Will it be done by you or to you? Flat Classroom kids speak out

Suzie Nestico and her students at Mt. Carmel in Pennsylvania just delivered the Flat Classroom 10-2 (2nd project in 2010 if you’re wondering about the numbers) keynote.

Besides moving me to tears – I love the quote at the end how the students say

“By the end is when we really started to understand it, at the beginning we like partially understood it.”

and Suzie (their teacher) replies:

“Well, that is really the point of learning.”

Ning Version

Find more videos like this on Flat Classroom Project

Youtube Version

Perhaps these faces are so dear to me because several of them were with us in Mumbai and we learned how to “shop the streets” with the street vendors.  To see how far they have come. To actually think that this often lonely work has led to changing the lives of real, flesh and blood students. It is almost more than I can handle and it makes me weep.

Thankful for all of the teachers who have thrown in their time and energy to make it happen and volunteered their time.

Some administrators don’t get the point. We’ve seen some say “but you can’t spend so long on ‘one project.'” Not understanding that this one project has so many outcomes and such deep learning as to be transformative.

I’m watching my students create their NetGenEd films this week (due Friday) and their creativity continues to astound me.  From one student filming her “Field of Dreams” how a farmer growing vegetables can find answers in the middle of a field using their e-book (Kindle) to students doing work envisioning the future of gesture based computing.  It is truly a joy to be part of this. (and a little bit exhausting)

I hope you’ll go to their youtube channel and leave a comment and share the video. They’ve worked very hard.