Global Community Connections

I was able to find many different sites with a google search.

I also read Jill's blog and read about epals and Monster Exchange.

Both of these were among the most interesting and easy to use, even after searching for 30-45 minutes for other options.

Almost all of the sites had a login component and most have a minimal fee. They say the reason for the fee is safety, the bad guys may not be willing to pay to have access to kids. Safety on line was discussed on many of the sites. Some sites were directed at teachers, others at kids, some for both. Most were world wide connections that encouraged snail mail versus internet emailing.

Here are a few sites that looked worthy of pursuing.

Students of the World This site was a bit harder to navigate.
Friendships by Mail
Make a Child Smile is a site that connects people who have a life threatening illness and want a pen pal.
Sincerely Yours Pen Pals is the one I liked the most with lots of resources for teachers, kids and parents. I liked the layout of the site, it is a blog that is clean and easy to navigate.

I could see using Monster Exchange as a fun activity to do with a pen pal.

If I were looking for a group of kids to work with for pen pals I would consider the Sincerely Yours Pen Pal site. My biggest hesitation would be the $1 per student. I think this is a bit much for this type of service yet, maybe they offer more than I could see at the level I have access to.

Currently, I have an offer from a teacher friend who wants to do an exchange. I am excited to do this with the children. The other class is from Washington State so we have some similarities and differences in terms of climate, wildlife and activities that we can learn from each other. We will start with a group letter since I am working with Preschoolers. I will have the kids help decide on what photos to take and I would also like to send them some Alaskan art that we are taking down from our Iditarod studies.

Free Technology for Teachers

I just spent another hour or more looking at things offered on this site, Free Technology for Teachers. I noticed their list of most popular posts in the past week. Here their were lots to look through like
What2Learn, a site with educational games. I bookmarked a bunch of games that looked interesting.

There is a free virtual field trip planning kit. I went to the Sistene Chapel for a visit.

I downloaded the Google for Teachers guide that is available. It is 33 pages and 21 ideas for teachers to use with Google support. Many of these are new ideas.

I really appreciate this site. I am going to have to figure out a way to organize all the good stuff it offers.