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| At a year end "Pen Pal Reveal" Field Trip, Michele and I finally got to meet after exchanging letters throughout third grade. |
My best friend Michele and I started
out as pen pals when we were eight years old. Matched up by our teachers, we
exchanged letters, notes and assignments across our town. Six years later, we
crossed paths and had the feeling that somehow we “knew each other.” We hugged
and smiled as we realized that we were pen pals in third grade and knew each
other from so “long ago.” Little did I know that this penpal would become a friend for life!
Reflecting back to elementary school, I can’t think of more
important writing assignments than the letters and notes that I sent to my pen pal.
Those letters helped me connect with someone outside of my small bubble of Room
8 and impacted my future! I find it so exciting that with today’s technology, teachers can
rethink the concept of pen pals and take them to the next level by connecting
students not only across towns; but throughout the world by using technology
tools like Skype.
This year, I’m supporting teachers with using Skype in the Classroom to connect their students to other classes. I find that the most effective Skype calls come back to that basic idea of letting students discuss ideas and learn through conversation. The more students that take part in the Skype, the more they learn. The more voices on the call, the more interesting the call becomes.
Below are a few of the most engaging Skype lessons that I have been a part of this year. These are examples of lessons and activities that take Skype beyond a video presentation or Q&A session. With a few adjustments, flexible grouping and a bit of creativity, teachers can create a captivating Skype call experience.
Marie Pinder
Third Grade, Gardner Bullis
Elementary
Sleuth Skype with “Who Am I” Animal
Clues
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| Los Altos third graders in Mrs. Pinder's class using Skype to learn more about animals from students in New York. |
Have you checked out Skype in the Classroom’s website? You
may find something that will work perfectly for your students and curriculum! Marie Pinder found
this Skype lesson listed online that connected to the work her students
were doing with researching animals. She
responded to the lesson request and started communicating via email with the
Media Specialist in New York to plan the call. During the Skype call, pairs of
students in New York presented several clues for coordinating pairs of students
in Los Altos. The New York students shared “Who Am I” clues relating to
different Chinese animals while the corresponding “detectives” in Los Altos
listened and jotted down notes in graphic organizers. Students in Los Altos collaborated with their
partner and did further research to make educated guesses about the identity of
the Chinese animals. By breaking up the whole group call into parts that were
for partners, students were on the edges of their seats-waiting for their partner
team to present their clues. The partner Sleuth Skype was a fun approach to
Skyping and broke the call down into manageable chunks of listening time for
the third grade students.
Lily Alberts
Fourth Grade Teacher, Loyola
Elementary
Documentation Experts
Lily Alberts creates an incredible “newsroom” type experience with Skype
calls in her classroom. Students choose from a variety of roles ahead of time
in order to have differentiated activities during the Skype. Days before the call, presenters and
librarians develop the script filled with facts and information. During the
call, live bloggers, photographers, librarians and “Google earth” searchers are
busy documenting the facts, activities and locations mentioned during the
presentations. In case a presenter forgets their lines, prompters follow along
with the script to help. Students run these calls so effectively, I think they could occur without Mrs. Alberts being present! Within a
day or two of the Skype, Mrs. Alberts posts a fully student-created blog post recapturing
the essence of the call. During my
last visit for a Room 15 Skype, the adult observers jaws dropped as Mrs.
Alberts explained the wrap up instructions following the Skype. Her explanation
went something like this…
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| One student photographer from Mrs. Alberts class uploads, edits and selects the best photos to include in the class blog post. |
“Student photographers, drop your
photos onto the shared iPhoto library and email the best 2-3 images to our
bloggers. Bloggers you need to wrap up your shared draft and send it to me by the end
of the day. Google Earth searchers, please take screen shots of the geographic
places mentioned and email those jpgs to our bloggers as well.”
Clearly, Mrs. Alberts is modeling the use of
technology for collaboration and communication! Her students are so comfortable with these tasks-not a single student blinked an eye! Amazing!
Robin McLaren
Fifth Grade Teacher, Santa Rita
Elementary
Daily Small Group Skypes during
Literacy Block
Robin McLaren’s students started Skyping with a class in
Ottawa after she posted a lesson request on Skype in the Classroom. Expanding
on the question, “Is Geography Destiny”” groups of students in Los Altos and
Ottawa created Google presentations for each other about their hometowns and
where they live. Instead of the traditional whole class call, Mrs. McLaren and
the other teacher had a standing 10:30 AM Skype time for about a week. Each
day, during Mrs. McLaren’s literacy block, a different group would head outside
to the picnic tables to have their Skype group call with another group of
students in Ottawa. Students appreciated their "private" Skype time and were amazed when students in Ottawa had snow falling during one of the calls. Meanwhile the students in Los Altos were sitting outside in t-shirts! If you are considering have students Skype independently,
consider trying Quicktime to run a video and audio screen recording. Then
you’ll have a video of the call!
Julie Presant
Sixth Grade Teacher, Springer
Elementary
Use of Edmodo Groups with Skype Pals
and Five Simultaneous Skype Calls
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| Small group Skype calls involve more students in the experience. |
Julie
Presant set up her students in Edmodo small groups with their Skype pals prior
to their Skype calls. Students posed questions and responded to comments to
discuss certain books and articles. On the day of the Skype, Ms. Presant and
her coordinating teacher in South Korea, Mrs. Erin Zaich, set up five Skype
simultaneous calls. With this approach, all students have ample opportunities
to participate multiple times in the Skype call. I can tell you, the excitement
was palpable in the room when Ms. Presant told all the students-“Go ahead and
call your group.” All the laptops were connecting and it was so exciting to see
their South Korean friends pop up on the screen!
I enjoy seeing how teachers are using Skype in the Classroom to breathe life into their curriculum, provide authentic audiences and allow students to practice social/emotional skills as well. I can only imagine how my life would be different today, if at a young age I was Skyping and interacting with students from different states and countries!
As our world becomes more
interconnected, the work teachers are doing in their classrooms to foster
student collaboration with students in other geographical places is extremely
meaningful and relevant. Students need to build effective verbal and written
communication skills with people from different cultures. They need practice with working with a variety of people through email, shared documents
and/or video conferencing. In some ways, Skype learning experiences may shape the future of
the world. By giving today's youth the opportunity to discuss important issues and learn from each other, our next generation of leaders will be more informed about the people of the world. You never know, the problems of tomorrow may be solved by the relationships and
connections we build today. Skype away!
Ellen Kraska is the Technology Integration Instructional Coach within the Los Altos School District. She is passionate about teacher professional development, edtech, creativity and collaboration within innovative learning environments. You can email her at ekraska@lasdschools.org and/or follow her on Twitter @kraskae.
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