Mystery+skype+New+York+USA

Once in a life! The biggest dream can ever happen to us! Yes, we, the small school from a small country...somewhere in the middle of Europe... yes...we...were so lucky. ( thank for C. H.)

Mystery skype New York USA -Balatonboglár, Hungary Time: 15.01.2014. Partner: Ardsley, New York, USA

https://education.skype.com/

[|Mystery Skype is featured on the Today Show!]
 Today Show host Natalie Morales recently discovered first hand how Skype in the classroom is changing the face of education forever! She was lucky enough to witness a [|Mystery Skype] that took place between two of our wonderful classrooms. Despite being 4000 miles apart, the global guessing game brought students from New York and Hungry together for fantastic fun and learning! Watch the video and [|read the Skype Social Good blog] to hear the full story.

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TODAY Show Host Plays Mystery Skype
02/20/2014 in [|Social Good] by [|Wendy Norman]  I remember my childhood geography lessons. A whole class period was spent memorizing the location of continents and countries, while attempting to imagine something about how other students lived in these faraway places. If my classmates and I were lucky, we had a pen pal that we exchanged letters and photos with through the mail – a long-distance peer with whom we could share our respective likes/dislikes and cultural norms. Today, individual pen pals are being replaced by Skype classroom pals. With Skype in the classroom, students can instantly talk to and engage with kids in other classrooms halfway around the world. As for geography lessons, [|Mystery Skype] has given those a bit of a digital upgrade as well. Recently, Today Show host Natalie Morales got to experience it first-hand and see why Mystery Skype is quickly becoming a global phenomenon with teachers. Morales witnessed the magic of two classrooms, 4,000 miles apart, joined together on a Skype video call. She saw how, by asking a series of clever questions, the students could quickly guess where the other was located. And when the guessing was done, she enjoyed national songs performed by each of the countries’ students, in addition to a little language lesson before saying goodbye. Which countries were they? Take a moment to experience the game through Natalie’s eyes, and you’ll see how goulash became the hit of the day!

The Mystery Skype game makes learning about geography fun. It also offers students a chance to practice other communications and life skills. Children get to practice asking questions and speaking in front of groups, critical thinking, and working in teams to solve problems. Some teachers choose to maintain relationships with classrooms they have played the game with to work together on cultural awareness activities, art projects, or to develop a deeper understanding of a part of the world they are studying. Westchester County, NY-based teacher Amy Rosenstein who was the teacher from Classroom #1 in our game with Natalie is a huge advocate for using Skype as a part of her lesson plans. “The best thing about Skype in the classroom has really been opening the world to the students in my class.” She continues, “The walls melt away when Skype is used.” Her students simply marvel at the fact that they’ve learned so much about how their peers live, what holidays they celebrate, which sports they like to play and what foods they like to eat. Being from a small town in Hungary, teacher Gyöngyi Tóthné Bán (aka Dondi) from Classroom #2 believes that Skype in the classroom provides a level of access to other cultures that her students wouldn’t otherwise experience. Thanks to Skype, her classes have communicated with students in Nepal, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Canada and the United States, adventures that she tracks on her Wiki.    Guess what video David and Theresa played during their presentation today at the ICE (technology) conference?

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Student || HUNGARIAN Answer ||
 * ** New York Student ** || ** New York Question ** || HUNGARIAN
 * **Jared** || **Which hemispheres is your continent in?** || Tekla || We live in the northern and eastern hemispheres ||
 * **Tess** || **Are you close to the equator?** || Dávid || No. we are not close to the equator ||
 * **Lily** || **Are you on an island?** || Dániel || No, we aren’t an island. ||
 * **Luis** || **Do you border the ocean?** || Petra || No, we don’t border any ocean. ||
 * **Dylan** || **Is your country landlocked?** || Bennó || Yes, it is. ||
 * **JonMarco** || **Are you in Africa?** || Niki || No we aren’t. ||
 * **Nick** || **Are you in Asia?** || Anna || No, we aren’t. ||
 * **Nikhita** || **What continent are you in?** || Vanda || We are in Europe. ||
 * **Olivia** || **Which body of water are you closest to?** || Zsófia || We live close to Lake Balaton. ||
 * **Lizbeth** || **Are you in the middle of the continent?** || Luca || Yes, we are. ||
 * **Sam** || **Do you have four seasons?** || Enikő || Yes, we have 4 seasons. ||
 * **Ben** || **What season is it? What is the weather like now?** || Rebeka || Now it’s winter here. It is cold. The temperature is about zero centigrade. We don’t have snow yet. ||
 * **Milena** || **What time is it now? Is it morning, afternoon, or night?** || Laura || It’s 4 pm now. It’s afternoon. ||
 * **Sofia B.** || **What sport is your country famous for?** || Tekla || Our country is famous for swimming and handball. ||
 * **Vivek** || **What national holidays do you celebrate?** || Melinda || We celebrate Christmas and Easter. ||
 * **Julia** || **What kind of food do you like to eat?** || Laci || We like… ||
 * **Avi** || **Is seafood popular?** || Róza || No, seafood isn’t popular. ||
 * **Sophia S.** || **What kind of money do you use?** || Virág || We have Forint. ||
 * **Jason** || **What color is your flag?** || Bálint || Our flag is red, white, and green. ||
 * **Charlie** || **Name three countries that border your country.** || Panka || Our country borders Slovenia, Austria, and Slovakia. ||
 * **Isaac** || **What is your capital?** || Regina || Our capital is Budapest. ||
 * **Aidan** || **What native language do you speak?** || Vivien || We speak Hungarian. ||


 * 2nd Section **

Student || FOREIGN Question || ** New York Student ** || ** New York Answer ** ||
 * FOREIGN
 * Laura || Are you in the northern or southern hemisphere? || **Ben** || **We live in the northern hemisphere** ||
 * Rebeka || Are you in the eastern or western hemisphere? || **Milena** || **We are in the western hemisphere.** ||
 * Róza || Is your country an island? || **JonMarco** || **No.** ||
 * Enikő || Does your country border the ocean? || **Charlie** || **Yes.** ||
 * Panka || Which oceans does your country border? || **Tess** || **The Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.** ||
 * Luca || Are you in North America? || **Sofia B.** || **Yes.** ||
 * Laci || What colors are your flag? || **Nikhita** || **Red, white and blue.** ||
 * Friderika || Who is the leader of your country? || **Vivek** || **President Barack Obama.** ||


 * Friderika || Who is the leader of your country? || **Vivek** || **President Barack Obama.** ||
 * Virág || What is the weather like now? || **Dylan** || **It’s cold and snowy.** ||
 * Anett || What time is it there? || **Julia** || **10:00 AM** ||


 * Now guess country! **


 * Regina || Is your state in the north, south, east, or west? || **Luis** || **The northeast.** ||
 * Lili || How many states border your state? || **Sam** || **Five states.** ||
 * Zsanett || Does your state border another country? || **Olivia** || **Yes.** ||
 * Melinda || Name three states that border your state. || **Lily** || **Connecticut**
 * New Jersey**
 * Pennsylvania** ||
 * Szilvia || What are two landmarks in your state? || **Sophia S.** || **The Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty** ||
 * Zsombor || Which sports are popular? || **Avi** || **Baseball, football, basketball.** ||
 * Tamás || What are the names of the teams? || **Aidan** || **The Yankees the Giants and the Knicks.** ||
 * Vivien || What kind of food do you like to eat? || **Jason** || **We’re known for hamburgers, hot dogs and apple pie, but I like…** ||
 * Adrián || What does your money look like? || **Lizbeth** || **We use the dollar…and it looks like this…** ||
 * Bálint || What national holidays do you celebrate? || **Isaac** || **Two of them are Thanksgiving and Independence Day on July 4th** ||


 * Language Game**

Now both classes will learn a few words in Hungarian and English. Each class will show three drawings of objects in order to learn how to say the words in each other’s language.

For example, they’ll show us a picture of an apple. We say, “it’s an apple”, and they tell is that it’s an “alma” in Hungarian. Then the Americans try to pronounce “alma.”

If there is time, they’ll share symbols of each other’s countries.
 * Country Symbols**

Each class will sing a song. The Americans will sing The Star-Spangled Banner and the Hungarian children will sing a Hungarian folk song.
 * Music**

We’ll all say goodbye in each other’s languages!