Package arrived from Hawaii

Meet Malia, our mascot from Hawaii!!

She arrived in Norway on Saturday October 6. - Two weeks after she was send from Hawaii.
Unfortunately our students were out of school because of fall break the next week, so I had to wait until Monday Oct 10. to let the students open it. They were SO excited when they saw me coming into the room with the box.













 I let Random word chooser in Notebook decide which two students that should open the box.



When they had opened the package, to great acclaim from the rest of the class, they did not hesitated  reading the letter out loud in class. It is impressive, considering that it was an unknown text, in English.












It was exciting content in the box and they loved the sweets:) The students are going to write more about what they learned about the things Malia is wearing - I will post it here later on.

The Iolani corner is getting to be filled with a lot of knowledge.

 
 
 




























We have worked with the same type of SMART amp workspaces as Iolani. They first wrote what they knew about Hawaii, without using Google:) In another workspace they asked questions about Hawaii. And they have got answers!! They know that if they suddenly think of something they want answered, they can open the workspace and write the question. They also love to answer the questions Iolani have for us.

Some questions they had:

 
• What is your favourite Hawaii food?
• Have any of you ever went skiing?
• Do you have trains in Hawaii?
• How many volcanos have you?
• How many different animals are there in Hawaii?
• Have you ever seen snow?
• How many years do you have to be to start driving?
• Why is Hawaii part of USA?
• What do you do in physical education?            

This week we have been working with convert Fahrenheit  to Celsius degrees, and vice versa.  It's amazing how much more motivated they are to learn when it's something that really engages them. 


Half of the students have also started on the issue - "What is halfway to Hawaii ?" .

This would be something we are going to talk about when we "meet" Nov 9.

We are really looking forward to see and hear our friends in Hawaii.

Exchanging SMART amp workspaces

Kristin and I decided to use SMART amp as a collaboration tool for students to tell about themselves, their school and their home.

Initially we had students tell about themselves in an "I Am" workspace.

The second workspace had two parts: 1) asked what they knew about Norway; 2) what they learned about Norway after a quick internet search on their ipad. A few facts learned:

• There are reindeer in Norway
• Norway earned 4 bronze medals in the summer Olympics in rowing (2), women's handball and men's Greco-Roman wrestling.
• 62 Norwegian athletes competed in the summer games in Rio.
• Norway has won the largest number of gold, silver and bronze medals in the Winter Olympics.
• Norway, Denmark and Sweden make up Scandinavia.
• Norway has a king and a queen.
• The lion is Norway's national symbol.
• 98-99% of electricity from hydroelectric power - more than any other country.
• It is illegal to spay or neuter your dog except under specific circumstances regarding health, quality of life or utility.
• Capital is Oslo.
• Norway means "path to the north."
• Norway has the deepest underwater tunnel in the world.
• Gas prices are among the highest in the world.
• If you own a tv, you have to pay an annual fee of $300.
• Food stores aren't open on Sundays.
• world's largest salmon exporter
• Spoken language is Norwegian. Two official written forms - Bokmal Norwegian and Nynorsk Norwegian.
• 6th largest country in Europe.
• Norway has the Svalbard seed vault which holds all the world's seed in case of a disaster that would wipe out all agricultural crops.
• Norway introduced salmon sushi to Japan.

The third was titled, "Questions [we have] about Norway."

• How cold does Norway get?
• How hot does it get?
• What kind of animals live in Norway?
• What kind of lunches do you have? How long is lunch period?
• How many provinces are in Norway?
• What do you like to eat in Norway?
• Do you learn any other languages besides English?
• What do you do when there is no school?
• Are there beaches in Norway?
• What kind of languages are spoken in Norway?
• How many holidays do you have?
• How many days of school do you have per year?
• What time do you start school?
• What age do you have to be to drink alcohol?
• Does everyone buy things from Ikea?
• Do you know what American football is?
• What is the most popular sport in Norway?
• Do you celebrate Christmas?
• Do Norwegians listen to American music?
• What sports are popular at your school?
• How many days 9average) do you see snow in a year?
• How many people live in your town?
• Do you play video games?
• The Disney movie Frozen is based in Norway.

Our friends are on an autumn holiday break this week (October 10-14). I believe they got some snow!

Today we responded to questions about Hawaii.

• How long is your school day?
• Do you have monkeys in your land? (Yes, in the zoo.)
• Is it cold in Hawaii?
• Have you seen snow?
• Which language can you choose?
• How often do you have swimming?
• Do you want to come to Norway?
• Have you seen a train?
• How hot is it at day time?
• Have you seen lava?
• Do you like Lilo and Stitch?
• How many volcanos do you have in Hawaii?
• What is your favorite time of the year?
• Have you ever gone skiing?
• How often do you have tornadoes in Hawaii?
• How many mountains have you been on?
• What do you do in PE?

Next my class will get to see what Damsgard Skole students know about Hawaii!

Where is halfway?

Last week the excitement could be felt for days after my students received and opened a care package containing Hakon (pronounced Hwa-kuhn), our Norwegian troll mascot.

Though we were warned not to take Hakon in the sun or he would turn to stone, my students took him to the beach the day after he arrived. It was class day - a time to relax and enjoy each other's company. Hakon loves the Hawaii sun and he is still as soft and cuddly as when he arrived. The warm Hawaiian sun is kind to our troll.

Seeing faces of their new friends and reading about their interests, pets, family, favorite subject in school made the connection real. With pictures and guide books about Bergen included in our box, I overheard this conversation:

"I want to go to their school."

"I want to go to Norway!"

"Me too!" chimed in several other students. The map on the wall in our classroom shows just how far apart our schools are. My students noted how close Hawaii is to the equator and how close Norway is to the North Pole - and how far apart our schools are. Then someone came up with a great idea.
"Let's meet halfway."

I asked where that would be.  One student noted it might be in the middle of the ocean. Another suggested we meet in eastern Canada. "What about New York?" asked another.

This week, before class started, I heard a conversation (again) about meeting halfway. Another student commented, "You guys sound serious. Are we really doing this?"

I jokingly told them that if we're serious, we better start selling some spam musubis. (Yes, spam is popular in Hawaii and spam musubis can make good money.)  I wonder how our friends will like spam?

Where is halfway?

Last week the excitement could be felt for days after my students received and opened a care package containing Hakon, our Norwegian troll mascot.

Though we were warned not to take Hakon in the sun or he would turn to stone, my students took him to the beach the day after he arrived. It was class day - a time to relax and enjoy each other's company. Hakon loves the Hawaii sun and he is still as soft and cuddly as when he arrived. It must be the warm Hawaiian sun that is kind to our troll.

Seeing faces of their new friends and reading about their interests, pets, family, favorite subject in school made the connection real. With pictures and guide books about Bergen included in our box, I overheard this conversation:

"I want to go to their school."

"I want to go to Norway!"

"Me too!" chimed in several other students. The map on the wall in our classroom shows just how far apart our schools are. My students noted how close Hawaii is to the equator and how close Norway is to the North Pole - and how far apart our schools are. Then someone came up with a great idea.
"Let's meet halfway."

I asked where that would be.  One student noted it might be in the middle of the ocean. Another suggested we meet in eastern Canada. "What about New York?" asked another.

This week, before class started, I heard a conversation (again) about meeting halfway. Another student commented, "You guys sound serious. Are we really doing this?"

I jokingly told them that if we're serious, we better start selling some spam musubis. (Yes, spam is popular in Hawaii and spam musubis can make good money.)  I wonder how our friends will like spam?

Håkon has arrived in Hawaii!

The students at Damsgård are SO excited about this project. We have done the same as Amy`s class according to "Shout it out" about our school, what "Far away" means to them and what they know about Hawaii.




And the day we shared the SMART amp workspace about "I am..." they really felt that our new friends on the other side of the world came closer.



Amy and I decided that we would choose a mascot from our country and send across the world. 

The mascot from Norway is a troll and 
we called him Håkon.






On sept 17th, he began his travel to Hawaii. My students were excited about how long it would take and what it did cost. Then they learned about paying for deliveries:) 

And we got suprised - it took just about 8 days!! And how cool wasn`t it when Amy took a video while her class opened the package and we could see their reactions!

In the box, together with Håkon, some students had written about TROLLS and why we called him Håkon. 

Now we are anxiously await to hear about and see pictures of, what experiences he has in Hawaii.





We have created a wall to collect what we learn in this project.

The students begin the project

The excitement of the first few weeks of school continues to fill my class. A small setback - I am teaching one section instead of two Algebra 1 classes this semester.  I have 16 students and Kristin has almost 60 but we don't see this as a problem.

Kristin and I agreed that we would lead the students into the project with quick activities that will let them see what a big world they live in. Last week we used Shout It Out (an activity from SMART Notebook 16). I asked my students about the farthest place they have travelled to from Hawaii.

The students were able to sort the responses and group them from closest to farthest from Hawaii. Within minutes on their ipads they found the distances from Hawaii. I was actually surprised that so many had travelled so far from Hawaii.

Then on a SMART amp workspace they shared what they knew about Norway - very little. Not very surprising. In fact, not all students could contribute.

Given 5 minutes to do research on their ipads, they shared something unique that they had discovered about Norway on the same workspace. It was fun hearing what students had learned as they shared their findings with the class. We learned so much in a short period of time.

Is this what learning is about? Looking for more information about something you don't know then sharing it with others? Not once did any student ask why I was asking these questions. At the end of the period, which came too quickly, I told them that we will have an opportunity to collaborate with students in Norway this semester. There were cheers and the questions started coming . . . but the bell ended the period.

Two days later my students shared what they love about their school and what they love about their "home" which could be their island, state or country.

Several love their teachers =) and many noted the opportunities available to them at school. Of note, which I will share with our cafeterial staff is the numerous votes given to the food! More than half love the beaches and the weather of Hawaii. Several love (and appreciate) their freedom.

It will be fun to exchange these workspaces and LAB activities to see what Kristin's class will think of our responses and to see what her class' responses are to the same questions.

With global collaboration day coming up on September 15, we will exchange a brief video introducting ourselves.

The students begin the project

The excitement of the first few weeks of school continues to fill my class. A small setback - I am teaching one section instead of two Algebra 1 classes this semester.  I have 16 students and Kristin has almost 60 but we don't see this as a problem.

Kristin and I agreed that we would lead the students into the project with quick activities that will let them see what a big world they live in. Last week we used Shout It Out (an activity from SMART Notebook 16). I asked my students about the farthest place they have travelled to from Hawaii.

The students were able to sort the responses and group them from closest to farthest from Hawaii. Within minutes on their ipads they found the distances from Hawaii. I was actually surprised that so many had travelled so far from Hawaii.

Then on a SMART amp workspace they shared what they knew about Norway - very little. Not very surprising. In fact, not all students could contribute.

Given 5 minutes to do research on their ipads, they shared something unique that they had discovered about Norway on the same workspace. It was fun hearing what students had learned as they shared their findings with the class. We learned so much in a short period of time.

Is this what learning is about? Looking for more information about something you don't know then sharing it with others? Not once did any student ask why I was asking these questions. At the end of the period, which came too quickly, I told them that we will have an opportunity to collaborate with a classroom in Norway this semester. There were cheers and the questions started coming . . . but the bell ended the period.

Two days later my students shared what they love about their school and what they love about their "home" which could be their island, state or country.

Several love their teachers =) and many noted the opportunities available to them at school. Of note, which I will share with our cafeterial staff is the numerous votes given to the food! More than half love the beaches and the weather of Hawaii. Several love (and appreciate) their freedom.

It will be fun to exchange these workspaces and LAB activities to see what Kristin's class will think of our responses and to see what her class' responses are to the same questions.

With global collaboration day coming up on September 15, we will exchange a brief video introducting ourselves.