We like to see Postcrossing as a hobby for the whole family. It might sound strange, but it’s true that very few hobbies can be done by such a wide age group. We have Postcrossers of all ages and we believe it’s quite special that Postcrossing can reach everyone, independently of it’s age, gender and, of course, geographic location.
Today we have learned from a Postcrosser and its use for the postcard exchanges: Postcrossing as a school project. She is a teacher in a school which used Postcrossing as a tool for teaching geography and history to the students. We couldn’t be happier about this so we asked if we could share the story with everyone. Here’s the transcript of what she told us:
In my second grade classroom, we have been Postcrossing for most of our school year. Recently, our 100th postcard arrived! Each student, myself (teacher), and 3 adult helpers prepared reports about an assigned country from which we received a postcard. Projects from my class of 7 – 9 year olds included powerpoint presentations, dioramas, posters, travel guides, fact books, and more. Each student took turns sharing and teaching the other students about their assigned country.
Then last Friday, with help from parents, we had our party. We sampled food from different parts of the world, match Moomin and Miffy on-line, revisited our projects, and played a geography trivia game.
I want to thank everyone who may have sent us a card! This has been such a fun and exciting project. My class has not only learned about their world, they have learned that different cultures, languages, thoughts, and ideas are what makes our world more FUN! This project was also a very unexpected lesson in history. Other Postcrossers who sent us cards did an EXCELLENT job of providing information about where they live. Because of your information, my second graders know a wealth of information from all over the world. It helped sharpen their problem solving and research skills.
For the last day of school, my students will each take home a few cards from different countries and US states. They are already starting to pick out their favorites.
I will, without a doubt, do this again with next year’s class, and every year after that! THANK YOU POSTCROSSING for being the best geography-teaching tool a teacher can have!
And all we can say is thank you! And thank you for sharing this story with us all.
If you know of other interesting uses of Postcrossing, we would love to hear from you!
26 comments so far
Yes postcards and stamps can help learning and reading in a great way.This is a fun way to rid Dyslexia.I have this technique well in Asia.For example one child started to read better when the issue of Flags was introduced.
Very cool! I hope that more teachers will use PostCrossing. I know postage is very expensive, but it is such a thrill to receive a card from faraway places.
I would like to go to school once again! How boring was my geography lesson in the past...
I wish my school had done this...
Like I state in my profile, postcrossing is an educational experiance also because you get to learn about different countries and places.
Paulo and Ana, you should get a Novel Peace Prize for creating such a wonderful project! This project has the strength to finish lots of problems in this world!
I too use postcrossing in my classroom. I teach EFL and it is great for reading and writing practice. I also use the postcards I recieve as visuals for various topics from geography to food and animals. The kids quite like it.
I've sent cards to a few class projects and really enjoy choosing cards for them and finding something interesting to write about. I think it's a wonderful idea for teaching children about the world around them.
Postcards are a great way to learn history and geograpy!
Used some postcards when we presented a school trip to Italy a few years ago.
And I did make a notebook for my nephew and gave to him at his 1. birthday. Not sure how much he get's out of it yet, but he'll hopefully learn from it when he's older. And my sister said it was a great gift! Would for sure not got that idea if I haven't been here at Postcrossing.
I agree, it is a brilliant idea and I am sure that the kids and the parents appreciate all the hard work that the teachers have put into the project!
Laura
I sent a postcard here in postcrossing to another school project in Taiwan.
Yay. Good luck for next year.
I just received a card from a school project in Belfast, Ireland. The child wrote in French as part of his studies.
What a fabulous idea for a geography class. Kudos to the teachers who use creative ideas like Postcrossing to make learning fun.
It's really good idea to teach children. :)
Great! My first postcard form this project was from Michigan and also sent by teacher and students! It's really nice to know that there are so many people sending postcards for such a special goal :)
I've learned a lot with Postcrossing too!!!
Congratulations for this great idea :)
This was really fun I mean so fun.
Kudos to this 2nd grade teacher for this project! But I have one question....although I applaud her organization in storing the postcards in envelopes by country/continent....wouldn't it have been better to keep them posted in a display on the wall? I think the visual images from each country are so representative and evocative of that culture that it seems a shame to keep them tucked away out of sight. Even keeping them in a shoebox --maybe sorted by country or continent-- would allow the kids easier access to them. I don't mean to be critical....just that, as a teacher myself, I've considered all this. I'll definately be postcrossing with my students....as soon as I get my own classroom space again!
I started postcrossing for my daughter's class geography project! And I just keep going. I have also exchanged with 2 classes in the USA. I have recommended this to teachers too.
As the only member from the Northern Mariana Islands I'll gladly exchange postcards with any teacher, class or student who sends me an address. I've also participated with great fun in the Flat Stanley Project www.flatstanleyproject.com
and would enjoy doing so again.
If any teachers want post cards from Canada, let me know! I don't mind sending out some just to help with your class. I'm in Saskatchewan, so it would be mainly prairie or city pictures along with a few animals ones. I'd love to help anyone out!
Every time we learn something new about the world or things like UNESCO and so on in the German Part of the forum, our standard sentence is: Postcrossing educates. :)
I'm going to be an English teacher and I'm planning to use my cards to prepare a language classroom. I have nearly 50 cards all around the world (ı hope I'll have more:) and when I arrange them as a world map ıt looks really cool.
This is a very easy, very cheap and interesting way to use lang. Thanks a lot for making this site and thank you all people sending me awesome postcards and stamps.
loves
Thanks for this awesome idea! I am gonna try it next year!
Ican't wait until I get my adress for the first post card I will be able to send.;
Such a great project indeed! GREAT thinking!!!! I bet it was rewarding both for learners and for teachers as they watch their pupils blossom! There's no best reward for a teacher than that!!!!!
I started Postcrossing during the last school year and used cards at my school, too. Students drew a card, determined where it was from, and then located the place on a world map. It was a big hit with the kids and got them interested in places that they had never known even existed. I plan do more with the cards this year. If you are interested in participating, please my profile page. We will be happy to send you a card in return.
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