Hello Friends

Hello there! Well the school year starts in under 14 days here. I can't believe how fast the summer went this year. I think the three graduate classes had something to do with it. =) This week I've been setting up my classroom and I am putting together a bulletin board highlighting our project. I have a world map that I would like to provide a brief introduction about each school on. Andrea was so kind to send a photo of his students. Thanks Andrea! Can you please email me or post the following:

• School Name (If you have an image of your school logo or mascot that would be a great addition as well)
  
• Teacher Name
• City, Province, or other Information about your Location
• Country
• If you have any quick snapshots of your students that would be fabulous, but not required. I can download and print on my photo printer if you post them =)

Thanks so much!
--Carrie
carrie_clark@hcpss.org

Welcome to Howard County MD

Since we are sharing photos about our area! Check out my Animoto with images from Howard County and the surrounding areas.



--Carrie

Hello Everyone,

Here are some shots of Mystic, CT. I wish I could say I took these pictures. Mystic is part of the town of Stonington where I teach. This is also where the movie Mystic Pizza took place.

Ling, The schedule looks fine. Thanks.

Greg

Hi Friends!

To Ling: I think your new timetable is ok.

To Carrie: thanks for the interesting ICT tools you are sharing...

Andrea

Attached, some pictures about the South of Italy - Campania and Basilicata Regions

Tools for Sharing

Hey there Guys!

I just found out about two great products that may be useful to us as we are sharing and completing the A Day At My School Project. Check them out!

Animoto - free program that allows you to add digital images and set them to music like a real music video. Check out a sample I made for a graduate class. Fun way to just share images back and forth. If you sign up for an account put in the promo code of discovery to upgrade your pass to an all access pass.

Meebo Rooms - free program that allows you to set up chat rooms that can be embedded into HTML documents and are private. Thought it might be good if we can arrange time to all be online at same time to discuss and share. =) Check out the room I made for practice.

--Carrie

Ciao!

Dear Carrie, Dear Ling,

Thank you for sharing your reflections and comments on the blog.
It is important comparing ideas and point of views. I'm learning a lot of things thanks to this experience.

I also think that when different Communities and systems meet we need to be flexible.

I am a bit worried about the weather situation in Taiwan. I hope that now the it's better.

I’m leaving tomorrow and I will be on holiday until the 4/5 August for a period of rest and relaxation.

I will check my e-mail box from time to time and possibly our blogs.

It’s a pleasure to exchange with you all. I wish you and your students a wonderful Summer!

With Friendship,

Andrea

Hello, Andrea and Carrie!

Hi! Andrea and Carrie:
Thanks for your support and I would like to discuss with you two first because you are the only two I can reach so far(Apparently most people will lose contact in summer vacation) but it also mean you can decide the contents students are going to discuss in this project.
And I appreciate if you can join the discussion by click the "Comment" below the article and give us some feedback or what's your idea!

Here I have something want to discuss with you:
First, from September to December, I would like to focus on 3~4 topics so that we can maintain longer discussion in each topic. So far what I think of are :

1. What subjects do we learn in school. (In September)
We might have some common subjects in common (like math, science) and other different subjects(like in Taiwan we have Chinese class). We can discuss briefly about the similarities and differences. And the next step is to introduce a special learning subject in your country through text, presentation slides pictures or videos.
For example, My students will video tape their process of how they learn Chinese in class and post the film on the blog. And we'll put some learning materials on the blog (For example, how we learn and write "Chinese words")

2. Our lunch (From October 1st to October 16th)
Food plays important role in different culture. Maybe we can have students experience the food culture through their lunch in school! And It can be presented through pictures, text and presentation slides or video.

3. Outdoor or school activities (From October 17th to October 31st)
What do you do out of class? Playing sports? Is there any School fair or Exhibition in your school? I think it will be presented better though presentation or video.
Share them with us!

4. School rule: (From November to December)
Here I wanna to have students to discuss more details about their school rules. In Taiwan, students are always required to wear uniforms. We can compare the school rules in differnt cultures and analyze the reasons behind the rules. It may be more difficult to students so I want to spend more then a month to talk the topic. And if we still have time, we can talk about the newspaper content(planned to publish next year).

Please tell me :
1. Do you think these topics are proper for your students ? Do you want to discuss them all or just choose three out of them?
2. Do you think these topics can be handled by your or your students within these almost four month?
3. Is it too difficult for you to have students access to the multimedia presentation (picture, presentation slides, videos) ?

Any comments about what you think about these topics and the schedule is welcomed.
Thank you so much!