Ideally I'd like to attempt this project In the early Fall of 2013 on a trial basis.  I've a friend in Missouri who also teaches 5th grade.  Ive sent her a message through Facebook asking if she'd be interested in working on this project with me.   I'd like to work out any problems the project may have with someone I have known for some time.  Without issues like language barriers and time differences it would be relatively easy to get in touch by phone and resolve problems we encounter.  I also believe there are some cultural differences between students in rural Missouri and my students who have a more urban experience. 

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If the Fall experience is a success and we find the project to be worthy of continued instructional implementation, I will continue the project with the intent of finding a more culurally diverse partner class.  I am hopeful that I will be able to gather enough information during the Fall trial that I can make a preliminary assessment about whether the project is practicable on an international basis and begin advertising on E-Pals and through other social media that I am looking for a partner class. 

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Through extensive travel I've become aquainted with friends from other countries that I will likely contact regarding participation, most notably a Norwegian author and publisher of books for children, Martin Joyce Nygaard who I would very much enjoy involving in the collaborative writing part of the project. 

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Interested Participants may contact me through my email, or through a posting on E-Pals.

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Text for the E-Pals posting is as follows:

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I teach Language Arts to a group of advanced level learners ages 10 and 11.  We would like to connect with another classroom in order to participate in a 9 week long telecollaborative project.  The goal of our project is to explore the elements and themes of folktales with students from other cultures and to work together to write original folktales.  Project start date will be February 2014.  Please feel free to contact me at JMaine@aacps.org for details or to express interest in participating in the project.  

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I will make every attempt to respond to all email inquiries regarding the project.  Once I have aquired a partner class I will communicate with the teacher primarily through email, Skype, and  the project website.  I will work with this teacher to ensure we are in agreement about the details of the project and the procedures.  I will also create an online calendar we can use to collaboratively develop a schedule for the project.  Ideally this initial communication will begin during the Fall so that by the time we are ready to implement the project we have a shared understanding of expectations. 

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If the international experience is a success I'd like to continue the program and participate on a grade level rather than individual class level.  That will take some thoughtful scheduling, but can be done.  I will continue to seek project partners through E-pals and personal friendships.  I will also create a project website that promotes our experiences and collaborative student work.