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Winter @ the World PC

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Winter @ the World PC
Swap Coordinator:jj9jj (contact)
Swap categories: Postcards 
Number of people in swap:70
Location:International
Type:Type 2: Flat mail
Last day to signup/drop:November 13, 2009
Date items must be sent by:November 18, 2009
Number of swap partners:1
Description:

The theme for the middle school I teach in is 'Around the World' this year. I ran a postcard swap over the summer through Swap-bot which was wildly successful. For the swap, participants sent a PC about where they were from to their partner and one to the school. In return they received a PC from a world neighbor and one from a student at our school. The kids (and teachers!) had such a good time reading about all sorts of wonderful places around the world and wrote back sharing a little bit about where they live.

I am hosting another PC swap, for my 8th graders this time. We have a long standing tradition at our school that in late November the 8th graders get to paint the 49 floor to ceiling windows at the ends of our buildings. It is an event the town looks forward to each year and the kids remember for a lifetime. They leave the lights on at night throughout December so everyone who drives by can admire the windows. The art teacher picks a theme each year and the students create designs to go along with that theme. We print greeting cards for the students to buy of their designs.

I am asking my Swap-bot friends to share what winter is like where you are. Tell about the winter weather, winter holidays, winter traditions, winter memories, winter activities, etc. We have a mini melting pot in our town - students of many different heritages, religions, backgrounds, experiences, etc. However, many of the kids never get a firsthand chance ‘meet’ people from other places or who have really different life experiences from theirs. For this swap you will send a postcard to your assigned Swap-bot partner, as well as sending one to the address listed below telling something about winter where you live. Ideally the postcard would show this - but I imagine most places do not print winter-specific postcards - so any postcard would be fine. It can be store bought or handmade. In return you will receive a postcard from your assigned Swap-bot partner, as well as a handwritten postcard from one of the 8th grade students at our school.

The students will be painting the windows just before Thanksgiving on Nov. 24. They will begin writing their postcards that same day and finish them the next day. They will each get to choose their favorite design from the windows they painted to use as your postcard. I will assemble the postcards the next week and get them in the mail by Dec. 5th. (For those of you who participated in the World Neighbors PC swap I hosted this fall - the turn around time will be MUCH FASTER - as I will be coordinating the writing and it WILL be done within the 2 days we have set aside for this.)

Be sure to include your mailing address on the postcard to the school. The student postcards will be sent out by the 5th of Dec. You will be receiving a postcard from a student with one of the window designs on the front and a and written message from one of our 8th graders telling you about their winter soon after that date.

Send 2 postcards - 1 to your Swap-bot partner and 1 to

Lakeside Middle School, 316 Lakeside Ave. Pompton Lakes NJ 07442 USA

The students will NOT be going on Swapbot to read about you. They will only know what you write about yourself (if anything) on the PC.

It is a relatively small school - you can just address it to the school and I will get it.

Any questions - feel free to post them here or send me a pm. Thanks for reading about this project.

PS - The pic at the top is from a few years ago - you will have to join & wait to see what this year's theme is!!

Discussion

jj9jj 10/27/2009 #

Feel free to send your PC's to the students as soon as you sign up. You will have to wait until Nov. 18 for your Swap-bot partner's, though!

17Papergoddess 10/27/2009 #

I'm hoping to find pics of my sister & I as kids -- back before 'global warming'-- when we literally had roads close because the drifts got 6-8 feet high. We are standing in front of one as proof. It would make a great 'vintage' postcard, lol. I'll do my best....

jj9jj 10/27/2009 #

That sounds awesome, 17Papergoddess! Thanks for the idea!

dakotadee 10/27/2009 #

I will see if I can find any pictures from 68/69 winter here in SD. That was the year my sibs and I missed school for a whole month. We had to dig down to the gas tanks(on farm) to get gas for the car.

jj9jj 10/27/2009 #

If you would like to send winter pics in a card instead of a PC to the students along with your writing, that would be fine, however you will be getting a PC in return (due to postage costs). Please check with your Swap-bot partner before sending a greeting card in place of a pc - as many of them collect postcards and will not want the greeting card format. You are also welcome to make a pc from your pics, too, as 17papergoddess suggested.

groundhoggirl 10/27/2009 #

This was so much fun last time...The postie I got back from Nick was so cool....This is a cool way to get the kids interested in other countries, stamps, and places right here in the U.S....Looking forward to it....!

jj9jj 10/27/2009 #

Thanks groundhoggirl ! It ended up being more work that I expected - but it's all good experience for this next one!

orit 10/30/2009 #

The last one was so rewarding and fun, difficult to say no :)

CarrieZee 10/30/2009 #

Passionate teachers like you will save the world. Thanks for going the extra mile for the kids in your school. :)

ladydy5 11/ 2/2009 #

Nice, nice. Anything to help our school system.

pinuccia 11/ 4/2009 #

I liked it a lot the last time and loved the card I received. Happy to join once again :)

bilderlingshof 11/ 4/2009 #

This is an awesome idea, wish we did something like this back when I was at school.

wolfeagle 11/ 5/2009 #

Fantastic idea. Happy to be a part of.

evieroz 11/ 8/2009 #

I have to sign up for this one also. I was in your last one and it was a lot of fun.

papercaper 11/12/2009 #

Thank God for teachers like you. I was thinking "What a lot of work that will be" when I read your plan. And how energetic you must be! I'm signing up from Australia. Our winters are... different to yours! (And it's just summer here in a fortnight so I have to think hard to recall, heh-heh!) I have some winter-related info to share but I'll save it for the PCs. Well, OK, here's just one: Although our winters are not nearly as cold as yours, we also don't (all) equip our homes well as you do, as a consequence. Thin, summer curtains... rare to find central heating... etc. This will be fun.

jj9jj 11/13/2009 #

Some of your PC are already here! I am looking forward to giving them to the kids to respond to! Thanks!

Tarabell150 11/19/2009 #

So, to my partners, I sent off my postcards a few days ago, I made them myself with a photo and some cardboard on the back. At the post office the man took a few minutes to figure out if it was considered a postcard or a letter because of the size (I spaced it when checking size) and he had to ask someone else. I am only concerned because often if the postage isn't correct on them, they will generally toss them. I only had my return address on the one to the school. I am worried that since they were really unsure of what postage to put on it, they could have been wrong and they will get tossed, maybe except the one with my address on it. Please let me know early on if you don't get them. I am in Oregon, so it is not out of the country and it shouldn't take too long. I will re-send if I have to, because I don't trust the guys behind the counter.

Christina 12/19/2009 #

I got my PC from your student, Kyle. Please tell him thank you and that it is going up in my office at MY school. :)

savhilt 01/ 2/2010 #

Thanks to Alex for your postcard!!! Great artwork!!!

unska 01/ 8/2010 #

Send Sara S. my thanks for very beautiful card! :)

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