In January, we received a comment on our blog from a teacher in Japan named Mrs. Hino. We were very excited because it was the first comment we had ever received from Japan. That comment, was the start of some great conversations between our class and Mrs. Hino. She told us all about her school and where she lived. She even sent us pictures. We found out a lot of cool facts about their International School and about Tokyo.
Mrs. Watson and Mrs. Hino decided that it would be great for our classes to get to know each other better and perhaps work on a collaborative project together. The time difference makes things a little challenging (although we think we have problem solved a way that we will be able to Skype together) and so we thought we would start by making Mrs. Hino’s class a video to introduce ourselves and show them a little about our class and our school.
We can’t wait to get to know Mrs. Hino and her students better. We also hope that we will learn more about their school and life in Tokyo.
I am inspired by this video post. It is a really wonderful way to show everyone your school. To me it now seems obvious, but I am not sure I have seen such a post before. Your school resources are very much better than ours. All of the things you show are way beyond what we have. The gymnasium is splendid it makes me laugh when I compare it to ours. However I’m not complaining because I am surrounded by great teachers and super kids. Wherever you are you have to do your best and we are grateful for the things we have. I hadn’t realised the forest location was basically in your playground…wow!
We might get our 2/3 class to try to do something similar. Your presenters were absolutely great. now I am going to see if I can follow that interesting link to Mrs Hino.
Once again you’ve shared something really helpful and one that my kids can learn from.
Thank you
Mr E
Hawes
Dear Mr. E,
Thank you so much for the lovely things you always have to say. We are very proud of our little school. Did you know that our gym was barged in? We feel very fortunate to have it. I think we are probably most lucky to have the forest though. Nature definitely makes the best spot to play and get our exercise too. We would love to see a video tour of your school! We hope the 2/3s will take that project on.
Looking forward to a closer look inside Hawes,
Mrs. W and the 2/3s
Hi Mrs Watson and Grade 2/3
I was chatting to Mrs Watson on the computer and we were talking about the size of our schools. You have 48 students and three classes and we have 535 students and 21 classes at our school! I decided to visit your blog to find out a bit more about you and I watched your fabulous video. What a wonderful school you have and it’s lovely to see each of you too! You certainly have a big computer room and I loved seeing so many books for you to read and enjoy in your classroom. I think your playground is my favourite because you have such beautiful big trees right near your playground. I love trees and I often wonder if trees could talk what stories they would tell because they take a long time to grow and see lots of things over the years.
I am a teacher librarian in Melbourne, Australia so I was very excited to see your library with great books to borrow! We finally moved into our new library last year after waiting two years for it to be built. This is what our library looks like…
http://smotlrcblog.edublogs.org/2011/11/09/the-lrc-is-the-place-to-be/
If it’s all right with you Mrs Watson, I would like to add your class blog to our blogroll.
Miss Y 🙂
Dear Miss Y,
Thank you so much for visiting our blog! We are always amazed when we hear about school like yours that are so much bigger than our school. We only have about 800 people in our whole town! Thinking about the trees being able to talk really made us smile. It is fun to imagine what they would say.
Being a teacher librarian must be a wonderful job. We LOVE books! Do you have any suggestions for great books that would be great additions to our library? Your library is beautiful. You have so many books and great decorations around the room too.
We would love to be on your blogroll.
Your new friends,
Mrs. W and the 2/3s
Mrs. Watson and Class,
I am a principal of a school in Indiana. We have 550 students in grades K-5. We also have a 2/3 class! I can’t wait to share with them that I read about your class blog and your new friendship with a class in Japan. I watched your video and enjoyed seeing your school. I’m sure you will learn many new things from your Japanese friends.
Have a wonderful week!
Dear Ms. Higgins,
Thank you for leaving us a comment. Your school must be gigantic compared to ours! We only have 3 classrooms. How many classrooms are there in your school? We hope the students in your 2/3 class will stop by.
Sincerely,
Mrs. W and the 2/3s
Dear Mrs. Watson and 2/3 class,
We really enjoyed watching your introduction today. The students were envious when they saw the woods you have to play in. But someone asked if there are bears or other wild animals there that you are afraid of? The students have started planning their introductions to you and how they can show you some of our school. It may take us a few days to get the filming done and I hope to have one of our high school teacher assistants help me. Or I’ll need some help from our technology facilitator. The students in my class are excited to about skyping and getting to know you.
Mrs. Hino and the 2nd graders
Hello Mrs. Watson and 2/3 class,
What a great video introducing yourself to your friends in Japan! My class is envious of your swings and the woods to play in. Our school is large with over 850 students in pre-k to 5th grade. We can not have swings but we have slides, monkey bars, swinging bridge and rock (not real rock) wall.
Our school is only five years old and is very bright inside.
We are a group of 19 second graders in Monroe, North Carolina, USA. We love seeing what others are doing and learning from them. It’s fun to have friends from around the world.
Check us out at http://brendatodd@edublogs.org
Mrs. Todd