Cantar!

My two friends, Pia and Mary and I were sitting around thinking fondly back to the days of N'Sync, the Backstreet boys and the early years of Brittany Spears. The instant we put our old mix tapes in, the lyrics came back to us instantly. Frusterated, Pia realizes she rememebers all the N'sync lyrics from eight years ago but nothing from her bio class last semester.. WHY! Well.. I don't know why.. but it got me thinking about the connection between song and education. I did some searching on the internet and I found this guy that comes into schools and teaches elementary school students moral lessons and even spanish lessons! His name is Justo Lamas and he mainly travels in Latin America but I have seen comments about him from teachers on langwitches.com. Obviously, not every school can afford having him visit their school nor does he have such time. So, I did some further investigating. On his website he has numerous links just for teachers that consists of his songs through audio podcasting, videos, his entire uplifting video series called Winners In Action, ringtones, online radio, concerts on video via internet, penpals, SO MUCH! This guy has got the whole package! He sings, gives uplifting speeches, teaches spanish, and has established a career via internet/other technology. Best of all he puts his focus towards helping schools, students, and teachers. (To the right is Justo Lamas w/students) Definitly check out his website.. here's the link- http://www.justolamas.com/index2.php

Pen Pals to.. Keyboard Pals?

In 2nd grade my teacher traded places with a teacher in Australia for half of the school year. So for 6 months I was educated from a mate down under. During her stay in the United States she connected us with her classroom she had in Australia. I was connected with a 2nd grade girl name Carlie. During those 6 months my Australian teacher would set aside time for us to write hand-written letters to our pen pals. After 2nd grade Carlie and I continued to write and send pictures and treats for years. Thinking about this now I think, "I'm ancient! Hand written letters?" So, I researched to see if the world has taken advantage of developing technology concerning pen pals.. and what did I find? ePals! I came upon a website that connects classrooms all around the world and they share projects, ideas, languages, traditions, the list is endless! This is a fantastic experience and ePals connects grade levels from K-12. Students post videos, share projects, interact, learn more about computer function, and much more. This website is great for teachers as well. They do all the same things the kids do and are able to educate people all over the world and BE educated by other teachers who live around the world. I will post the website and be sure to look at: >general information about ePals >what can students gain from ePals I found these paragraphs very helpful and inticing. Enjoy! http://www.epals.com/