Today was the boys’ last day at their regular public school in Toronto.
The students in their class wrote letters to Alex and Simon, filled with questions about their impending trip. Definitely fodder for the blogs!!! (See here for Simon's Blog, and here for Alex's blog -- both coming soon...)
I also had a nice chat with their French teacher; he kindly sent home a package to keep us busy while away, and we talked about the possibility of Skyping once in a while. (Due to a 3/4 split and some creative timetabling, the French class is very small this year -- only 6 students! So we thought it might be fun to connect online for the odd French class.)
Technology, however, is bound by context.
Like when I tried to communicate online with a school in Honduras with my Grade 3 class a few years ago, and faced the stumbling block that my school board did not support the same platform as the school in Honduras, similarly, the boys' school board apparently does not support Skype. No doubt it's for some very good reason, but nevertheless it makes it tricky to keep in touch and use technology for innovative educational purposes.
On the upside, I ran into a parent at the playground after school -- her son and one of mine are chums at school, and she asked how we could keep in touch. So I passed along this blog address, in hopes that her son will read and post comments on Alex's blog in the weeks ahead, which he -- in turn -- will hopefully respond to.
The students in their class wrote letters to Alex and Simon, filled with questions about their impending trip. Definitely fodder for the blogs!!! (See here for Simon's Blog, and here for Alex's blog -- both coming soon...)
I also had a nice chat with their French teacher; he kindly sent home a package to keep us busy while away, and we talked about the possibility of Skyping once in a while. (Due to a 3/4 split and some creative timetabling, the French class is very small this year -- only 6 students! So we thought it might be fun to connect online for the odd French class.)
Technology, however, is bound by context.
Like when I tried to communicate online with a school in Honduras with my Grade 3 class a few years ago, and faced the stumbling block that my school board did not support the same platform as the school in Honduras, similarly, the boys' school board apparently does not support Skype. No doubt it's for some very good reason, but nevertheless it makes it tricky to keep in touch and use technology for innovative educational purposes.
On the upside, I ran into a parent at the playground after school -- her son and one of mine are chums at school, and she asked how we could keep in touch. So I passed along this blog address, in hopes that her son will read and post comments on Alex's blog in the weeks ahead, which he -- in turn -- will hopefully respond to.