"The VC Clubhouse was great place for our five teachers and lots of kids who wanted to do "a little something" that was not too involved and yet collaborative with students in other schools. Even though three of the schools were U.S. schools, they were very different. (In my case the students involved keep changing as classes changed from quarter to quarter.) Knowing we wanted to do something about ourselves, our schools, our countries, yet not wanting to make it too formal because of other classroom committments, we all decided on a magazine format where contributions could be made whenever there was time to make them. We all had access to the site and could just add our parts as we were ready.

"We started off with holiday traditions, since it was almost December and everyone has some special holiday. Lina (the teacher in Italy) and Valentas (the teacher in Lithuania) translated for their students. In fact, as we went on, Lina created an entire Italian version of each issue of our magazine.

"While we initially wanted to do an issue each month, we found that it worked best to have one every two months. The great part of the entire group was that no one felt pressured. If something didn't work out (such as an issue a month) we just all changed our plans. Sometimes one or another school was not able to contribute, and that was OK too. We did lose touch with two schools after the holiday issue, but the other three of us continued through June. By the end, we had even done a "beautiful common job" as Lina put it -- with U.S. students writing poems and Italians students illustrating them.

"The VC Clubhouse is a wonderful opportunity for teachers and students who want to have a place to meet and work with other students. You can do as much or as little as your class time permits."