#19 Skype

I have been a skype user for a few years. I used to use a lot more than I do now because of my iPhone. I use FaceTime more. We had an author in our school and we used Skype with him so he could connect with his wife in Wheeling. She is the illustrator and he would read some of the writings the students had completed and she would illustrate them. We projected this in the library so all the students who had contributed writing could see the interactions and illustrations she was making. Since then, our county has blocked Skype making it much more difficult to use. You must plan way ahead and email the county coordinator to when and for how long you want to Skype and he will unblock it for a small amount of time. I would like to do a project where we connect with another school and talk to them about something we are studying in common. I wanted to have my 4th graders meet up with a 4th grade class from Nebraska or Missouri and play songs together. I have some music teacher friends I met through a listserv that I think would do it. Skype is a great tool to make teaching a lot less isolated. We should reach out and share more.