom ** - Start a Hangout for students in other locations to support foreign language development. If possible, try to find a class in another part of the world. Students from abroad can teach their home language. In turn, students in your classroom can teach English. - ** Sam Xayarath **

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Instructors will locate public schools in each of the geographic regions of the United States, i.e., North East, South East, Mid West, North West and South West.
 * Communication and Collaboration- Let's Learn about Our Regions- **

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Instructor will contact principals from schools in the regions, and inquire about setting up a Google hangout with a teacher(s) in given schools to answer a set of questions the students have developed regarding the state in which the participating schools are located.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The students will use Google Docs to create a document that describes the development of the interaction, the questions posed, the answers, and, finally a reflection on the process including what they liked or did not like about the interaction.- **Brian Hampton**

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">**Communication/Collaboration -- Let's Have A Meeting!**

Students will use Today's Meet as their collaborative workspaces. Today's Meet is a tool that allows students to communicate with one another and backchannel. The backchannel is where people ask each other questions, pass notes, get distracted, and give you the most immediate feedback you'll ever get. While discussing a novel such // The Devil's // //Arithmetic//, students will participate in a backchanneling event. Half of the class will have a discussion out loud (with their computers closes) with one other about some of the important concepts and ideas of the novel. The other of the class will be backchanneling (with their computers open) and contributing to the conversation in that manner, but they will not speak out loud. The backchannelers can do anything from posing questions to commenting on what has been said aloud. This will allow students to have meaningful discussion in class and learn from one another. This will also encourage the otherwise silent members in class to be more "vocal" and participatory in the classroom discussions. -**HYKEEM CRAFT**

Communication and Collaboration: For middle school social studies, I would have students work with a class in the United Kingdom via Skype. The classes would be the same grade level and subject area and they could work on a group project about a certain issue that would require research and presentation. I would choose an issue that maybe the viewpoint from the UK would be different than the viewpoint of Americans. Issues like global warming, global terrorism, or the differences in our governments could be good topics for discussion. After presentations, open discussion between the students in the UK and the US about the issue would help both classes getter a better perspective of the issue. **Monica Marshall**


 * Communication and Collaboration** -- 6th grade science students, on different grade level teams, working together to solve a STEM challenge. Students have access to an email account, online dropbox, Google Docs/Drive, so they have the ability to work on (simultaneously) a dynamic document that can be edited from any location. We usually have our different teams competing against one another, but we could have them working in unison on the same projects. Our teams are kept very separate from one another during their four core subjects. We do not do much, if any, cross-teaming, so students would have to rely on technology to provide them a way to communicate and collaborate. I could image students working side by side or on opposite sides of the building to create the best roller coaster design given their set of limiting factors. We could combine classes once the collaboration part is finished to create their prototype. -- Lisa Porter


 * Communication and Collaboration**- I teach sixth grade language arts. A couple of years ago a friend of mine and her family moved to India. Lucy, the oldest daughter will be in sixth grade next year. I think it would be a fantastic idea to contact her teacher to see if we can collaborate on an activity via a private message board. We could come up with a novel that is read by students all over the world (maybe //The Diary of Anne Frank//?) and read it simultaneously, experiencing the book though each culture's perspective. I believe our students would learn a lot more from studying a book in that way. It would be a great way to make learning memorable.- Katrina Alford


 * Communication and Collaboration-** Well, being located where I currently am (Clarksville), I immediately notice that I have access to many different countries and locations around the world due to my personal connections with those in the army and their families. Currently, I have family members who have school age children in South Korea, Germany, and Turkey. I thought it might be interesting to have a sort of Pen Pal relationship where we learn from people who have lived here and the differences they notice by living there. We would also do our own research on the location and culture and could come up with questions that the "pal" could answer.- Kelsea Keith

Students will select an overseas “Pen Pal” from an approved pen pal website. Students will correspond with their pen pal a minimum of once a week for a semester. The teacher will review all correspondence for content and completion. The student will produce a video titled “A day in my life” to be shared with their overseas pen pal. The video will display a typical day in the life of the student. The video will start with their family interactions in the morning; continue with their school day, showing short snippets of each of their classes; continue with extra-curricular activities or after school jobs; finally showing their family interaction in the evening. Each video will be reviewed by the teacher before it is shared with the pen pal. The students can make the video on equipment they own or equipment checked out from the technology center. They will be given some classroom time to edit the content. - Amy Hale-Oglesby
 * Communication and Collaboration: A Day in My Life**

Students can participate in online art critiques with students from different schools, even different states or countries. Students can use online forums to discuss famous works of art. Or to give and receive feedback on their art or the art of other students. ~Judith Fleming
 * Communication and Collaboration**

They way I incorporate communication and collaboration is a two fold effort. I have a friend that teaches the same course in a sister school in my district. Each year we try and come up with a topic to have students present on. The catch is that we pair students with a student from another school that they have never met. The students communicate through Google Apps and work through a presentation on a certain topic. At the end of the assignment, I take my students to her school one day and she brings her students to me one day and we present the slideshows. Sometimes the students have instant chemistry and sometimes they do not, but it does teach them valuable skills about communication and collaboration.- Robert Lanham

__** GoogleDoc in Math **__ Students learn best from their peers. I am planning on setting up a GoogleDoc for my math block. Students will treat the GoogleDoc as a station. The students will rotate throughout the week. The students will be presented with a word problem with including the skill that is being taught. The student will be required to work the problem out and state the answer and how they where able to get it. The student will share the document with their group. The group member will be able to see the students work and make comments on their peers problem and if they student got the answer correct the other groups member comment with what the student did correctly. If the student made a mistake, the students can respectfully comment with where they believe the student went wrong. This will teach students to respectfully disagree and come to an agreement. -Lindsey Rittenberry

__**Subject Based Virtual PenPals and GoogleSheets**__ I remember when I was in elementary school I loved having a pen pal in another school. We would write letters on paper, and mail them off and hope for a response within a few days. In this case, we were learning how to write "Friendly Letters," but the excitement of getting a piece of mail was like no other. I would like to incorporate this into elementary classrooms in the form of online communication. I think it is important that students know how to connect and communicate with people of different cultures and heritages. There are numerous kid-friendly (and safe) websites that will connect students with different pen-pals across the world. Students of The World and PenPal Schools are two great examples. For instance, when we are studying about ancient Greece, I would set up our students with students who live in Greece. It would be a great way to see how the cultures have transformed, and to share what we are learning. I would have the students ask their pen-pals one thing that has changed about Greece from the time that we are learning about. All the students would create a slide in GoogleSlides to share what they have learned about their new friends in this foreign country! At the end of the semester, we will present the slideshow! -Anna Phillips

Communication and Collaboration: I would have the students work together in groups to research a specific region and the math that has come from that region. Greek, Chinese, Arabic, and Egyptian are a few of the specific regions I would have the students research. I would have the students then create a presentation for the class either using Power Point or Prezi. I would ask that the students research the math that each region used and to discuss how their math has helped progress our knowledge of mathematics over the years and across the world. I think it is very interesting to see how math was done long before computers and calculators and how math is done now with all the technological advancements. - Lisa Cochran

For this activity, students will be assigned into groups for the development of a computerized system. This system will be designed for a potential life-like business client. The catch is that the students are to pretend that they are each stationed in separate geographical locations around the world and have no means of meeting each other in person. They are required to communicate solely by technology alone. The first step would be to discuss among the group on how they plan to collaborate and which tools, programs, and websites will be needed for the process. Then, they would use these tools to successfully complete the project after learning how to delegate tasks, share knowledge and information, and communicate all through the use of technology. – Tiffany Broadbent


 * Communication and Collaboration: Hurricane Season **

Students make a presentation on the importance of being prepared for a hurricane. Students will work in groups of four to collect data and information about hurricanes. Students will have to create a presentation in the form of a commercial, news show, PowerPoint, radio broadcast, or etc. Students will have to tell the audience how to prepare and why they should prepare for a hurricane. The students will also have to create a handout/flyer as a supplement to the presentation. - Kamesha Fullman