Connecting

Original Post 5/4/13

Recently, I had posted on Skype in the Classroom, that I was looking to connect my students with students from another country.  Aylin Silig, an educator from Turkey, answered my call.  We were both  excited about our students learning about another culture.

This biggest obstacle we had to overcome was the seven hour time difference.  In order for our classes to connect her students had to stay after school, while my students had to arrive an hour early.  I offered this opportunity to all our students, but I wasn't sure how many students would want to wake up an hour early, especially on a Monday.   In a class of 23 students, 21 climbed out of bed an hour early, on a Monday morning.  I was amazed.  Amazed at how much these students wanted to connect with others from another country, amazed by the parents who found a way to transport their children, amazed that this was actually happening.

Once our Skype was underway we exchanged questions and answers with our Turkish partners, we were so impressed by their ability to ask and answer questions in English.  The students in my class wrote blog posts about this experience, and an example can be found here.  Our classes talked for an hour and we had to stop sooner than we wanted because our school day was starting.  Within a week Aylin, had left comments on all my students' posts, my students were thrilled!

That afternoon I introduced Twitter to other teachers in my school and had set up a Google hangout where other educators from around the world to join us.  I learned about this type of platform by reading this post from Joe Mazza on Connected Principals.  I asked nine amazing educators to come and join us.   I thought if I invited nine I would at least have five join us that day.  I know how busy teahers can be, problems can pop up during the day that need to be dealt with after school, administrators can ask for just a few minutes of time, and working this hangout around family needs can be difficult.  With all that said I was thrilled to have eight connected educators join us.  Kristin Ziemke Fastabend, Adrew Thomasson, Yau-Jau Ku, Sandra Wozniak, Michael, Matera, Jason Bretzmann, and Cheryl Morris all told their story about how Twitter has changed them as educators.  I was honored to have such a respected group of connected educators share their story with my school.

The panel shared how at first, they thought Twitter was just for celebrity gossip, how they collaborate with each other from thousands of miles away, how they are able to learn new concepts 24/7, how Twitter is much more powerful than Google, and much more.  Because this hangout was taking place during a part of a faculty meeting I was not able to have them share their stories for as long as I originally wanted, or have them answer as many questions as I originally had planned.  I am grateful for their flexibility.

For the next few weeks I'll be hosting Twitter Tuesdays in my classroom where teachers can come and ask for help using Twitter.  I have already signed up three teachers while our Physical Education teacher already joined her first twitter chat.

These experiences taught me that we have a desire to connect with others that is stronger and more powerful than I originally thought.  21 fifth graders showed up an hour early on a Monday to connect with other students from a foreign country.  Educators from around the world gave up time from their family, friends and job to share their twitter story.  Not bad for a Monday.