On videos and school relationships

Cathy: To solve my problem with sending the video, I joined the free Microsoft video site and tried again. This time, it told me that it could not handle my video (too big). Talk about frustrated!!! But then, it saved the wmv version to my computer. Then I could upload to FaceBook and YouTube -- so I was finally happy and went to bed. I have not used the Movie Maker before, but we like so much what your students do... I have to try these things and understand them myself... This year I do not have experts at all things technology in my class -- last year it was Maurio... so I muddled through and now I can teach my students to do it.

In reference to the beautiful video which Tyrone's students made as a farewell to the Lovejoy seniors, Cathy responded: "As for including you and Escola Parque, how could I not? The students said to me that it had to be there. I have watched them move from being a little reluctant to looking forward to talking to all of you. (Down South, we say y'all as the plural for you) Melanie is also including you guys in her valedictorian speech where she runs down a list of important accomplishments.

Melanie was their spokesperson at the appreciation dinner -- and she mentioned how special learning to communicate with you and your students was, and how not many students in the US have that opportunity.

Comments from Tyrone

These remarks are in response to the Appreciation Dinner that the Lovejoy seniors gave last night for their moms, their teachers and administrators, and the school board members. Students raised money themselves to pay for the buffet dinner.

I got really touched with your Orkut pictures!!! Congratulations on your effort to be a good teacher and become unforgettable to your students: that´s the greatest award you can have! God bless you!! Everything is so beautiful and serious!!!... Brasil has become more and more important in international scenery, due to our government and our oil, but we need to improve our educational system so that the majority of your boys and girls have a better future. In this sense, you Americans have great lessons to teach us!!!!!

On Celebrations...

This project has not been as effective as the Facing the Future project. I think it is more impersonal than the other. There are submissions but they are so varied in length. We may have to carry this project over into the new school year.

And speaking of celebrations, it is time for prom and graduation activities for the Lovejoy seniors. We have many activities planned. Pictures will be shared with Escola Parque using Orkut. We may even try to use Windows Moviemaker to share some of these pictures with Escola Parque.

On the selection - Tyrone

As soon as I know about the places I am going in the US in September, I will let Cathy and Rae know. Three more Brazilian State English teachers will go with me on this trip. Ms. Santos, U.S. Consulate General Cultural Affairs Specialist and the one from IAT, Bahian institution were responsible for teachers´ registration.

I was selected by Ms. Santos who works in Rio de Janeiro. She called me and made an interview both in Portuguese and in English. I used our project Global Connections as a tool to convince her of the importance of my going to the US. There I will visit schools and universities. When I come back, I will be supposed to present what I have learned and seen thru workshops.

Tyrone coming to the U.S.

Tyrone will be coming to the United States in September. He has been chosen to represent English language teachers from Bahia. He will visit colleges and universities in the US -- which ones have not yet been determined. It will be an awesome opportunity; and then he will go back to Brasil to share with other teachers in Bahia.

Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit

Escola Parque is back in session for the new year. A new group of students will have to be trained. New relationships between students will be formed. This is one of the ongoing minor complications. In the USA, our summer is from June to August. In Brasil, the summer is from Christmas until March. Also, there will be more adult students at Escola Parque. It will be interesting for the students to hear an adult perspective other than their teachers'.

We have exchanged questions on the movie, Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit. After viewing the movie and working on questions separately, we will upload some to TappedIn for the students to share perspectives.

Getting Ready for the New Year

We are through Christmas. Escola Parque students are still on summer break. Lovejoy juniors are prepping for state assessment. Seniors are reading a novel.

Tyrone and I have begun to plan for our next project. He has sent some of the Celebrations papers. I will begin to check them. Lovejoy students will be writing summaries from their research papers.

It is time to view and discuss a new movie. We want to talk about self respect and pride. We want to talk about responsibility to our communities. Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit will be the movie we use as a starting point. We will continue to use Tapped In, our student and professional blogs, and Orkut to chronicle our activities. And of course, we will SKYPE hoping that our web cams will be able to connect as well.