What comes around goes around.  Mr. Pennington came to my classroom two weeks ago during his Holiday break to meet the kids face to face.  They have seen him many times on Skype, but face to face is different.  Next week, Mr. P and I are opening our Window to each others schools, as we will have an all day live feed from the other classroom.  Therefore, when kids come it to Mr. P's room, they can see what is going on in my room--this will be a post as soon as we have some images and student reactions.  But back to our travels. 

So, on Wednesday I made the 65 minute drive to Chardon to spend the day with Mr. P's students during my Holiday break.  When I first arrived, the principal invited me in his office for a few minutes to talk.  It was nice to hear his excitement about our work.  Then he walked me to Mike's room.  He stayed in the room for some time and I was introduced and talked with the kids.  After a few minutes he and I talked some more about our plans and hopes for students, as students in the room worked on a google doc that my students had completed before our break began.  In each period, as students came in they said, "Hi Mr. Holman".  It was a treat to see them smile, as this was something new for them to see the real guy.  

At lunch time, Mike and I had a meeting with the superintendant.  This was a great discussion about family, education and our future plans.  He was a very insightful man with high hopes for what Mike and I are doing.   This meeting lasted about 55 minutes and then we headed back to class (Board office is right next door to his school).  During the last class, the director of Special Services was in the room for the whole period.  She had great things to say about the online book, differentiation used in our classrooms, skills we are teaching our students.  However, both she the superintendant talked a great deal about the experiences we are giving our kids.  The more I thought about that, the more I realized that experiences are an important part of education, something that will stick when the facts are gone.   

As Mike noted in his post, the kids really accepted me as a teacher from the minute they walked in.  It was a true joy to have sent the day, not virtually, but physically in Mike's classes.  It really hit home as we walked out of the school to our cars and a boy yelled, "Bye Mr. Holman, see ya soon!"