Book Reviews
Before this book was published, our Flat Classroom Certified teachers and expert reviewers from Pearson publishing looked at the book content and gave feedback. We want this book to be practice, useful, and helpful to any teacher, at any technology ability level, anywhere in the world. While many have endorsed our book we want you to know what teachers are saying too.
Heather Davis, Teacher
"Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds: Move to Global Collaboration One Step at a Time is a strong call to embed Global Collaboration into the curriculum from the youngest student to the oldest. Julie Lindsay and Vicki Davis walk beside you and guide you through the journey step by step having mapped this journey together already with their classes. If you are a person who must understand the pedagogy before beginning something new or someone like me who wants to jump into the actual creation process then this is the book for you to open the door into this incredible world. After reading the book it is apparent that embedding Global Collaboration is not an idea for the future but must be incorporated now if we, as educators, are going to meet the growing needs of our 21st century students."
Heather Davis Yew Chung International School of Beijing Year 4 Teacher/Integrating Technology Facilitator Beijing, China |
Students from Wuhan province in China at the Flat Classroom conference Beijing,China.
Kenneth Jones, Teacher"A truly innovative perspective on modern pedagogy from two real movers and shakers in education. These educators do not just talk the talk from an ivory tower deep in the heart of high academia. They have walked the walk in the trenches of everyday school. This gives their insights a level of credibility rarely found in many educational works.The concepts of the book are presented in a deeply thoughtful manner and are thought provoking as well. I highly recommend this and anything else Vicki Davis and Julie Lindsay produce!"
Kenneth Jones Spring Forest Middle School 8th Grade Language Arts Teacher Houston, TX, USA |
Aaron Maurer, Teacher, Coach
As I sit here on my final day of inservice working on my computer making sure I am ready for Monday when 1100 kids come bustling through our doors I cannot help but think of the ways that I can prepare them for their future. A key component of our middle school students that is missing is global awareness and perspective. After completing the course I cannot help but think that I ready to tackle my students into thinking globally this school year. Upon completing the Flat Classroom Teacher course I can honestly say that the class was worth every moment absorbed into my projects and assignments. Finally, I have taken a class that I actually learned something valuable that was applicable to my teaching practices. I walked away with a renewed sense of pride for my fellow educators. I was blown away by the things the other teachers were creating, sharing, discussing, thinking, reading, etc. in my Flat Classroom course. I feel pretty confident in my teaching and my fellow educators blew me out of the water and made me realize that I can be so much more. I think the class not only prepared me to teach my students about how to engage with others around the world, but also how to become a safe digital native. We learned about the positives and negatives of a variety of technology tools. In the end you as the leader of your classroom must make the decisions that you are comfortable with to bring the world to your classroom. By taking this course I also realized that I need to open my eyes more and expand my horizons. I look forward to implementing a few "flat classroom" projects of my own this year as well as hopefully taking part in some of the Flat Classroom Projects. It has been an incredible experience and I would love to take the course again to meet new educators and perhaps eventually create an alumni class where we could reconnect and take things to a more advanced level. Vicki and Lindsey are two outstanding leaders that not only know how to organize and operate multiple tasks and projects, but they fill you with hope and inspiration to get out there and try new things. With their leadership, the rest of us followed pursuit and in many ways we all helped to inspire one another on our voyage to flattening our educational systems.
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Aaron Maurer
Bettendorf School District
ELP Facilitator Co-Teacher 4th & 5th Grade
ELP 6,7, & 8 Grade
ELP Extensions Lego Robotics Coach
8th Grade Boys Basketball Coach
http://about.me/coffeechug
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Aaron Maurer
Bettendorf School District
ELP Facilitator Co-Teacher 4th & 5th Grade
ELP 6,7, & 8 Grade
ELP Extensions Lego Robotics Coach
8th Grade Boys Basketball Coach
http://about.me/coffeechug
Thomas Friedman, author"Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds'' is a terrific guide, by two real pioneering teachers, on how the networked world can be used for cooperative learning that can enrich education and empower students -- anywhere and everywhere."
Thomas L. Friedman, author, "The World Is Flat.'' |
Yong Zhao, education visionary"Insightful, innovative, and practical, this book is a must read for any educator interested in preparing competent global citizens."
Yong Zhao, Ph. D, Presidential Chair and Associate Dean, College of Education, University of Oregon |
Dr. Scott McLeod, education leadership expert
"In a hyperconnected world, it's imperative that students gain deep, rich understandings of other peoples and places. This book demonstrates in concrete detail how every classroom can be a global classroom."
Dr. Scott McLeod, University of Kentucky and Founding Director of the UCEA Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education (CASTLE)
Dr. Scott McLeod, University of Kentucky and Founding Director of the UCEA Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education (CASTLE)
