I feel very fortunate to work at the school where I teach. The environment is beautiful, the students are wonderful and I have forged friendships that will last. Enjoying your work is vital I think; I’d hate to rock up every day and feel unsatisfied with what I was doing. I wondered when I started writing this blog how my school community would view this. I knew that my close friends would offer support, but was unsure of the reaction of the wider school community and the leadership team. I thought they may want me to write anonomously and not reveal my school location.
How wrong did that assumption prove to be. Today our enews (electronic newsletter) was released. My husband also receives it because our daughter attends the school. He rang to say that Project Global Cooling was mentioned by our Principal in his reflection. Here’s what he had to say;
One of the key directions we are taking in developing future plans is in the area of Internationalism and a fine example of this is the Year 9 Global Cooling Project. Under the leadership of Mrs Luca, and with the involvement of students and teachers in other parts of the world, a group of girls are organising a concert to bring attention to the international threat of global warming. This is a perfect example of the “new internationalism” which focuses more on what we share with other nations rather than how we differ. It is further evidence of how young people can and do make a difference. It’s worth noting also that this particular project has been made possible through Internet based collaboration and it reminds us that the tools which often receive bad press when misused are a powerful positive force when well managed. Please encourage your teenagers to attend the Global Cooling Project concert, which is happening this Saturday 19th April from 3.00 to 5.00pm in the Mary Herring Hall. Artists appearing include Mark Seymour, White Summer, Tessa and Modern Radio. The event is going to be hosted by Fox Klein who appeared at the Hands Together comedy night. The Year 9 girls involved have been working very hard to get this event organised to try to raise awareness about global warming and sustainability of our planet.
You might also like to take a look at the project web site where you will see a link to Mrs Luca’s blog site – well worth a visit in itself for those interested in exploring Web 2 technologies.
What an affirmation for the students involved in Project Global Cooling and for me and my blog writing. I am so pleased that my Principal has identified the productive value of working collaboratively on internet based projects. I’m especially pleased that he included this statement; “it reminds us that the tools which often receive bad press when misused are a powerful positive force when well managed.”
I feel very supported in my school and am thankful for the forward thinking that I see being applied to curriculum initiatives like Project Global Cooling. I hope other educators with an interest in developing web based learning activities are finding support from their leadership team. I suspect (know!) this is not always the case.
Lucacept - intercepting the Web 
Hi Jenny, support from the top and leadership is vital to the success of blogging and web2.0 I am just like you and teach in a great school, with great students and the power of these emerging technologies has been amazing amongst the students. Our principal has taken the time to read student blogs and comment on a lot of them – a very valuable exercise.
Internet based global connections have meant that our students in a small, relatively isolated school are at the centre of the global universe with powerful learning outcomes that are only now being tapped into.
It takes support from the top and ‘little steps’ to bring further staff on board.
Thanks for the comment Anne. I’m so pleased that you also have a supportive leadership team. I see the next step being your last point exactly – bringing further staff on board. I held an after school PD session about Delicious after school on Monday and have just received a wonderful comment on this blog from one of our teachers who is applying it to her work practices and has introduced it to her children and even a parent at P/T night yesterday! How wonderful – a little step that might lead to bigger footfalls!
We found delicious a great way to start getting staff on board as it is something they can all see the use for on a personal basis. We next used images and resizing for use in emails and online – another tool they see a purpose in. Then step by step we are adding in blogging. Jess McCulloch and I are now offering a “Walk in Wednesday’ 1 hour after school session where we will be available to help staff with web2.0 tools they would like to use or need help with. From 2 staff blogging 8 months ago, we now have a further 9 staff commencing this use.