Day 1 of Mardi Gras Skype Calls

There was a definite buzz in the air today in HR222. Purple, green, and gold was everywhere you looked. The back of the classroom looked like an annex for Beads by the Dozen. Today was going to be a great day of collaboration and communication for us. We had five Skype calls planned back to back from 8:45 until 10:30. The students had researched, created Glogsters, practiced their parts, and learned how to properly do a "second line" all in preparation for today's Mardi Gras Skype calls. They were now the "experts" who were going to educate other classrooms around the country about Mardi Gras.

Our first call was with Mrs. Grayson's 4th grade in Virginia. We loved the fact that Mrs. Grayson donned a wonderful Mardi Gras themed hat for the call. Her students and mine backchanneled on an Skype Collaboration group I had set up in Edmodo during the call. The students in Virginia learned about Mardi Gras through both the presentation done via Skype and by viewing the Glogsters my students had embedded into the Edmodo group. What a great way to start a day of learning.

We then traveled virtually to Minnesota, and connected with Mr. Kruger's 3rd graders. Unfortunately there were some technically difficulties with this Skype connection, but Mr. Kruger assured me through Twitter that our presentation sparked a lot of follow up conversation among his students. We wrapped up this call with our closing second line, and we know this class in Minnesota learned a lot about Mardi Gras when they answered our verbal quiz questions with flying colors. Check out Mr. Kruger's post about the call.                                                                      

Mrs. Mercier's 3rd grade class in Connecticut was not able to connect with us today due to a scheduling conflict. We hope to be able to connect with them at some date in the future. Ah, the life of an elementary school teacher. We have to remain flexible because schedules can change quickly. During the time we would have been Skyping with Mrs; Mercier's class, my students took their social studies test.

Our next connection was with Mrs. Seibel's 4th grade class in Kansas. My students' level of confidence had greatly increased from the first call, and they spoke with more assured voices during this call. We showed them various trinkets that are prized "catches" from different Mardi Gras krewes - a play sword, a Mardi Gras football, and a prized Zulu coconut.

We rounded out our Skype collaboration with Mrs. Yollis' 3rd graders in California. We were greeted by Mrs. Yollis and one of her students who was wearing a Mardi Gras mask. We had to disconnect and place the call a couple of times before we had a stable connection. Mrs. Yollis' students are Skype experts and have various jobs they perform during Skype calls. Read about the Mardi Gras Skype Call from their perspective on her blog here.

Her students also had a few questions they were dying to ask us, so we did a Q&A about non-Mardi Gras things at the end of our presentation. One of her students wanted to know if my students had ever seen an alligator up close and personal. Imagine his excitement when Raegan told him that she went alligator hunting with her grandpa and caught a 12 foot gator. She also shared that she is related to one of the featured people on The History Channel series "Swamp People". Another question was about our Hurricane Katrina experience. Mrs. Yollis' students learned that every one of my students had to evacuate the city during the storm and that at least three of them were gone for more than two years before they returned.

(Lesson learned - take a picture of the Skype call on the computer screen instead of the imagine displayed on the Promethean board. While what we saw during the calls was very clear, the photos leave a lot to be desired.)

So are you ready to let the good times roll? What celebration is unique to your area?