Today we Skyped with a class from ITALY!! Yes, the country across the ocean. This was our first overseas call. Jenny Burroughs, Distance Learning Support Specialist from Cattaraugus-Allegany BOCES, sent me an email inquiring if I was intersted in Skyping with Ms. Toschi's class. Yesterday was one of those days I was glad that I always have Skype open. I was talking with another teacher at my door and suddenly my students were saying, "Mrs. Griffith, we have a Skype call." We weren't expecting a call, but I told the kids to go ahead and answer it. They did, I finished my conversation, and realized it was Rita Toschi calling. We spoke briefly and decided to have our classes meet today.
Some of my students couldn't stop chattering about the call and we had a good share of clock-watchers this morning as 9:00am slowly came. Ms. Toschi had each of her students come up, introduce themselves, and ask a question. So, one of my students came up, introduced themselves, answered their question, and asked them the same question. After everyone had a turn they sang two songs for us - one in Italian and one in English. They asked if we had a song. Thankfully, my students sang our RCS school song with confidence.
We've Skyped a lot this year and it's been amazing to see the growth in the students so far. At the end of every call, we always have an informal conversation about what went well and areas that we could improve on. Different students remarked on how they remembered to speak clearly, look at the webcam not the microphone, wave when it's appropriate, listen carefully to what others say so we know how to respond, and more. They really are making progress and becoming effective communicators in the 21st century! Nice work class!
Thank you to Natalie, Colin, and Miss S. for taking the photos and video clip.
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