Boy, can Catholic Schools Week get anymore exciting? We are preparing to Skype with 4 other Catholic schools. So far I have 12 parents who have given permission for their children to be our Skype Ambassadors for our calls. Our ambassadors will be answering and asking the questions. I'm so glad so many children wanted to be part of this opportunity.??
My Twitter friend, @ncara started a wiki to connect other Catholic school teachers who wanted to Skype. Why did I decide to add my name to this Wiki? Besides it being a fun way to end Catholic Schools Week, I saw an educational value to this project. First of all, my students will be using the skill of presentation. In the writing program we use, 6 + 1 Writing Traits, the + 1 is presentation. To be able to ask and answer questions clearly and confidently is an important life skill.??
I also wanted to share the idea with my students of the universality of children their own age and of the Catholic Church. They will be seeing and listening to children their age wearing uniforms like them. We will be hearing the story of the Saint our new friend's school is named after. We hear at Mass and in our Religion book, ??that we are all connected in the Body of Christ, we can now make that connection through the technology of Skype.??
So, tomorrow I will be preteaching the expectations that I have for our Skype call and practicing what we will share. Kind of ironic that this week's focus skill in our Reading anthology was summarizing. We'll see how they will summarize the activities that have taken place during our Catholic Schools Week!??
I'm also excited to publicly thank, in front of my students, my Twitter friend @Scout7 She was my inspiration and an encouraging online coach and cheerleader when I started my first wiki one year ago this month.??
Hello Barb, Our schools are excited about connecting with your school. Thanks for organizing this at your school. Looking forward to more connections with you!