Taking Risks

What we've been doing: Last month we did one of the neatest things I've tried as a teacher.  The Reyes Academy participated in our first Mystery Skype.  I connected with a teacher a month ago in a #sstlap chat.  Each person participating has to introduce themselves.  I always state I am teaching in the Dominican Republic, and @Kristierinkle replied and told me she traveled here last year.  She asked me if I wanted to do a Mystery Skype with her class.  I had heard the name tossed around, but I didn't know much about it.

I started looking online at how Mystery Skype works.  It's a guessing game.  Using yes or no questions each class tries to figure out where the other class is.  The boys brainstormed questions and looked on maps.  We used an atlas and figured out about hemispheres and geographical locations.

The boys had the greatest time connecting with a class from North Dakota.  Once each class figured out the location, then the students got to ask other questions.  We were asked if we ate bugs here in the DR!  They asked us about weather and languages and if they could come visit.  It was such a neat experience, but boy was a I nervous before we did it.

I had hoped the following week we would do a Mystery Skype in Spanish, but the school dealt with some snow issues, so we weren't able.  Hopefully before the end of  the year we will have another opportunity to do a Mystery Skype.