Another New Adventure

It seems like this school year is the year for new adventures in our classroom. We've began so many new explorations, stretched our minds in new ways, and definitely learned how to adapt to having a split classroom.  It has been a great adventure so far and I know the kiddos would agree.

This past week we added something new to our learning experiences.  Skype sessions.  Thanks to a project fulfillment via DonorsChoose.org, we were able to get the technology in our classroom that would allow for us to use Skype.  Once the kids learned what it was and how we would use it, they were excited!

 I wanted to use Skype to enhance some of the learning we were doing in our classroom, with science, social studies, and even math.  There are so many different ways to use Skype in the classroom.  We first Skyped with a class of 1st graders in Massachusetts that I had recently "met."  This classroom was also using the yoga balls and we used this Skype session as a way to learn more about the balls and see them in action. It was a HUGE HIT! The Massachusetts teacher, Ms Hewitt, and I have decided to use this opportunity to allow our classrooms to continue to connect with each other in order to learn about different communities, foster relationships with peers, and build upon the sense of a bigger world.

We used Skype on Tues to connect with Dr Don (my uncle) who taught us a little about how the brain sometimes plays tricks on us and modeled that with an optical illusion.  He also taught us about being a scientist; reminding the kids that being curious and inventive is a good thing and leads to a new or expanded learning.  He challenged the class to think of some questions for our next Skype session that we would like a deeper explanation of and he would do his best to help us out.

In the upcoming weeks we have 2 other Skype sessions tentatively scheduled as well.  We will be Skyping with a friend of mine in the Middle East who also donated to the DonorsChoose projects for the Skype materials and for the yoga balls. We will be using that time to say a personal thank you as well as expand on our current Social Studies unit on cultures and communities.   We also have a session scheduled with the author of the Howard B Wigglebottom books for a lesson on listening skills where she will be reading the book aloud, do a mini lesson, and then we'll get to have a Q&A time. A REAL LIFE AUTHOR!

I'm not sure I can possibly demonstrate their excitement with this latest adventure.  I, for one, am excited to use it as a way to move the walls and take our learning outside of Fremont, to the other side of town, outside of Springfield, past the boundaries of Missouri and broaden our cultural awareness, making our children greater stewards and hopefully more understanding members of our society.  I'm eager to see where the kiddos take us on this Skype adventure.  They have mentioned using it to call upon experts; experts in space exploration, experts on different careers, experts on animals.  Again...the sky's the limit with these kiddos and I'm continually amazed.

So stay tuned for more updates on our Skype sessions.