Topic 7- PenPals

Two years ago one of my dear friends moved to Denver, CO with her husband and found a new teaching job there. I also moved schools that same year. We knew that since we were both starting in new places that we would be leaning on each other for a lot of support even thought we were miles away. This is when the idea hit us, pen pals!

 

The first  two years we did it we were not sure how exactly it was going to go and did not have any expectations. We wrote back and forth once a month and the students loved it. We mailed pictures of ourselves and wrote about things going on in Dallas and Denver. It was a fun adventure, but Julie and I knew that we wanted to step it up this next year. 

This is where technology comes in the picture. Over the summer I learned so many new technology tools and pen pals kept coming to my mind...I would think oh that would be great to use with our pen pals this year and I can't wait to try that with our pen pals. I was so excited and could hardly wait to tell Julie my plan. 

After talking with the technology teacher at my school and going over my ideas we decided that we would begin with Google Earth. Using Google Earth, we are able to put in our pen pals school address and see a picture of where they go to school. We can also see the surrounding area and see how different it is from where we live. We have also talked about skyping with her class. We have not done this yet, but I am very excited not only to be able to see my friend that is so far away, but to see the look on the kids faces when they are talking to their pen pal hundreds of miles away. We are going to continue writing letters the traditional way because the students always love receiving their letters. It is a fun adventure that I am looking forward to doing for the next several years.