Epals

My name is Danielle.  I am an epals addict.  The first step to recovery is admitting your addiction, right?  I admit it, I am addicted.  I started using epals last year.  By far, it is the most fun I have had in a classroom.  I am currently working with students and teachers from Uruguay, Denmark, Ghana, Romania, Ukraine, France, Britain, Spain, China, and Thailand.  We do a variety of projects, depending on grade level.  With my Juniors, we did the epals project, The Way We Are.  It is an exploration of culture and lifestyles between countries.  The students end with an imovie exploring the similarities and differences between the cultures.  My Seniors are exploring personal philosophies and belief systems this semester.  We have been learning existential philosophies, as well as Buddhism and Ancient Greek ideologies.  Their goal has been to learn how culture has shaped their epal's identity.   My Sophomores are learning about education in their epal's countries, including the different courses and curriculums.  Last semester, we also worked with a class from a rural town in Wisconsin.  We read common short stories, and then we used edmodo.com and todaysmeet.com to discuss our readings.  I currently have a website for my Seniors as well as my Senior epals,  Click Here to see this link.  I also have some of our letters from our epals highlighted on my school website, Click Here to see this website.  Overall, I would say epals has been overwhelmingly popular for my students.  The are eager to correspond, and they check their accounts frequently outside of class time.  It is a safe venue because the teacher needs to approve both incoming and outgoing emails.  There is a considerable amount of work initially, mostly in setting up student accounts and finding cooperating classrooms. I think you will find that, like me, epals is as addicting as potato chips.  When I see all of the possibilities for working with global partners, I can't seem to stop.