Question 2- Was there any new appreciation for a peer who lives in another area or the country or in another culture?  If so, please explain. Skip to answers

Question 3- Did your students develop enthusiasm for creative writing? Please give an example.  Skip to answers

Question 4- What did you feel where the positive effects of participating in this project?  Skip to answers

Question 5- How do you feel this project could be improved?  Skip to answers

Question 6- Would you participate in this project again?  Skip to answers
 

• The mail program we are using points out spelling errors. The students enjoyed communicating with each other. This project provided an opportunity for a meaningful exchange of information.
• Children were keen to write up their stories detailing the adventures they had with their pets. Even the most reluctant of writers could manage to complete several sentences (grade 1) and weren't inhibited or concerned about making errors as they wanted to get their stories across. Basic word processing skills and grammatical skills were improved.
• The mechanics of writing didn't improve as much as I had hoped, but it worked wonders as far as creativity is concerned. Our students do great in English lessons and on that portion of state testing, but it does not transfer very well to the papers they write. They know what to do. They just don't apply it very well.
• I did not attack grammar, handwriting, and punctuation. My main goal was to help them see that reading and writing can really be FUN! I didn't want to make it a chore and something they dreaded, but something that they would look forward to. I wanted to participate again in the next semester because this is when I will begin to work on grammar, sentence structure, and handwriting.
• My first grade students did learn to make more complete sentences with more describing words so others would know exactly what they had done with the pet turtle Pokey. 
• Children are beginning to become more aware of sentence structure i.e.. capital letters and punctuation. It is not always 100% but, they will take a bit more pride in their writing knowing that it is going to a different class.
• Orally my students improved in their abilities to give details and use complete sentences during this project.
• My students were more aware of completing their sentences and using punctuation.
• Children became more conscious of writing errors. There was dramatic reduction in the number of run-on sentences.
• Student editing skills improved and student awareness of appropriate grammar usage for a letter or e-mail.
• This project was a good example of the importance of capitals for proper nouns...something I regularly stress, but this provided a concrete reason. ie. Someone else was reading your work.
• None, we did not have enough opportunities to communicate via email because of our school fascilities.
• Students learned sentence structure, capitals and periods, used their dictonaries. 
• The children became more aware of how to form complete sentences, and to make their story make sense.  I did the project at the beginning of the year and the students couldn't do much of the printing so they dictated it to me.  It helped them to learn that when they said the sentence and I printed it, I could read it back at a later time and it would say what they had said.
• I believe that children had help from home when it came to writing their pet's stories.  I could see erasures on some papers showing a correction in capital letters and/or punctuation marks.  Sometimes I would question a child and , just about always, he could tell me why it had been erased.  Telling me why seems to be as important as the actual change itself.
• students gave more effort in trying to write better, since they knew the journals were going to other students. 
• Students made a conscious effort to capitalize and use proper punctuation in their journal writing about the class pet. 
• There were fewer runon sentences and students stopped starting every sentence with the word "And". 
• The children were able to write better sentences, using more describing words so others would understand what they were talking about.  Also this 

involved parents as at the beginning the children needed their help.
• This is not applicable for Kindergarten. 
•  I noticed students wanting to make sure their handwriting looked neat and their spelling was accurate so their pet pals could read their journals. 
• My students were eager to take the pet home and write in the journal - they wanted to be sure things were correct before they did the journal. 
• Not sure.  The parents seemed to do most of the writing in some cases.  We work so hard on writing that I don't know what improvement is due to what.
• The children became aware of their mistakes when they say mistakes their partners had made.  I kept a copy of their stories before we sent them off and they wanted to look at them with a more critical eye. 
• The children really tried harder knowing that other children they didn't know were going to read their stories.
• Students spent more time checking their journal entries.
• Students were more willing to go back and add capitals for names, sentences, and places.  They tried harder to make complete sentences that would make sense to their writing pals.  They understood the reason for working on lessons in English usage better when they wrote real letters. 
• Each child made an effort to be sure to capitalize the first word & put a period at the end. 
• I saw my children using more details in their sentences.  The children were excited to be writing about the pet and that led to longer than normal entries for many of them.
• I didn't see any. I was partnered with someone in Australia, so we had to finish the entire project by Thanksgiving. It is my experience that 2nd graders do much better at writing after Christmas. My children did not write very much in the diary.
• Students were more aware of correct use of personal pronouns, and run-on sentences.
• I did not notice any change that I could attribute to this project.
• I haven't seen a great deal of improvement in grammar, but that was not my focus.  The children enjoyed writing in the journal, because it gave them a 

very specific and special purpose for writing.  Since they shared the journal entry with both their own class and their partner class, they wanted to do 
their best, and make their entries interesting.  My focus was on the content, rather than the grammar. 
• We didn't utilize this project in this capacity because I teach kindergarten. 
• Not so much changes in grammar, but re-enforcing what I had been teaching.  Another person thought that it was important too!!
• Children worked hard to do their best and focused on proofreading after writing.
• We did not exchange, but we did the activities as a class.  The students were motivated.  They liked working on the computer to compose their work.  They took pride in creating works  with good mechanics.
• Students became conversed in writing freely. (Loss of fear, increased confidence) Students reread their writing and made gramaticl corrections. (Need to be clear to an audience).
• I didn't focus in too much on mechanics, as I wanted the children to attend to the actual writing. 
• Letter writing improved.  We learned the uses and parts in letter writing. 
• Students were more consistent in writing complete sentences and in using correct punctuation and capitalization.  I noted early a problem with "run on" sentences and used that as a teaching opportunity. 
• There were some students who were aware of the spelling errors and what ending mark to put.  Other just wrote something. Over all I was well pleased with the students.
• No big difference in grammatical mechanics.  Each child took the animal home once and seemed to be starting from scratch every time we sent it home.
• My students were eager to write and didi not have to be coaxed into writing lengthy paragraphs about their experiences with the visiting and their own pet.  They became very aware that others would be reading their writing and were careful to include punctuation and conventional spellings to their work.
•  I could see a big improvement from the beginning of the project until the end. They tried much harder on the second trip. 
• The students started to improve their writing skills because of the consistent practice and repetition of writing their stories.
• none  the children dictated to teacher or parent. these were 5 year olds.
• Not any significant improvement but more importantly, it gave them an opportunity and reason to write.  Some students did use quotations to signify what their pet said.
• My children are not writing sentences yet but their spoken, dictated sentences have improved in length and creative use of language.
• I would have to say a little, but we found it difficult to model what proper grammar should look like in class, and then send the journal and pet home where they might not see the modeling.
• I felt like my kids were ready for the state TCAP writing test. 
• Not much in the first grade, but this in combination with other classroom writing activities has helped some.  We are using this project to learn to use the disc camera and some of the students are writing on the computer to be printed out and sent to the Miami classroom.  We are having trouble getting a  response from Miami.  we are concerned because we don't know when school ends for them and they have to send us, and us them the stuff animals back.  We don't get out til mid June. 
• The children became aware of period, words, question mark.
• The children became aware of period, words, question mark. I saw a marked improvement on the help from parents about the awareness of the importance of punctuation in Kindergarten.

• The exchange broadened the students' view of the world. The differences in our cultures and geographic locations provided an opportunity to learn and expand our horizons. We sent Louisiana products like crawfish jelly and hot sauce to Washington state, and we received Washington State apples and chips. We sent Spanish Moss and other playground treasures to Washington State and they sent us their shells, leaves, and natural treasures.
• Sort of, but our exchange class was in America so there were many similarities. The children were interested in time factors (day/night cycle, school year/ seasonal differences, etc.) We enjoyed the differences in language and terminology, e.g./ tomato sauce and ketchup.
• I think we did not see any appreciation for a peer.
• Yes, of course. They became aware of their climate through our discussions. The other class also goes to school year round, so that was a different experience.
• Students enjoyed seeing students and hearing from students in another part of the US. They learned that our lives are very similar. They found that there were some differences in foods and weather.
• If so, please explain. Yes, We have since joined Postcard Geography to learn more about different areas of our country.
• Children became interested in the Washington, D. C. area, and particularly in Eddie, a child from the Alexandria class who's folks have created him his own web page.
• Students often do not realize that there are other students/ people in the world "like" them. This project made the students more aware, not only of their own surroundings, but of other people around the world. The students learned that even though people don't live in the same way they do respect and love always need to be present.
• We were boggled that someone would fly across the country for a weekend. Our partner school obviously has a higher socio-economic level than our own community. Also pairing with a religious school made for some comparisons.
• Yes, it has provided wonderful opportunities to find out about our similarities and differences.  We exchanged photos, letters and email communications. 
• Yes, they learned where Georgia was on the map and we studied the state for S.S. 
• Yes, absolutly.  They often compaired what we were doing to what might be happening where our pet had been sent.  They talked about our matched

place and the children there.  We exchanged letters and that really made it more personal. My students learned that our exchange class was quite different from ours.  To begin with, the class was from Canada.  We looked up Calgary on the internet and saw what a big place it was compared to our small rural school setting.  The fact that this was a private school where the students wore uniforms was an eye-opener for my students.  Some liked the idea but
others did not.  Because the classroom did not have access to the internet we went through the classroom teacher's computer at home so we weren't able to have any direct exchanges. When we received our partner's pet, we also received some Canadian toffee which was different from the toffee that is usually bought in our stores.  We are in the process of arranging for our exchange back.
• oh yes, my class became very interested in California and learned a lot about their peers there. 
• Students were amazed that our partner class lived in a rural area, something they have never experienced.  They were curious about their life style and enjoyed looking at the photographs that our partner class sent.
• North and South exchanged pets and it was a very healthy exchange. 
• Yes, interest in where the other school was and what the class was like.  We enjoyed emailing our other class and learning about them.
• Our Kindergarteners loved having a friend from another continent, so far away.  We really just enjoyed the animal and having it as our own for a day. 
• My students immediately wanted to locate the geographical location of their pet pals and they were interested in knowing about the typical day of their friends. 
• They were surprise they did the same thing. 
• At first the kids were very interested as we had some feedback.  But later since we didn't get our journal or our animal back, they have forgotten about it.
• They were surprised at how far away Montana is, but how similar their interests are. 
• The children were able to learn alot about our country and the state of Texas.  We were able to compare much of our findings to our own state of Georgia.
• Yes, we followed the weather and what kind of test they took compared to our TAAS test. 
• We had a class from Canada  some of our students did not know there was a Canada.  Several brought in books with maps to show us.
• Most of the class we wrote to had Spanish names, and our students became interested in learning Spanish words. 
• We enjoyed following the weather in a northern state & we were able to look up their school web page & see what the school serves for lunch. Their class also had a page & we were able to see different projects, field trips, & activities that they were involved in.
• We especially enjoyed this aspect of the exchange.  The children were curious to learn about the differences in the classes that we exchanged with (in Tenn. & Texas).  They were especially interested in hearing about the different kinds of food they ate and the differences in the weather.  We exchanged photos also and the children were surprised that they saw some of the same materials in our partner's classroom that we use.
• Yes, we had a wonderful time learning about a totally different environment in another country. It also fit into our learning about the continents.
• No matter what part of the good ole USA. classroom problems seem to be the same.
• We enjoyed hearing about the huge amounts of snow our partners received in Michigan City, Indiana.  Also, we learned lots about the Great Lakes. 
• We live in a very isolated area.  Our kids were astounded that kids in Pennsylvania watched the same TV programs that they did.  They were also suprised that they listened to the same music.
• We learned a lot about California.  We asked questions of our partners and they answered over the email. My students learned about the Golden Gate 

Bridge,  what the term "eureka" meant, about the California Gold Rush, about Death Valley, why it's warmer in California than in Indiana, and numerous 
other interesting facts. 
• We did learn geography as a result and all of my children can identify the state of North Carolina. 
• Some lively discussion centred around the 'afterschool' activities of our exchange school in comparison with our own, less rural (perhaps) town.
• We had a lot of fun during our weather unit comparing our Michigan winter weather to that of our penpals in California.
• Yes! We learned that children in Australia are very much the same and yet are different and interesting. We ate Australia foods, learned words, and had a great time.
• Mine was just in the United States, but we enjoyed learning about their area. 
• The children were fascinated by the fact that the children in another state did the sme things as they did.  It was quite amazing acutually because the students even thought they might speak another language. 
• Yes.  As a part of our exchange project, we compared and contrasted the states of Tennessee and Illinois.  Students realized the differences that existed   between our small town life and their big city routine.  Students discovered similarities and differences as we charted weather in each location throughout the fall.   We explored states' history, tourist attractions, Native Americans, and university football teams' records. Students developed a kinship with the other third grade class. 
• Yes, the students wanted to know where Mississippi was and where Carriere was.  the other teacher sent us some pamplets on the Space Center and different attractions around their area.  The students would look at the pamplets everyday.
• We exchanged pictures and postcards of our area with our pet exchange partners.  We learned alot about Tenn. from our partners. 
• Yes a great deal.  We were able to put names and faces on children who lived in anothe part of the country.  Although they didn't look exactly like up, we learned that they were children just like we were.
• Yes, I found my partner to be a great source of information and reassurance as I am a fairly new teacher and she assured me that my experiences and feelings of stress we quite normal.  Even though she is in the US which is not that much different we both learned alot about eachothers countries. 
• They enjoyed comparing the differences between Canadian and U.S. money. They also sent our pals a book on American holidays. 
• Yes, the students were so excited about communicating with other students from a different place than where they lived.  They were constantly asking questions about our e-mail buddies lives, the weather there, the school, what they were learning about.
• Yes..The students were quite thrilled to receive correspondence from students that live in another state.  They enjoyed hearing stories, seeing pictures, 

and locating the cooperating school on the classroom map. 
• Yes  curiosity about Austrailia and the pet Echidna that they sent. We exchanged photos also, and they were curious as to how they looked and dressed.
• Yes- it was fun to look up where our pet was from and read some of his adventures and relate them to the area he lived in.
• Yes, and even though it was still in the US they were able to see many similarities and differences and be interested in the other children. They were fascinated by the coal figures sent with the travel buddy.  The contents of the package make a big impressiion on the children.
• Yes, we learned a lot about Illinois.  We did research on the internet and asked questions of our exchange class.
• We never heard from them, but we did the journaling each night. 
• We were able to follow some of the news events about our pals.  The fire in Miami for example. 
• Yes we learned a lot about our state and a neighboring state.
• My rural area children were amazed that their  exchange pet class could go to the beach daily  if they wanted .  They had a hard time understanding the size of Oakland Calif as compared to a rural town with no large buildings!!

• The pet provided an opportunity for the students to experience imaginary adventures. They became aware that Mrs. Mouse from Washington State had never seen a boiled crawfish and imagined her reaction to this new experience. We took Mrs. Mouse on our field trip and imagined her reaction to seeing a swamp.
• Yes very much so! The children wrote all sorts of adventures they took part in with their animals, some of them were very imaginative. One student wrote that Cubby went rock 'n rolling in the car and listened to the Beatles. He then went to karate lessons and learnt some new techniques. Other children wrote of the animals jumping on trampolines, going down sides, on swings, etc. Long Toothe even saw grampa "bare in the shower."
• My students really enjoyed Classroom Pet Exchange. The thing I noticed the most was the enthusiasm. Even the ones who sometimes don't do their homework made sure they returned the next day with the classroom pet and the story they had written. They crossed their fingers hoping their name would be drawn to take him home next. Their imaginations ran wild and we got some very creative stories.
• The students were developing a better sense of story on their second time to take the pet home. They did not jump around to all sorts of things like they did at first. Here is an example of one girl I grabbed Pokey and I set him on the trampoline and we jumped. I tried not to get him dirty and I didn't. We jumped slowly because I didn't want to drop him. He thought it was fun. We did flips. I grabbed him around the tummy and flipped him. I did a flip and he did a flip.
• We had a fake tea party. We gave apples. He took a bite then I took a bite to make it look like he took a bite. 
• This is pretty typical of later entries. I typed while they told me their stories. 
• We have been writing stories and journal entries as if we were the animal. This has spawned many creative writing opportunities. We have also written about the plane ride experience, etc.
• Everyday when it was a student's turn to tell what they did with the pet, the child was enthusiastic to let everyone know what they did and although this was oral, they couldn't wait until they got their printout of their story to illustrate. At early first grade, it was more creative telling.
• One student in my class could write well but would write as little as possible. She has since increased her writings to expand them into more complete works. She now enjoys checking for details.
• The children, most of whom are reluctant writers, were eager to write their stories. Students often debated who would be next to take the pet home.
• The students were very excited about not telling about their experiences with the class pet but DESCRIBING the experiences. THis made their writing rich and the development of their vocabulary wide.
• The whole project was made worthwhile by the enthusiasm and effort shown by one dear little boy, who has learning and behaviour problems. Nathan wrote two e-mail letters (with much sneaky translation and deciphering) which you kindly put on the Herman site. He especially, along with the others whose work was included, were just bowled over by the concept that ANYONE in the world, with net access, might stumble across their writings. The joy in Nathan's face (and the other) is to treasure.
• They loved receiving letters.  Sometimes the wait time was a little long, but for the most part they became enthusiastic to share information about themselves.
• My students love to write because of writers workshop, this program added a personal excitement to their writing. 
• Yes , especeally those who didn't have too much to report on their adventure with the pet.  I told them they could imagine what they might have liked to have done.  Some children made up interesting things for the pet to do and say.
• The students promised to write and bring their stories back the very next day and only once did a child forget.  The children were always anxious to read their stories and would remind me toward the end of the day if they hadn't had their chance yet.  Other students were attentive as the kids read about their adventures.
• Yes, they got very involved. 
• Students enjoyed making up stories about the pets.  Most of my students haven't traveled outside of our community, and if they have, it is to Mexico or Las Vegas.  They used these two destinations as travel spots for the pet. 
• Yes, they couldn't wait for their turn to carry the pet home and write in the journal.  Unlike other homework assignments this one always came back completed on time. 
• Yes, the children enjoyed trying to write in a journal as if they were the pet and how they would feel if they were.
• Our creative writing was on the part of the parent.  It was interesting for me to see how creative they could be.  When we received our journal back, parents and children enjoyed seeing what experiences Ricky had had.  I read the experiences each day to the class.  They enjoyed every minute of my reading their classmate's experiences. 
• Yes, they were very concerned about how to write the story - what point of view they should take and how much detail they should include.  For example, they wanted to know it they should write the story like the pet was speaking or like they were the one speaking. 
• Yes some wrote as if the pet was doing the writing.
• My students are still not very interested in writing, with a few exceptions.  They don't mind dictating a story, but the actual writing is still a chore for most of them. 
• The children were extremely excited to take our pet home and write or illustrate their adventures to share with the class on the following day.
• They didn't do as well there as my last year group.
• Blackie inspired students to write who normally don't like to write.
• Yes.  They made more interesting informative sentences and  wrote much longer pieces than they had before. 
• One of my children got the prize for writing five pages. That spurred the others on to thinking what they could write about. 
• The level of excitement in exchanging the pet was really obvious.  The children took great responsibility in caring for the pet and making sure the pet was included in all our actiivities.  We enjoyed receiving e-mail from our first exchange class.  It was always a delight to send and receive mail via the computer.  We made a photo book of the pet, one to send back and one to keep.  The children read it over and over again.  The home connection was great also.  I had a dad e-mail us from his submarine out in the ocean to make sure his daughter didn't bring home Congo until he returned!  Families really got involved!  It was a marvelous experience!
• Enjoyed the journal. 
• Students often bickered over who got to take home our pet from one day to the next. 
• Our kid love taking care of the pets and writing journal entries. 
• The students really enjoyed the fact that they got to share what they wrote with another school.  Our partners created a beautiful journal for their pet, 

and it was fun for the children to write in it.  When one of the kids planned a special trip, they begged to take Fuzzy along, and we got a pretty detailed 
account of where they had been. 
• The children were very excited about the program.  They  loved reading the journal entries from the host school.  They were very excited to take the "pet" home and share info. with the parents. 
• Some students were thrilled to have an almost instant response to their letter writing...posted on the Class Pet site plus mail from the other children.
• All students were very excited about writing their experiences with our pet, including travels at spring break as well as soccer practice and ballet.
• Yes indeed.  They also created works of art along with their writing.  Although it was assigned to write after they had returned with their pet to school, many arrived with a writing completed.
• Yes! In the pet's journal they created adventures for Ausie.
• I have done a project similar to this for the past four years, to spark enthusiasm in writing in my first grade students.  Sending it one to write the next "chapter"

  was a great twist for my students! 
• The students in my class were already creative writiers when they came to third grade.  Their creative stories did lenghten. 
• Yes.  Students were eager to take the exchange pet home with them. 
• The students loved to write the adventures with Percy.  Some of the students took Percy out to eat and claimed the bear ate quiet a bit. The students treated the bear as if he were a person. They, also, introduced Percy to their families.
• Yes, they loved taking Nuts home and coming back to share their experiences in the journal.
• Yes, they loved sharing their experiences and were able to successfully incorporated humour into their writing.
•  They improved on their creativity and were writing in the journal "through Quarter's eyes" and pretended as if Quarter wrote the journal. 
• My students enjoyed coming up with different creative ways to tell about what they did with our class pet. One student wrote that our pet ate all the food in his house so his mom had to buy more food after the pet left. 
• The students enjoyed giving our mascot, Precious the Pig, a personality and wrote creative stories of her adventures in their homes. 
• yes they dictated and an adult wrote it out.
• Yes Writing in the journal from the pet's point of  view.  Once they got the idea they were away.
• Yes- more opportunites to write about what they did with their pet.
• They just liked dictating letters and became more creative as the year progressed. 
• Yes, one girl wrote seven pages of text as a first grader.  We learned about every minute she spent with our classroom exchange pet.
• We now want to write about everything!!!!!!

• The project is fantastic. The students experienced an excellent tele-communications project. The students learned how to e-mail, developed creative writing skills, and developed an understanding of geographic and cultural differences.
• The children gained ownership of the animals and became possessive of the project. The class cooperated together to care for the animals. Improvements were obvious in children becoming more responsible (only two children left the animals somewhere). 
• Obvious improvements in writing and peer interactions as well as technology skills. We used a word processing tool to type up all of our documents and children reinforced the skills they had already gained. Also children enjoyed using email and the quick response from our exchange school. 
• I made a new friend who teaches in another state and we are going to continue to cooperate on another project this year.
• I teach special education, so my answers and what I got from the project may be different than the regular education teachers. My students very often have low self esteem. They have problems reading and writing and they HATE to do both. At first, when they learned they would need to write in a journal, I heard moans and groans. I intentionally scheduled the more advanced students and those who have been with me longer to take the animal home first. These students came back and proudly stood in front of their classmates and read from their journals. Because I only had 12 students participating and our exchange class had 20, I let the students take the animal home two different times. The first time they took the animal home, they wrote fairly short comments. The second time, I received back usually triple the volume written the first time. For my students, that is a wonderful accomplishment. They also blossomed when reading their stories before the class and lost their inhibitions about standing up and reading. They also looked forward to reading what the other class wrote and sent by e-mail.
• I feel we learned for sure that there are interesting people in other parts of our country. Also we practiced finding where our pets owners lived on the US map. Responsibility and consideration are two things we talked about a lot when we were hosting the pet. Rousing imaginations ranks high on my list of positive effects! Also the children are willing and anxious to step out and host another pet. They have a positive feeling toward the Internet and projects.
• Having the opportunity to communicate with another school. Although our buddy class did not have access to a computer in class. This made it difficult to do any real emailing. I had wanted to set up some type of video conferencing. This was not possible. the children also enjoy caring for a pet, which made it a special connection.
• Students were motivated to share and create interesting events. We concentrated on details in the writing process. I saw great progress. Also, the students were enthusiastic about retelling the adventures of our pet. The students also wrote chapters for the book "The Adventures of Daizie, the Dairy Cow."
• The Class Pet Exchange was a success. The children have learned about different ways to communicate and have practiced their writing skills by creating stories in their journal. They even came into class with pictures to send to our corresponding class.
• The students felt responsible for the pet and learned to handle it carefully. Their sense of responsibility grew.
• Providing the students an avenue to write really tapped into their creativity, and gave me as their teacher new insights on the children. Students, some for the first time, were eager to write, and share a camaraderie with their classmates and exchange partners.
• Some positive effects were:

-awareness of others' cultures 
-better awareness of own culture 
-enhance geography skills 
-improvement in writing skills 
-improvement in editing skills 
-improved self esteem 
-sharing experiences with others (making them feel important) 
 
• Other positives...my boss thinks I am wonderful. The class pet project will be on our web page, currently under construction. I joined the Schoolworld Internet project. The class parents were able to be involved in, and interested in, their child's work.
• We learned about another state which was a great way to introduce map skills. 
• World-wide connections to other classrooms.
• Responsiblity of caring for the pet and writing in the journal when they took the pet home. 
• The children were very excited about having a pet in the classroom, and having our pet go by plane to a new school.  They were thrilled when it was their turn to take the pet home and always were anxious for us to report and read about their adventure.  They wanted to read about the experiences our pet had when

he returned. We got to communicate with another class in another country.  That in itself was exciting to the class, as well as to me.  Dianne, the other teacher, and I had several email conversations in which we discussed the joys and difficulties of teaching.  We were an encouragement to each other.  It was also fun to see how the stuffed animal took on a personality all its own.  The pet became a real pet.  It also took on human characteristics at times.  Their stories were so cute.  It was interesting to learn about the kids' families as they read their stories. 
• Overall, it was just something different and fun for my class. The anticipation of receiving the pet and the return of our pet was exciting.  I teach at an inner city school, where they dont get much.  These children really had fun with this project! 
•  Students had an opportunity to write with their families.  Additionally, students had to be responsible for the pet and the journal.  Students were able to express themselves. 
• Increased awareness and more tolerance of others. 
• The children felt unity in class towards their pet and the visiting pet, they were excited to take home our class pet and their curiosity about other children around the country was peeked.
• The enthusiasm of the children and their parents was incredible.  My children were beside themselves when it was their turn to take Syd home.  My parents had fun, I can tell, from the adventures that they shared with their new friend, Syd. 
• Excitement and motivation 
• The students were eager to write. They were very responsible with taking care of the pet. They liked sharing with their families the pet and some parents even write in the journal. 
• The kids had to reflect on what they were doing and tell about it while the animal was with them.  They sometimes don't think about that. 
• Using e-mail ( a first for most of them), hosting the pet ( a real treat to get to take it home), communicating quickly with someone far away, being aware of problems that can occur when using parcel post, creative writing practice.
• We had a wonderful experience with the pet exchange program.
• It pulled my homeroom together as a class.  These children are not in class together.  It made them worry about someone other than themselves when we watched the bad weather getting ready to hit the area where the other children lived.
• It let our kids know that children in other parts of the world are just like them. It gave us the chance to look at another country.
•  It got the class interested in learning about another part of the country and in other ethnic groups.
• We were able to develope a true friendship with another class. While reading a Weekly Reader about the bad winter storm in '98, they realized one of the states was the location of our pet exchange class. We immediately got on email & asked questions about the bad winter in '98. We also were about to taste maple sugar candy & talk about how it is made. Both classes took pictures & exchanged them & we would look for the picture of the person that wrote a particular story. 
• Being responsible for the pet, and learning about another country.
• Sharing info with other areas. Kids enjoyed pictures especially of other areas. 
• Reluctant learners were motivated to write---some for the first time. 
• I felt that there were several positive effects of this project.
• It caused the teachers to think about the chaotic lives some of our children leave (visiting 2 sets of parents, etc.)
• It allowed us to talk about taking care of pets and toys.  The children were very receptive to this discussion and were outraged when proper care was not taken.
• The kids enjoyed the writing.
• It taught the students a sense of responsibility.  They heard about it if they forgot to bring the pet back the next day.   They felt really special when it was their day to take the pet home and then share the entry with the class the next day.  It taught them so much about the other state, and it was a great way of learning map skills. They learned how to email their new friends too, and, most importantly, the project was a lot of fun. 
• The enthusiasm shown by many parents was especially worth while.  Also the long distance friendship developing between the exchange teacher and myself, to the extent that we are both planning visits across the ocean.
• I feel that the opportunity to learn about children in another state and learn about their activities was wonderful. We learned that children in California are very much like us!
• Being connected with other kids having a similar but yet individual experience.  Being motivated to create especially through writing.
•  Increased writing development, Learning about another culture
•  The children gained a greater knowledge of other places and the process of sending something through the mail, etc. 
• Getting to know another part of our country.  Learning about the email system and comparing it to snail mail. 
• Students seems to develop a special interest in the people of Illinois.  It helped students to recognize lifestyles different from ours.  They also recognized the similarities of third grade students everywhere. 
• I felt very positive about this Project.  The students developed a responsibility form taking care of something that was not their own.  They learned how to take turns and waiting on others to bring the bear back to school.
• The children did enjoy writing of their adventures.  I also had wanted to give them a chance to take our pet home so they would have a 2nd chance to record in a journal.
• emailing each other, writing in the journal sharing their experiences, taking pictures of each other to share with the partners. 
• Learning about people in other parts of the country.  Learning about other parts of the country.  An empathy for others.  Learning that people are different and that is not necessarily bad.
• The kids had a very practical reason for writing.  They developed a  relationship with both pets and referred to them in their other stories.  The students learned about the country of the visiting pet and they learned factual information about the animal itself. 
• Enthusiasm about a one page creative journal entry. Some students didn't realize they were actually completing a writing assignment. 
• The project was a great way to get the students to become more creative and to learn how to communicate with others through e-mail.  The students enjoyed writing to our e-mail buddies, telling them about their class pet and the fun we had together.
• Participating was a great beginning of the year project for the kids to learn about each other's home-life as well as learning about other children's lives 

at an out-of -state school.
• Finding out similarities and differences with a class oversees.
• These children had never used email before so it was a new experience.  I gave them a disposable camera which they had to learn to use.
• IT was great to see them take their pet home and participate with it.
• The classroom pet became a friend and was a stand-in for the children in the other class.  The pet is the heart of the program so needs to be lovable. The children learned about communicating with those in other places who they cannot see.They learned the value of letters and the more descriptive the better. They learned children in other places are very much like themselves but they are interesting because they are somewhat different.
• Kids were enthusiastic to write in a journal.  It was great because it was non graded and something fun. We learned a lot about our exchange class and where they live.
• They were writing! 
• I feel there were some, and could be more.  Maybe the age of the students have something to do with it.  Next year I take these same first graders to second grade.  I would like to try again, maybe with some class with more time.  Is it possible to get a foreign country in Austraila or Asia??  We need to study these continents in second.
• Cooperating with others and using internet as teaching tool.
• Cooperating with others and using internet as teaching tool    The home to school interaction was wonderful!!   We received a lot of local PR for our school through the local newspaper also.  Our exchange pet was in a local ad for a doctor also when he visited with a student!

• The length of time for the project is too short. We are just beginning to develop a good dialog with the other class. We will continue to communicate with them throughout the year.
• Perhaps are more stringent timeline. We felt the email responses weren't as regular as we would have liked. Other than that not much!! 
• My exchange partner and I agreed to let each student in our class take the pet home first then make the exchange, and let each one take the visiting pet home. That way we got twice the mileage out of the project. In fact we just finished this week. This is one way to improve the project.
• The one thing my students were disappointed in was that the class we corresponded with did not regularly send e-mail. I don't think this can be improved upon, however, since it depends on the individual situation of each teacher and school. I was pleased with the project and my students loved doing it! They even asked if when our animal is returned, if they could take it home and keep writing. They will be thrilled to know that we can write to another class next semester. 
• I think that if the thrust is on using technology the other class must be connected to a computer with internet access. We have not had a great exchange with snail mail or e-mail. I am not sure what is happening on the other end. Even though messages have been sent. It is difficult to monitor the use of the technology. There are a great deal of other factors hinging on the exchange.
• This project is great and I appreciate how helpful you were in getting us going and connected. Thank you!
• The project went well. Perhaps, the teachers could hold a video conference between the classes if the technology was available. I was really pleased with the project and my partner.
• The project could have a format to follow and dates to keep (with writing and returning the "pet"). Although I had a wonderful experience with the class I was matched with, others may need a format (or at least suggestions) on how to set up the writing journal and correspondence. 
• Please don't take this as a criticism, but as a first timer I learned along the way. I suppose others do too. The Teddy Bear Project site has quite a few suggestions about what to send with the pet,class activities for while the pet is OS and also on it's return. I think that sort of information would be appreciated by those intending to participate.
• We do this with weather sites and this might make us feel more connected. 
• I think it was great! 
• I really would encourage the 2 schools to do as much e-mailing as possible.  I wanted to use this project to introduce and make a practical use of the computer (e-mail).  We seemed to send more email than we received which was kind of disappointing.
• I think it helps for the class to circulate their own pet around first before sending it off to the exchange group.  The class then had a chance to form a bond with their own pet before having to take care of another.  They had a better idea of what to do and what to write about when the new pet came. 
•  Would there be a way to make the children more involved if they dont have the Internet in their schools?  Not all schools are connected yet. 
• Have pet go home with home class members each night and have them write in a journal before the pet is sent to the cooperating class. 
• I would like to keep our pet for six weeks first like we did and then mail him away to the other school.  This way we had already started a journal and cannot wait to read it again in April when it returns from the other school.  I would like to sign up in beginning of school year, talk to the other class via email and not exchange pets until January,  returning them in April.
•  I have no improvements.  I am grateful for all your planning and work.  We were lucky to reap the benefits.  I had a great teacher to correspond with, as we were both able to to video and e-mail on a regular basis.  This was very good for us, as we are involved in the internet and computer training in our Grade School. 
• I got off to a rocky start because my pal was assigned to someone else and it was a little confusing.  I also wish I had guidelines of expectations.   I felt the example sheets that were provided for parent letters and ideas were extremely helpful.  But otherwise I didn't know for sure what to do. 
• I worked with 5 clases and 4 classes were very suceessful - it is a wonderful project.  Thanks for all of your hard work. 
• Just a little more structure so the kids have to do specific things or answer specific questions.  This was probably my fault. 
• I think it's great as it is. 
• I like it the way it is.  Except that we turned it into a year long thing.
• It is great as it is.  Maybe a website that pictures the pets could be set up and work displayed.
• pass on buddies to two schools instead of one.
• The initial contact with my partner was very slow in coming.  We had trouble connecting through the Pet Exchange.  She finally contacted me from her home computer and home address.  When I tried to send copies to the Pet Exchange of our communications, I had trouble getting them to go. 
• Only on my end. I did not take pictures along the way with the pet & different people on the staff.  I would also try to impress upon my children that handwriting is very important.
• Having the partners agree to sending e-mail on a regular basis.  It is quick and easy yet we haven't received any from this last exchange. 
• For the younger grades, an after Christmas project works better.
• Next year we are going to use alphasmarts to compose our stories. 
• I think I would be interested in  actually starting the interaction a little later in the year because I teach first grade and they need to learn a lot at the beginning of the year before they can fully enjoy a program  like this.
• We had trouble establishing E-mail contact with our partners.  The local system had not arranged a policy for student to student e-mail and our partners did not seem receptive to the e-mails I sent. 
• Honestly, I think it's great the way it is.  At this point I can't really think of anything that might improve it.  However, if I come up with an idea, I promise to let you know.
• From my end, everything went well.  I did have a little trouble initiating the project, but once we go over that, everything went well. 
• My second exchange did not run into difficulties except with the postal service.  My partner is a very committed teacher and her enthusiasm showed in the mail from her students, and the enormous effort by a student's parent to create and maintain a home page for the visiting pet.
• The next time I would like to include more pictures of the class as well as pictures of our area. I would also like to incorporate more technology next time. I think that the possibilities are endless . It just depends on the teachers in the project!  I was very happy with my penpal class and the teacher. It was the first time for both of us.
• Perhaps you have already addressed this with the level of committtment a class has to the project.
• It was great!!!!
• I think the guidelines need to be outlined a little more specifically, once the partners have made contact.  That was the hardest part for me. 
• Some way the two classes could talk to each other better.
• My biggest upset is that she has never returned our pet and journal and fails to reply to any of my e-mails.   My students are confused as to where their pet has gone.  I was hoping my coordinating teacher would respond with a note explaining his disappearance (got lost, she moved, etc.) just so that the kids would have some closure on the matter. 
• I feel it went very well. 
• No way really.  There were many options offered as far as activities.  The project is really limited by the imagination of the teachers involved.  Teachers (working together) can put as much or as little into the project as they want to.  This provides a wide variety of options for the children.
• Maybe just more suggestions as to the activities or lessons that could be a result of this exchange.  Somehow getting the parents more involved. 
• More interaction between the receiving classes beforehand to build up for the pet arrival.
• I think it would be neat if every pet took a favorite book on the trip to the other class. It would give us a focus to start with and something to do when the children took the pet home. 
• Encourage first grade classrooms to begin this project after Christmas.  Also, encourage participants to send weekly updates via email to their exchange class.  We just started this and its been really fun!  We're sending digital pictures next week.
• I would like to have the children e-mail at least once a week the other class, and that class e-mail us. 
• Great as is.

• YES!
• Yes please we really enjoyed the experience and can't wait to take part again next year with my new grade. 
• I will participate in Classroom Pet Exchange again next year. It is a great project. We really enjoyed it and I hope it continues to be available.
• I wanted to participate again in the next semester because this is when I will begin to work on grammar, sentence structure, and handwriting.
• We will participate in the project again, and recommend it to others.
• Yes, I did sign up for the next round of exchanges. I enjoy the project and so do my students and parents. We have had a year long exchange with an Australian class. That has been a tremendously successful experience. It was definitely a mutual effort. Unfortunately, that is not always possible. So I keep my fingers crossed for the next one.
• I plan to runlets in this project. My students are just beginning to write so I anticipate many new experiences with the next go round.
• Yes.
• I am looking forward to participating next year.
• I will try to keep an eye out for when registration begins. Thank you for allowing us this opportunity. From my perspective as the coordinator here, it went well......and a teacher who had never used email before is hooked!
• Definitely yes! Thank you! This project was a wonderful experience for my class. They really enjoyed it and got many positive things out of it!
• I certainly hope to participate again...finances permitting. The children are also very keen. I hope to swap again in our fourth term...October to December. Congratulations Connie; this is a wonderful programme, both for the children and their families, and the teachers.
• Yes!!  I love this idea!
• Definately!  We have several buddies travelling the world right now and I will look forward to restarting the project in September.
• Yes, however if I am teaching grade one again I think I would wait and register for the winter session.  That way I could expect the children to do their own report at home when they take the pet home.  They would have better skills for it by then.  This year they took our pet home after he returned which was good. They printed their own sentences, however the enthusiasm might be higher if it was with the visiting pet.
• Of course!  I have been part of this project for two years and have had wonderful partners.  I have enjoyed watching the students interact with these pets. 
• Absolutely!
• Yes, I will definitely sign up again next year, this time for my two classes as I teach two classes a day.
• Yes.  I will register as soon as I am able.  it was a wonderful experience for me, my parents and my School.  We received very positive comments and articles in our local newspapers, as we were the first ones to do something like this.  My friends were surprised, as I would be considered  an "old teacher", very old.  I wish I could draw a happy face at this point, because it says it all.  You are great to do all the footwork.  Thank you!!
• Yes.  I would also like to get more classes from my school involved.  My students loved this!!!!!!!
• Yes, I teach Title I and it is a wonderful means of getting the students writing and the families involved.  It was enjoyed by everyone and it is one thing that has gotten so much parent support.
• Definitely!
• This was a delight for all.  I would love to participate in this program again. 
• Yes, although I would like to have an U.S. exchange class next year. Ours was great but the pet we sent was lost for about 4 weeks and it was very frustrating for both classes.
• Yes! I was matched up with another teacher for the second semester from California. I only heard from her once. I have written to her several times, but have not gotten a response. We were dispointed. Thank you for your hard work. Sorry you had to ask for my response.
• Most defininitely!  I look forward to signing up in May.  I'd love to get an Australian school!  Thank you for this awesome experience!  It has been a highlight of our year!
• Definitely. I have done a similar project for 3 years and have really enjoyed it.
• I would participate again.  Now I am a little more experienced.  I do think the Pet Exchange is a great idea.
• Absolutely!  I've also made believers out of a number of other teachers at my school!  Thank you for all the effort you have put into this project.  My kids loved it and want to do it again with their third grade teacher.  I'll certainly sign up again.  We learned a lot and had lots of fun too.  Thank you so much!!
• YES!!!!!!!!
• Love to!!
• I would love to!
• Yes, We would like to make the exchange and share with another class.
• Definately.
• Yes, I had fun doing it and the children had a good time.
• definitely
• Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• I would like to try this again next year, but feel a bit hesitant if there is a high percentage of unresponsive teachers.
• yes, very much so!
• Yes, I would participate again and would probably be more creative.  I enjoyed it but wanted a closer relationship with my exchange class than I had.  But yes, I would do it again.
• Yes, definitely!
• Definitely. I plan to sign up again for next year.
• I might possibly participate next year now that I have more time to understand what the project  fully entails and have a chance to plan more in depth activities to communicate with the cooperating school and study their state.
• yes !!!!! next year again 
• Yes I would- I tried to get in this year but  the person I was signed up with never contacted me and your efforts also didn't work so we participated in another pet email project instead.  I am interested for next year though.
• Yes, I plan to sign up for the fall. I think it would be nice if we could request a US or international exchange.I would like to do one in the fall in the US and one in the Spring who is international. I was very pleased with my partner.
• Most definately.  We are looking forward to next year.  Thanks for a great year!