This afternoon (tomorrow morning in Australia) we had a chance to Skype with our blogging buddies from 2KJ and 2KM. This was our first Skype call of this school year and a first ever for the grade twos.
We have spent the last 6 weeks learning more about 2KJ and 2KM through the Our World, Our Stories project that we are both a part of. We have blogged about our school days, favourite activities, the foods we eat, what it is like where we live and we have even shared stories and songs with each other. It was so much fun to actually get to see and talk to their classes today.
Here are a few of the highlights from our Skype call:
- The number of students in 2KJ and 2KM is just a little less than the number of students in our whole school.
- Our town has a population of about 800, which is about the population of their school.
- There are 32 classes in their school and we only have 3.
- We thought that it was very cool that they have seen kangaroos. Some students have even seen them boxing! They also have two zoos that they can visit nearby. At one of the zoos the animals aren’t in pens or cages and you can drive around and see them like a safari. We shared about all the deer that live on our island. We found out that they don’t have deer where they live.
- It was also really amazing that two students from 2KJ and 2KM have been to Canada. No one in our class has ever been to Australia, but we would all love to go for a visit one day!
- We loved hearing 2KJ and 2KM sing part of their traditional song for us. We’ll all be humming G’day, G’day all evening. We sang Land of the Silver BIrch for them.
- We found out that they like the Christmas song Jingle Bells. They sang a bit and we couldn’t help but join in 🙂 Then we took a turn and sang part of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.
At the end of the call we also had a chance to thank Miss Jordan, Mrs. Morris, and all the students in 2KJ and 2KM for the wonderful present they sent us. They made the most amazing book about all their blogging buddies around the world and sent us each a copy. We received the book yesterday and the students cheered as we followed Santa on his journey to find the true meaning of Christmas and save the Internet. A few pages in the students realized that the book was all about classes they knew through our blog. Someone called out, “It’s all about our friends!” and then someone else said, “I wonder if we will be in the book!” As Santa was given each clue on his journey the students would shout out which class he must be headed for next. When the clue was given for our town the students were bouncing and cheering!
Dear Mrs Watson’s class,
Thank you so much for skyping with us today! You are the first people we have skyped from Canada. It was interesting to hear so much about how you live. The students loved hearing about your deer and your weather, among other things.
We also thought your singing was fabulous!
We hope you have time to check out the guest post that Alana and Haille wrote on the 2KM and 2KJ blog. They were our typists and they spent many hours putting the post together after the call.
http://2kmand2kj.global2.vic.edu.au/2011/12/08/skyping-with-mrs-watsons-class/
We are SO glad you enjoyed the story. We really loved making it and all the students came up with such creative ideas to include in the story. In fact, they were so inspired, many of them went home and wrote their own Christmas blogging story after we wrote our class one!
We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas too as we know you finish school next week. We finish in exactly two weeks today.
Your friend,
Mrs M☀rris
Australia
Dear Mrs. Morris,
We checked out the blog post that Alana and Haille wrote. They sure did a great job! We loved how they used the animated font to dress the post up.
We hope you have a wonderful last week and great holiday!
Your friends,
Mrs. W and the 2/3s
@ Mrs Watson and class,
My name is Hannah and I am in 2KM.
I love your post!
I loved skyping with your grade!
I wish we could skype again!
Have you checked out the 2KM and 2KJ post about skyping?
We all hope you liked the book!
Best Wishes,
Hannah (2KM)
Dear Hannah,
Thank you so much for leaving us a comment. We loved Skyping with you too! It is too bad that our school years don’t line up better because we would love to Skype with you again too.
We loved the post on your blog about our call and the book truly is amazing!
Have a wonderful holiday!
Mrs. W and the 2/3s
I am so impressed by both the teachers and children. Everyone is clearly teaching and learning on full gas! The way you have built up to the Skype event and the absolutely wonderful story of THE BOOK, are examples to everyone. You have helped me to find the true meaning of blogging!
We have Sarah Leakey who started the postcard project in our school today. I feel a Louis Armstrong moment coming on!
Not many people seem to blog in England, especially when I think of the population being 70,000,000, I am certainly going to share your FANTASTIC example with other colleagues to encourage them to join in.
Wonderful
Happy Christmas
Mr E
Hawes
Dear Mr. E,
Thank you so much for your kind words. We feel really fortunate to have been involved in Our World, Our Stories and to have the ability to connect with so many amazing teachers and students all over the world.
We participated in the postcard project too (we still have the cards you sent us). How exciting that Sarah Leakey came to visit! It would be very cool if she came all the way to Canada!
We hope you have a wonderful Christmas 🙂
Your friends,
Mrs. W and the 2/3s
Hi Mrs Watson and class,
We go to 2km and 2kj’s school too. Mrs Morris used to teach us aswell. In our school we do have alot of students and classrooms but you get used to it after a while. When we sing Jingle Bells we have an Australian version that we sometimes sing. Do have any traditional songs that you sing but have changed the words to something Canadian?
From The Creative Team.
P.S come and visit our blog somethime and feel free to leave a comment.
Here’s the link http://6mlblog.global2.vic.edu.au/
Dear Creative Team,
Thanks so much for visiting our blog! I am curious how you came up with the name The Creative Team. How many students are a part of the team? Is it your whole class?
I have never heard the Australian version of Jingle Bells before. I would love to know how the words have been changed to make it more Australian. I didn’t know of a Canadian Jingle Bells, but found one after a Google Search. Here is the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VtmRmS-c8w if you’d like to check it out.
Have a very merry Christmas!
Mrs. W
Dear Mrs watson and class,
Hi my name is Ava I’m one of the students in 2KM. I have a blog if you would like to check it out: http://avasblog.global2.vic.edu.au/
It would have been so much fun skyping with you but I was away sick.
Bye reading your blog post I saw that My drawing was at the front cover! Another girl called Haillie Also did the front cover of another book. If you would like to check it out and see the whole story again but different drawings click this link because Mr Avery has a blog post on. He has a video of some students reading the book. http://mravery.edublogs.org/2011/12/08/australia/
I hope we get to skype sometime again.
From your friend,
Ava
Dear Ava,
We all loved your drawing (secretly I think it was the best one in the book). Has 2km and 2kj got any letters since the end of school? See you next year.
From
Brooklynn
Dear Mrs Watson & Class
True to his word, Mr Eldridge at Hawes passed on a link to me for this exemplary blog post on Skyping with passion and meaning – I am in awe! I love the way you have connected so much stuff together to peak with bringing your classes together via skype in such a meaningful way – and it is really helpful for me to read this and take note on how we can improve! We have used Skype a few times this term, and our experiences have been mixed. I have been pondering how to improve what we do, and this gives me some useful pointers. Thank you!
Mrs M
A Room with a View
http://middlehampri2.posterous.com
Dear Mrs Watson & Class
True to his word, Mr Eldridge at Hawes passed on this exemplary blog post on Skyping with passion and meaning – I am in awe! I love the way you have linked so much stuff together to peak with bringing your classes together via skype in such a meaningful way – and it is really helpful for me to read this and take note on how we can improve! We have used Skype a few times this term, and our experiences have been mixed. I have been pondering how to improve our experiences, and this gives me some useful pointers. Thank you!
Mrs M
A Room with a View
Dear Mrs. M
Thank you so much for visiting again! We love Skype, and like you we have had experiences that are better than others. Our best calls are definitely those where we have a connection with the class or at least a clear purpose for the call. We loved chatting with 2 of our blogging buddies this week!
We’ve also found that it helps to have jobs during the call. The two calls last week were very informal and relaxed (like chatting with friends) and so we din’t assign jobs. Usually we have a couple students back channeling during the call, a couple taking notes on paper (just in case), a photograoher, a videographer, and others ready to ask and answer questions that we have talked about. Having a seat in front of the camera (we call it the hot seat) also works well for us. We’re always looking for ways to make things work better too 🙂
I wish the time difference worked out better in England!
Sincerely,
Mrs. W