Gifts from Australia
Look what was in my mailbox this morning!
A package from Australia!
The package was from BB, a student blogging buddy of mine in Australia! I met BB about a year ago when she was a student in Mrs. Morris’s 2KM class. At that time, she had just earned her own student blog and was amazing me with her blog posts! She also has left many quality comments on our Bulldog Readers Blog!
I have learned so much from her and her teachers in the past year. Now she is in 3rd grade and still maintains her own fantastic blog. You can visit it here. If you would like to visit Mrs. Morris’s blog, which she writes with Miss Jordan, click here!
A few weeks ago, her mom, AA and I exchanged addresses. I wanted to send BB a package from Seattle and BB wanted to send one to me! Shh!!! BB doesn’t know there is a package in the mail to her too!
I loved opening the package this morning! Of course, a blogger can’t just open a package, you have to photograph the entire process!
Everything was wrapped carefully for the long trip!
BB also wrote a note in cursive! She carefully selected the Australian goodies herself.
I especially love the handpainted aboriginal art she sent!
Look how carefully this turtle was painted. Everything is done is tiny dots!
- Handpainted aboriginal art turtle.
I also love the book, Wombat’s Secret and look forward to reading it to my library students when we return to school in the fall.
Instead of making am movie of all of the Australian goodies, I decided I would make a Photosynth instead. This is a brand new process to me, in fact, this photosynth is my first experiment! I learned about MS Photosynth from Mrs. Beal who writes Bonding through Blogging out of Cape Town, South Africa. I thought I would give this technology a try.
What is your favorite goodie in the parcel?
Have you ever seen any Aboriginal Art before?
What did you think of the Photosynth?
Leave us a comment and let us know!
| Print article | This entry was posted by Mrs. Hembree on July 20, 2011 at 12:51 pm, and is filed under Announcements, Blogging Buddies. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site. |
about 1 year ago
Dear Mrs Hembree,
I am so pleased you received your parcel from Bianca.
She really have a lot of funny collecting the items she wanted to send to you.
My favourite item that Bianca sent to you would be the Aboriginal turtle.
I am always amazed just how the Aboriginal’s paint with dots and then the end result is something so beautiful.
BB and I really feel very lucky to be blogging with you and my other blogging buddies.
Enjoy your items for you deserve them for so many reasons.
From your dotty pal down under.
AA.
about 1 year ago
Dear AA,
I am so happy with the gifts from BB! I just hope the package I sent there arrives soon! I sent it airmail, but maybe it got on a slow moving ship!
It’s fun selecting things to send one another and we both had a great time!
I look forward to keeping our blogging connecction going!
Mrs. Hembree
about 1 year ago
Dear Mrs Hembree,
Wow, what a fantastic surprise for you! It is always great to receive a surprise in the mail, especially when it is from a good friend.
I love the way you have befriended my former student BB and her mum, AA. They are exceptional bloggers and I am always impressed by the effort they put into building relationships with people like you!
Developing friendships and making global connections is one of my favourite parts of the blogging process.
I am impressed with Bianca’s card because she has only just started learning join up writing (cursive) this year. The gift is just lovely and a very special keepsake.
Thank you for introducing me to a new tool too. I had never heard of Photosynth before but I am going to suggest to Miss Jordan that we try it on our blog sometime.
Best wishes,
Mrs M☀rris
about 1 year ago
Dear Mrs. Morris,
Yes, surprises in the mail are still wonderful! I totally agree with you on that one!
Your classroom blog has been the inspiration of my blogging journey for the past year. I feel so fortunate that I found your blog and made the connection! I don’t even remember now how I found it!
It’s the same with Mrs. Beals in Cape Town, Africa! I just found her blog after clicking through blog link after blog link! Now we are meeting next week!
I hope you will try Photosynth! I learned about it from Mrs. Beals! Crazy! I drive by Microsoft every day in the school year, and it took info from someone 10,000 miles away to let me know about something in my own backyard.
I think it might be fun for the children do stand in the middle of your room and take photos all the way around. Then they upload and Photosynth makes the end product. They have a great “how-to” video on their site! What do you think of that idea?
From your Seattle Blogging Buddy,
Mrs. Hembree
about 1 year ago
@ Mrs Hembree,
I like the idea of making a Photosynth from the middle of our classroom. That would be fun! We’ll have to try it sometime.
Thanks for your kind words about our blog. I hope you have a wonderful time meeting up with Mrs Beale. I hope you write a blog post about it!
Best wishes,
Mrs M☀rris
about 1 year ago
Dear Mrs Hembree,
S-U-R-P-R-I-S-E!.
I am so glad you like the parcel becasue I loved picking out the items for you.
Mrs Lynch has sent me a parcel, I read the whole post so I know you are sending me a parcel and I am really excited about the parcel which you are sending to me.
My favourite goodie in the parcel which Mrs Lynch sent me were the lollies. The lollies were soo yummy!
I sure have seen some Aboriginal artwork before and I really love it.
I thought your slideshow was excellent.
From your pal,
BB.
about 1 year ago
Dear BB,
I think it is an amazing coincidence that we both sent packages at the same time! I sent mine on July 8th and you sent yours a couple days after that. Now, I wonder where my parcel is! It should be there by now! I hope it didn’t get lost!
You did such a lovely job on your handwriting! We call it cursive writing in the US and you call it “join up”! I used to love practicing my writing when I was younger.
Isn’t that Photosynth show interesting? It works really well if you start in one place. Then take photos of what you are looking at, until you have taken photos of everything in a 360 degree circle. Upload the photos and the program makes the slideshow!
Ta-da!
I may have to try it when I get back to school and am surrounded by boxes! Yikes!
Again, thank you so much! I love everything you sent to me!
From,
Mrs. Hembree
about 1 year ago
Dear Mrs Hembree
That is a fantastic gift to receive in the mail. I heard of your blog through a presentation at RSCON3 and came to visit. I think that the postcard would be my favourite item in your parcel.
I think that it is very special to have such a great friendship develop from a blogging connection. I have seen this in the crafting blog community and it is great to see it happening in the school blogging community.
Photosynth looks very intriguing and I will have to put it on my list of things to explore.
regards
Mrs S
about 1 year ago
Dear Mrs. S,
Thank you so much for visiting after hearing about our BulldogReaders site! We love hearing from new visitors!
I will definitely visit your site. I imagine we have lots in common. I think the most amazing part of blogging is the global connections that can be made. It has made me grow professionally and personally.
The gifts BB and I have exchanged has been so much fun! WE both love shells, so I shared some Washington state shells with her. I have also exchanged packages with a teacher in Russia and the Shetland Islands in Scotland! These kind of snail mail and internet connections are very real for our students.
What has been your favorite part of blogging with your students?
Regards,
Mrs. Hembree