By Yaara (Israel)

Marsha Goren (Israel)

This year working with Matthew and Juchun has been a real dream come true with our dream communities. I have been exposed to a special side of my students who are willing to work and create whatever we need for our work even in their own time and even when I was unfortunately sick for the last week. This inspiration is I believe because when children see and hear things they listen but when they create authentic materials they become more involved with their work. I truly believe they will remember this project for a long time.

We have all learned so much about each other and the communities we live in and shared our knowledge with our friends. I have seen a tremendous improvement in technology skills and the kids have acquired new skills in many software programs which contributed to the building of this website.

On the personal side, one of the most exciting things that have happened to me in my entire teaching career and especially the last seven years of working with educators through the Internet would have to be my students in the Petach Tikva Symphonic Orchestra who have recently spent five days in Oak Park. This unbelievable accomplishment was made possible because of the effort made by Janet Barnstable who we had the honor of working with last year, Matthew Kuntz and me. We three determined and loving educators worked hard to make this dream come true and it has and will never be forgotten by any of us. It is my wish to thank the GVC as it would not have happened without your unique program.

Building a website with two other schools in global collaboration is always exciting and innovative but meeting face to face has to be the icing on the cake!!

I wish to thank Matthew and his great kids for making this process so enjoyable and educational. Matt will always be my colleague and friend.
I also thank Juchun for all of the efforts and hard work he has done with his students and both Matt and I appreciate these efforts and determination to make our work succeed!

To me, we are all winners for having participated in GVC. Thank you for a fantastic program.
Marsha Goren

Matthew Kuntz (USA)

It has been a real pleasure to work on the GVC 06-04 team this year with Marsha from Israel and Junchun (Summer)from Taiwan. As Marsha stated above it has been a real dream come true for our team this year. For our students to meet this past week was unbelievable- my students were so excited (they made cards, bought our new friends gifts, and even sang a song to our partners from Israel in Hebrew-check out the pictures photo gallery #1 and photo gallery #2 ). The excitement on the faces of the students was priceless- they all instantly started talking to one another as if they had been friends forever. As Marsha said- it will not be something they will soon forget! My students have enjoyed the interaction of the project through NiceNet and the theme of the web site- A Community of Dreamers. The students chose this theme because they wanted the world to know that a peaceful future is in their hands- as represented by the many drawings and Flash creations on the site. With many conflicts around the globe, a theme of PEACE seemed like a logical choice to the kids!

Many students commented that they just loved GVC this year because of our partner schools. Different from years past in GVC, our partner schools have actually carried through with the plan and the decisions that have been mutually agreed upon. My students really enjoyed learning new programs such as FLASH, DREAMWEAVER, FIREWORKS, and GARAGEBAND. Many of these students spent their lunch hours (21 times they gave up their lunch recess to work on GVC) and after school free time (several students even came in on their day off) to participate in GVC because it was so worthwhile- many students (particularly the girls in the group) really enjoyed learning the program Flash this year- which really made me happy! I personally have enjoyed learning more about the programs stated above, and have learned side-by-side with my students. I have also attended workshops and classes on web applications and it has helped me to be a better teacher. My students met for the last time on Friday and were amazed at what they accomplished this year in GVC. As one of my students said, "I just loved working on GVC, I have made new friends from across the globe, learned about their cultures, and I better start saving for my trip to Israel." That says it all- the friendship, the collaboration, and the web site we have created is definitely a highlight of my 20 plus years teaching career. Thank you GVC for providing this opportunity for both my students and myself.
Matthew Kuntz (Abraham Lincoln Elementary School- USA)