Hello Horizon, How are you?

[Vicki Davis]

I'm so excited to be joining in this project again this year as a co-planner with Mrs. Julie Lindsay in Qatar. This project is actually a direct result of the fact that Mrs. Lindsay and I both blog. We connected in the Fall of 2006 as we both had our students read an excerpt of Thomas Friedman's book The World is Flat.

Julie found my blog, we created the Flat Classroom Project and then Thomas Friedman, the book's author found us. What begin as a small collaboration between a classroom in Camilla, Georgia and Dhaka, Bangladesh grew into last year's Horizon Project.

Then, when we did the project, the original authors of the Horizon Report found out about it, got involved, and were amazingly impressed. (We're glad they are back again as expert observers this year.) Then, Mrs. Lindsay and I were asked to be a part of this year's report writing process, which was very exciting!

Now, we have 235 students from around the world collaborating and writing about the trends that are shaping their world! It is very exciting because this is not one of those meaningless report-writing exercises. What you write and what you do is going to be reviewed and looked at by people around the world. Those who do a good job will rise to the top and this will be something you will remember for a long time.

Each project brings amazing new innovations and challenges as we pioneer global collaboration on well... a global scale. We have a variety of socioeconomic, governmental, and cultural backgrounds and understanding how to relate to other cultures is absolutely a critical part of the process.

Like many things in today's society, this project has gone "viral" and taken on a life of its own! It is amazing to see what has happened and look forward to the innovations that the new teachers and students will bring to this project.

We also welcome the experts who will give feedback to the projects as we go. The "judges" who will help evaluate the videos when we're done and the "sounding board" classrooms who are other students from around the world who will review your videos and wikis and leave messages and evaluations of the work they find.

This is a global project and a glimpse into your future... our future.

You are living the horizon right now... today.

By participating in this project, you will distinguish yourselves as global leaders and as students who can verbalize in meaningful ways what these trends mean. You will literally give yourself a head start on your career, college studies, and life. I believe that many of you will look back at this project as a turning point in your life as you are exposed to things and a new way of looking at the world.

I'm delighted to be a part, a "chaparone," or "advisor" and I hope that all students and teachers will know that I'm here to help.

This project and the Flat Classroom are two of the greatest projects or experiences I've ever been a part of in my life. A real magic happens when students start working together and innovations and even inventions happen.

I hope you too will experience the magic that is the Horizon of your future.

Learn about the Horizon. Experience the Horizon. Be the Horizon! (And have fun, will you?)