In an effort to make writing more fun, & engaging, I decided to organize an International Pen Pal Project with my classes and some of the English club students who showed interest. I utilized every social media outlet possible (lies, I only used Facebook) and I contacted my teacher friends in an effort to find American teachers that were teaching high school students and who were seriously interested in this project.
I was soooo pumped and excited for this exchange. It would give my kids a chance to experience life through another kids eyes, in another country, in another culture. It would get them to see pass their small world and limitations. It would give them a reason to improve their writing skills!!! which are seriously lacking…
I managed to locate one 9th grade class in Nicaragua, one 9th grade class in Japan, one with my friend Chelsea another PCV serving in a different region of Ethiopia, and several in America (one of them being my Alma mater Palisades High School woot woot!)
I thought I was the bees knees for organizing this project. (and i still think I kinda am) But what I didn't anticipate were all the problems this international exchange would present.
I managed to find many solutions for all these potential problems.
#1 make students OVER explain EVERYTHING. Remind them that the smallest detail of their lives might be fascinating to a child in another country. I also told my kids to use adjectives to describe the cultural items they mentioned or draw photos!
#2 I talked with each teacher ahead of time to ask them about taboo topics & we agreed to screen all letters and tell the kids what they could/ couldn't say. Another option is to let the kids share what they want willingly to challenge their mindset, & learn how to respect others differences. But I wasn't about to play this risky game with the LGBT stuff…
#3 The teachers that I’m working with and myself agreed to address common misconceptions about each country and culture. Innocent questions and curiosity is harmless, but hopefully we can remind our students not to be insensitive. The purpose of this cross cultural exchange is to share cultures and part of that will be dispelling myths and providing true insight.
#4 I don't know how many teachers I talked too before selecting the ones that I did. SO MANY interested parties just stopped responding to my emails, or would respond VERY late and I took that as a sign that they would be late with everything else. So I shopped around to find the teachers that were as serious about this project as I was. And I found some AMAZING teachers! One is already talking about helping me put on a book drives and getting donations to my school!
#5 I read & edit every one of my kids letters and I have them rewrite them with the corrections. All 200-ish of them. And the students struggling the most with writing are signed up to write their pen pal letters to other Ethiopian students. I also make our bimonthly letters include things we are currently learning and use it as a way to test my kids and get them serious about writing properly. (Proper grammar, adverbs, adjectives, new vocabulary words, and certain tenses (past, present, continuous)
These were the main problems that I could foresee with this project and that I experienced as I began to correct student letters.
One problem that I didn't consider at all until it started happening was plagiarism.
The above letter reads:
Dear Bankmoon the President of China, first of all may my peace reach you. As I have tried to remind you in the previous letter, concerning our peaceful relationship, our relationship shall continue with the feelings of brotherhood without any interruption.
Our relationship shall be based on the exchange of: - various transactions, different mode of life, styles of learning. And also, it shall be on the basis of mutual aid in the times of problem and emergency situations. All these conditions should be conducted in a faithful and brotherhood manner.
Additionally, the exchange of:- good cultures, good governing systems and models of economic development could be borrowed betwen us.
Generally, our relationship shall be based upon exchange of :- various transactions, good cultures, good governing system and models of economic development in the faithfulness and brotherly hood manner.
With best regards,
Bold faced plagiarism! And its not even good plagiarism! How did this student ever think this would fly?!
1) I’ve graded your other test, I’ve seen what your capable of on a good day and a bad day. And I don't think you even know how to spell "models of economic development" [-_-]
2) Who told you that you were writing to the President of China? THE PRESIDENT OF CHINA! lol Its great that you think so highly of yourself... apparently this isn't your first letter to Mr. Bankmoon, since you "reminded him in the previous letter" smh...
Two of my students wrote this letter to the President of China. It became abundantly clear to me that maybe my kids didn't know that they would be writing ACTUAL students. Although I told them several times and I told them what to write in their letters (name, age, family information, future goals...) Perhaps they thought I just wanted them to put together any letter for a grade... I really don't know... In addition to letters for the President of China, I also got this...
The above letter reads:
Dear Manager
Jimma Company
PO BOX
Jimma
Dear sir,
I am writing to apply for the post of clerical officer you have advertised in Ethiopia.
I am responsible person and willing to work hard in the post. My father says that I deserve a good job as I have worked hard at school and passed all of my examination with distinction in English and maths. I incolsed detelid of may examination results and hope that you will consider me seutable application for the posistion. I look forward to hearing from you.
Your faithfully,
This kid decided to apply for a job!
I had a good laugh reading many of my kids letters. They were just SO RANDOM! Others looked like this:
At least this student didn't copy. The above print is how MOST of my kids letters, homework assignments & test papers look.
This student may not have completed the assignment, but it was authentic. I cant say the same for the others.
I soon discovered that the kids who were plagiarizing letters to the president, or job applications, or just copying random letters, were all students who are scoring pretty low in my class. These kids were soo intimidated by writing these letters that they only felt comfortable stealing written work from other sources and other people.
Here is another letter from a student in my 9th grade class who struggles with English but tries so hard to learn and has shown SO MUCH improvement. She makes my heart smile.
This letter reads:
Dear Pen Pal,
My name is Seble Moges I'm so excited to get to know you! I live in Welisso my country name is Ethiopia. I am 23 years old. I have 3 brother and 3 sister. My father is dead two years ago. My interest is help my mother and sister and brother. My free time swming and different film watch. I funn to study my lesson. Finally my plan go to university then I study Ingereing b/c (because) I help to building my country.
:) <3
Sebles writing is typical for the 9th graders in my class. Well for the majority of the class, there are another 25% of students who are below her writing level skill.
This letter is an example of the TOP 25%. The Gobez clever kids in my class.
This letter reads:
Dear Pen Pal,
My name is Lemane. I come from Ethiopia, Wolisso town. I am 15 years old. I have a familey. My fathers name is Duguma and he is police man. my mothers name is Asrael and she is a teacher. I have a brother and a sister. They are claver students.
I like to watch Amharic films, Amharic is the national language of Ethiopia. And I like to ride my bicycle in my free time. I like Injera and coffee. Injera is the traditional food of Ethiopia. It is very delicious food.
My future plan is to go to university and graduate with a degree in medicine and then I will become to a doctor. I think you understand my name, my family, my favorite food and drink. Now what is your favorite food and drink Your future plans and what do you like in your free time. Thank you for every one
Best wishes
Your friend
I ended up providing a template for the students who needed it most. Providing something like...
Hello, My name is _________. I am ______ Years old and I am from _________.
Students who could barely write at all ended up using this template, but still wrote things like
Hello, My name is __Ashley_______.
Sometimes I just dont know what to do with my students haha God bless them. But this Pen pal exchange is in full effect :) I promise to keep yall updated on how it goes!
