Mystery Skype with Spain

Today 5th hour Integrated Technology students had a different type of Mystery Skype experience.  They were able to meet a class outside of North America.  These students were from Cuenca, Spain.  Our students were even more shocked to discover that while it was 12:00 here, it was 7:00 in Cuenca, and their students were still in school!

Since this was our first Mystery Skype with anyone outside of North America, it took the students a bit of time before they were able to narrow the location to Europe and then Spain.  Guessing the city was more of a challenge.  Students asked questions such as "Does your city border a major body of water?" or "Is your city south of Madrid?" to ultimately figure out that they lived in Cuenca.  Students in Cuenca were finally able to guess our state after learning that we were east of the Mississippi River and north of Arkansas.

At the end, my students expressed excitement in knowing that they were talking with students from the other side of the world.  Even though I have done countless Skype sessions with other schools and experts, I am still amazed at its power to get kids excited about learning and show them that even though someone else may be living on the other side of the world, ultimately we have more in common than we would initially believe.