We have begun quite a journey around the world in my Grade 3 class as we have participated in Mystery Skypes since September of 2012. If you are unsure about what a Mystery Skype really is, it can simply be explained as connecting classrooms by giving geographic clues of where you may be located in the world. The class that you Skype with guesses your location and provides clues so you can guess where they are located in the world. We have skyped with classrooms from Calgary, Brandon, British Columbia, Boston,Iowa, Vermont, Texas, and Nebraska to just name a few of our locations. The classroom is buzzing with energy when the skype session starts. You can usually see atleast 5 people with a World Atlas, 2-3 with road maps, and 4 people on Google and Google Maps. Everyone has a clue that they have created that they share with a classroom of their new friends ,who are desperately trying to find where we are!
Some of the questions that I hear my students asking are things like:
1. Do you live in the Southern or Northern Hemisphere?
2. Do you live in the central time zone like us?
3. Do you have a famous sport team where you live?
4. I notice you have an accent. Are you from a southern state, like maybe Texas?
I am beyond thrilled when I am hearing these questions. I can't help but to think about the lesson I taught a few days prior about hemispheres. I hear the class we are skyping reply that they live in the northern hemisphere. Several students from my class say, "So lets ask if they live in North America, we know that is in the northern hemisphere." It is so clear that they get what I taught them. And what is more powerful, they are using it to gain knowledge about where someone lives in the world.
I remember when I was younger and the people you got to meet (in your friendship circle) probably didn't live farther than the next few closest towns away. Or maybe, just maybe, you met someone at camp who lived in Winnipeg (this was a big deal..."city friends" . When I think of my Grade 3 class, they have met over 100 kids from various places in the world, without even stepping outside their classroom.
We have created quite a network with other classrooms around the world and we can actually talk to them and ask them what it is like where they live, what they do for fun, what the weather is like, what they are learning about.....AND, it is instant and directed by the students. The teachers are merely guides during this process. It is so neat to see students being independent learners This whole experience has been extremely cool and I would like to thank all of the classrooms that have skyped with us so far!
Some of the questions that I hear my students asking are things like:
1. Do you live in the Southern or Northern Hemisphere?
2. Do you live in the central time zone like us?
3. Do you have a famous sport team where you live?
4. I notice you have an accent. Are you from a southern state, like maybe Texas?
I am beyond thrilled when I am hearing these questions. I can't help but to think about the lesson I taught a few days prior about hemispheres. I hear the class we are skyping reply that they live in the northern hemisphere. Several students from my class say, "So lets ask if they live in North America, we know that is in the northern hemisphere." It is so clear that they get what I taught them. And what is more powerful, they are using it to gain knowledge about where someone lives in the world.
I remember when I was younger and the people you got to meet (in your friendship circle) probably didn't live farther than the next few closest towns away. Or maybe, just maybe, you met someone at camp who lived in Winnipeg (this was a big deal..."city friends" . When I think of my Grade 3 class, they have met over 100 kids from various places in the world, without even stepping outside their classroom.
We have created quite a network with other classrooms around the world and we can actually talk to them and ask them what it is like where they live, what they do for fun, what the weather is like, what they are learning about.....AND, it is instant and directed by the students. The teachers are merely guides during this process. It is so neat to see students being independent learners This whole experience has been extremely cool and I would like to thank all of the classrooms that have skyped with us so far!