Today we had a wonderful Share & Compare session with two classes. One class lived in Nebraska, and one class lived in New York. We went from the west coast, across the plains, to the east coast of the United States! These teachers first connected at the Google Teacher Academy!
Yesterday, @MsJennyKirsch tweeted out a photo of her fifth grade New Yorkers preparing for the HangOut.
This morning, @catlett1 Brent Catlett tweeted out this picture so we could get a sense of what the day looked like in Nebraska. It was cold out on the plains today! Freezing is 32˚F! How many degrees above freezing was it in Nebraska?
What do you call people from Nebraska?
He also tweeted out this picture and asked, "How many snowmen do you see on the playground?" Look carefully!
In the spirit of sharing, we went outside with our thermometers and measured the temperature. It was quite a bit hotter here in sunny California. It was 81˚F at 10:00! As you can see, the Californians are wearing shorts and tank tops!
Here are some photos from the informative Google HangOut!
Share & Compare GoogleHangout on PhotoPeach
During the Share & Compare, students entered state data on a Google doc. The chart made it very easy to compare the three states, the three communities, and the three schools. It was also fun to watch everyone entering data from across the United States at the same time!
Thank you, Shayna, for being our class photographer!
What did you learn?
If it was 11:00 A.M. in Los Angeles (Pacific Standard Time),
what time was it in Nebraska and New York?
What are their time zones?
Please include any questions you have for our friends so we can answer them in a follow-up session!
Hello Mrs. Yollis and Students!
ReplyDeleteWe loved chatting with you today and learning more about your state, community and school. You were very well-prepared and my 5th Graders and I were quite impressed with your presentation. We hope to see you on another Google+ Hangout sometime soon!
Enjoy that warm California sunshine,
Ms. Kirsch
Dear Mrs. Yollis' class,
ReplyDeleteWow! Your HangOut was very impressive. It gives a whole new meaning to the word "hangout". I think I like this meaning much, much more. It's still amazing to see just how much you can learn about people and places without ever being face to face. It's as if you're able to travel the world without ever leaving your computer screen! Pretty cool for sure.
I just LOVE that your class is interacting with so many classes from New York. It makes me feel like I'm home when I read about it. Can you tell I still consider myself a New Yorker, and still miss living there? I also love that the classes were able to share photos of their regions. It makes you feel as if you're there with them. It was hard to believe the difference in temperatures between the 3 areas. I have to remind myself that not everyone lives with the warm sun beckoning them outside most days, though I do miss building snowmen.
I was wondering in what climate the class would most like to live? Would you love to bundle up in the snow and cold on most days, or do you like to wear shorts and stay shaded to keep from sweating. One thing I know for sure, Frosty would not last long in sunny, California!
I can't wait until the next adventure!
Bon Voyage,
Catherine
(Bennett's mom)
Mrs Yollis
ReplyDeleteAs always I love visiting your site to see the work that yourself and the students are coming up with. I haven't used 'hangout' before but I can see the potential with this being a wonderful learning activity for yourself and your students. Great to see.
Mr Webb and Room Five, Melville Intermediate, Hamilton, Waikato, New Zealand.
melvilleroom8.blogspot.com
Dear Mrs. Yollis and class,
ReplyDeleteYesterday's Share and Compare looks like it was an amazing way to learn and meet some new friends!
To answer your question, people from Nebraska are called Nebraskans.
The 2nd wealthiest man in the United States is from Nebraska and still lives there now. Can anyone tell me who he is?
Sincerely,
Shannon- Collin's mom
Hello Mrs. Yollis and class,
ReplyDeleteMy students and I absolutely loved hanging out with you! We were very envious of your warm California weather. It was so interesting to hear about all of the different land features in California. We don't have the opportunity to see the mountains or ocean in Nebraska. Some of my students have never seen either of those. You taught my 4th graders some new, wonderful information about California. We would love to see you again on another Google+ Hangout!
Thanks for sharing with us!
Mrs. Geldes
Hi Mrs. Yollis & class!
ReplyDeleteMr. Cat from Nebraska! Thanks for "hanging out" with us!
We are in the Central Time Zone here in Nebraska and if it's 11am your time it would be 1pm our time! It was funny how you guys were getting ready to go to lunch at the end of the hangout and I was ready for a snack for after lunch!
Hope to see you again soon guys!
Dear Mrs. Yollis and class,
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing experience you had. I can only imagine how much my class would be exploring the world through the Internet if I still had a class of my own.
I think it was back in 1989 I first explored something called FrEdMail (Free Educational Mail). I would wheel an Apple IIc along to an office in the school and connect a modem to the phone line. My students could then send and receive emails. It was only text. There were no pictures, sounds or video clips. Our biggest online event was taking part in an event to share stories with other classes. We even shared with some classes in USA. I wish I still had those stories.
Before that time, a computer was a learning tool in the classroom and wasn’t connected to others, not even in the same room. While I have used computers since 1975 (at university), this year marks the 32nd anniversary of using computers in schools.
Look at how far we have come today. We cannot only share audio, video and graphics, we can talk live with others around the world. Our only problem can be time difference. At the time I am writing this, it is 8:50am on Tuesday but, for California, it is 3:50pm Monday.
The planning now must consider times when both classes can share. I know New York is three hours ahead of you so you would most likely have had the session in the morning. If you were to Skype or HangOut with 4KM and 4KJ, it would mean one class would have to stay late and the other turn up early. I think, with the current time difference, you might have to be in class around 6pm and 4KM and 4KJ would have to be in class 7am the next day.
What a difference we have! We can now be part of a classroom on the other side of the country or world. :)
Ross Mannell
Teacher (retired), N.S.W., Australia