Topic 5 Online Class: Assignment 8

1. Topic 5 Online Class: Assignment 8 • Student: Suyen Laycock • Class: Education 601: Shanghai group

2. "I have long believed, as have many before me, that peaceful relations between nations requires understanding and mutual respect between individuals." President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Founder of People to People International http://www.ptpi.org/Default.aspx

3. The Travel Buddy Project • Brought to you by • People to People International’s School and Classroom Program

4. People to People International is dedicated to enhancing cross-cultural communication within each community, and across communities and nations.

5. What is People to People International? • Purpose:To enhance international understanding and friendship through educational, cultural and humanitarian activities involving the exchange of ideas and experiences directly among peoples of different countries and diverse cultures. • History:The President’s People to People Program was founded on September 11, 1956 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, as part of the U.S. Information Agency. After President Eisenhower left the office of President in 1961, he arranged to have the program privatized as a nongovernmental organization and arranged for People to People to become a not-for-profit Missouri corporation now known as People to People International.

6. What is the School & Classroom Program? • The People to People International School and Classroom Program is strictly for the exchange of educational materials and data and encourages understanding, respect, and friendship between students of different countries and cultures. • People to People International's School and Classroom Program is a free service that connects teachers and their students with classes in other countries for pen pal exchanges and projects that improve cultural understanding and encourage friendship. Classes are matched according to similar age and number of pupils to form partnerships.

7. Here’s what I want to do… • The Traveling Buddy Project: • This is a popular project for young students, where they exchange a travelling buddy with a partner classroom. • A buddy is a small toy that represents its home country. • I would have the students vote on what they want their travel buddy to be. To represent the home country, I would try to have the country’s colors or have the country’s flag on the toy.  • The buddy travels with photographs, letters or cultural information about its home class. As a class, we would gather information, such as photos, postcards or brochures about our country and neighborhood.

8. This is what it would look like… • After arriving in the partner class’ country, the buddy is named by the partner class and given an item or piece of clothing related to the region it is visiting. I would have the students vote on a name that is linked to the country. • When we received the partner class’ buddy, I would model what activities to do with the buddy. For example, during the week the visiting buddy would visit the classroom, meet the teacher, students and principal or headmaster, and explore the school and playgrounds. I would have the students write in their journal we did, and as a class, we would write a buddy journal entry.

9. And this is how it would end… At night and on the weekends, the buddy travels home with a student. Students record the buddy's adventures in pen pal letters and photos. For the first time, I would take the buddy on the weekend and write in our class’ “Travel Buddy Journal”. This would be a model for the students and parents when they take the buddy home. The buddy eventually travels back to its home country with the letters, photographs and other memorabilia.

10. How is this an Online Collaboration? Students interact by exchanging traditional paper letters or email messages supervised by their teacher, who receives a program manual for guidance. Teachers need to register online between July - October. Registrations submitted before or after this time will be held for the following semester or school year. Contact us to request a registration form.People to People International School and Classroom Program911 Main StreetSuite 2110Kansas City, MO 64105 USA     +1.816.531.4701        phone    +1.816.561.7502        faxEmail:classroom@ptpi.org

11. How could this be a better Online Project? • I would extend this project beyond the use of email by creating a blog for both classes. On the blog each class could: add pictures of the Travelling Buddy; post notes to each other; and add videos and podcasts. • I would also encourage using Skype as a conference tool between the two classes. In order to use Skype, I would try to be matched up with a school that has this application and that within close time zones.

12. Why I chose this project… • Next year I will be teaching Kindergarten. I am looking for a project that would be age appropriate, includes online resources and is in the form of Pen Pals. • I like that each class sends a Travelling Buddy, because it’s something the students can have and connect to. • When I came across People to People International, I liked President Eisenhower’s quote "I have long believed, as have many before me, that peaceful relations between nations requires understanding and mutual respect between individuals.” I believe that through positive interaction we can teach children cultural integrity and respect.

13. References People to People International http://www.ptpi.org/Default.aspx http://www.ptpi.org/programs/SchoolClassProjects.aspx Harry Cutting photos http://www.harrycutting.com/photos_people/education-pictures-thumbs.htm