Virtual Reality with Google Expeditions

Your #KFkinder might come home tonight and say, "I went to Ethiopia today!".  Now before you totally write them off and send them off to Crazytown, THEY DID GO TO ETHIOPIA!!  Miss Upah brought in the virtual reality goggles from Grant Wood AEA and introduced us to Google Expeditions (find the app with THIS LINK).  This is a free app you can use on your device to virtually visit places around the world from the comfort of your couch (or classroom).  Today we visited Ethiopia.

Now you might be wondering why we went to Ethiopia, well let me tell you a little story!  My sister Jenny is two years younger than me.  She married my brother in-law Nate and together they have adopted my niece Lily.  Lily was adopted from Iowa and joined our family 1 1/2 years ago!

Jenny and Nate have always wanted a big family so they have pursued international adoption as a way to give Lily a sibling.  They started this adventure 3 years ago and we are so excited to send Jenny and Nate off on Friday.  They will travel to Ethiopia, meet Ellary for the first time in person (they have been sent pictures of her), and finish the legal process of officially adopting her and bringing her home to Iowa!

It is my job as your kinder's teacher to open your kinder's world to new experiences and break down the walls of our classroom.  But I also need to build up your kinder's abilities within empathy and building emotional connections, so when I was planning what virtual reality lessons we would have in #KFkinders I wanted to pull these three concepts together.  I have been very open with the class on why we are "traveling" to Ethiopia with our virtual reality goggles.  They have heard Jenny and Nate's story.  This has helped us dive deeper into understanding and accepting that all people, families, and communities are made up differently.  Each of us are different.  Each of our families are made up differently.  Each community we are part of or visit will bring unique aspects.  What is important is accepting those differences and accepting each other.  Never have I had such an authentic conversation with 5-6 year olds about this topic, but what a great lesson!

So...what's next?  As I mentioned, Jenny and Nate leave on Friday to finish their journey of bringing Ellary home!  They will be over in Ethiopia anywhere between 1-21 days.  It is still unclear what their entire day looks like as far as appointments with the government, the orphanage, and the embassy; but we are going to try and connect with them via FaceTime.  We have looked at Ethiopia on a map, we have pulled up pictures, and we have taken the virtual reality tour; but now we are going to see exactly where Ellary is from.  When they come home, Jenny and Nate are going to bring Ellary and Lily to Keystone Elementary to share their story with us.  They will be bringing along some videos and pictures from their stay in Ethiopia.  And the best part is the kids get to meet Ellary and Lily!  It will be a great way for us to really wrap up our learning about Ethiopia.  I can tell you we started with very little prior knowledge (myself included!), but I have a feeling we will all be at a different level of understanding after this all wraps up!  And isn't that the point, to open your eyes to a different way of life?!?!?!  I am so excited that your kinders will be along for this journey with my family. 

I have no idea what the timeline is for if/when we can connect with Jenny and Nate while they are over in Ethiopia.  They need to get over there, settled in their temporary "home", and then figure out where the best place to connect with WiFi is.  Once we have this all figured out, I will make sure and communicate home some take-aways we had from the meeting!  Stay tuned!!  Until then, Lily will be waiting for her sister to come home....here is a picture of Lily with her cardboard cut-out of Ellary.  It is her favorite "doll" to play with!