This week we had two exciting things happen in our classroom! We received four Flat Stanleys back in the mail, and our pen pal letters came! I told the students that I had a surprise for them and that it would come this week. They didn’t know we were doing Pen Pals, and when I told them and they got their letters, they were ecstatic! We are currently writing back to our Pen Pals, and students who received their Stanleys were eager to present.

We are getting to know some amazing third graders in Maryland. The project not only helps us learn how to write letters, but also geography! There are a lot of ways you can connect to others, especially if you are a new teacher. Join twitter chats, join Facebook groups, and connect to those who you graduated with! Our pen pal classroom is taught by someone I went to school with, and we love learning together! Currently, we are exploring using Google Classroom, Flipgrid, Skype, or another means of technology to “meet each other”. If you do this with other classrooms, comment below what you do!

This is the second year I’ve done Flat Stanley in second grade. The students’ faces light up when they get them back in the mail. This year I utilized a Facebook group of teachers to send Stanleys to for those students who didn’t have anyone to send them too, and it’s worked out great! We had some go all the way to California! Last year, we had one go to Africa, and it led to all my students wanting to adopt an endangered animal.

This year one of my students from last year saw a teepee in my room that students can read in, and she said “Hey! That’s like from where my Stanley went.” I sent her Stanley to a friend’s school where he sent a picture of a teepee back from his area with lots of of pictures. He worked with Native Americans. She remembered it from last year and made a lasting connection! The best part is the students get to keep the materials for life. We’ve had lots of things mailed to us last year and this year that taught us so much that we couldn’t learn without reaching beyond the walls of the classroom.

 

So my advice to you is…

• Make connections to anyone and everyone in your classes if you are going to be a teacher. I’ve sent Flat Stanleys and reached out to multiple teachers I graduated with, and it’s made us better teachers!
• If you are already a teacher, join Twitter chats and Facebook groups because you don’t know who you’ll meet along the way.
  • Twitter Chats for Educators
  • Facebook Groups for Educators. I also found a lot of my connections on Not So Wimpy Second Grade Teachers. They have one for every grade.
• Continue to want to grow and be the best teacher you can be, and make friends along the way!