Teacher Idea Factory

Teacher Idea Factory

IT’S HERE . . . THE GREAT PEN PAL PAIR UP 2014

by

Alright, my friends . . . the time is NOW.  Sign ups for the 3rd Annual Pen Pal Pair Up have officially begun . . . and ended 🙁  Sorry friends.  See note below.

You may be thinking, “What is this Pair Up nonsense she keeps blabbing on about??!!”  Don’t worry . . . I don’t fault you for looking at me a little funny (nothing new here), but how about if I explain the whole deal a bit more?

For years I wanted to start up pen pals in my classroom.  However, I never quite knew where to start.  Finding a partner always seemed difficult and, well, it made my head spin a little.  This roadblock was enough to get me to dismiss the notion every year.  Well, that all changed for me two years ago when my friend approached ME about pairing up our classrooms.  She made things SO easy and my kids loved getting letters from their MD pals.  I wanted others to have this same no-brainer opportunity, so I started the Pair Up that same year.  

Now that you know what I am dishin’ out you can make the choice to keep reading or bail now 🙂  However, if you are ready to become a committed pen pal for the upcoming school year, simply click on the Pair Up button below and fill out the Google Doc form ASAP (see the note below).

CLICK THE BUTTON ABOVE OR RIGHT HERE FOR THE GOOGLE DOC 🙂

Once the submission deadline passes, I will work hard to provide you with the best possible pen pal pair up (it takes me a few weeks)!  I will contact you directly with your pen pal’s info as soon as I have most of the list compiled.  Unfortunately, I can’t make the teacher I paired you with follow through.  However, I will be crossing my fingers, toes, and eyeballs that I made a lucky match 🙂  

REMEMBER!!  This event is open to all teachers – you do not have to be a blogger to participate!  So, what are you waiting for?  Go on . . . sign up!  I’d love to help ya find a partner.
Also . . . I’ve had a few questions over the years.  Here are a few that have come up recently.  I’ll go ahead and address them for all to see 🙂
  • How does it work with Kinders? – usually teachers do shared writes most of the year, but it’s up to you and your partner.  
  • Which grades do you pair? – it’s mainly K-5, but I have done a handful of middle school classrooms in the past (6-8).
  • Do you pair overseas classrooms? – yes, I have done this in the past.  However, I don’t make guarantees if you are outside of the USA, but I do try my very best!  Usually these partnerships focus on more techy or online connections.  
  • Do you pair special education classes?  yes, I have in the past.  As long as there is an even number . . . this tends to always work out!
UPDATE (7/19 @ 12:30) – WE ARE FULL 🙁
I AM SO SORRY IT GOES SO QUICKLY, BUT WE TAPPED OUT AT 800.
I WISH I COULD DO EVERYONE, BUT 400 PAIRING EMAILS IS MY LIMIT THIS YEAR.  PLEASE CHECK BACK THIS TIME NEXT YEAR . . . 
I WILL HOST AGAIN AND I ALWAYS GIVE NOTICE 
BEFORE THE SIGN UPS GO LIVE. 

If you are still wondering how you are going to manage this whole pen pal deal in your classroom, I did make a Pen Pal Packet for my partner and I to use.  It makes thinks easy as it contains everything you need to start and maintain a long distance classroom connection. If you already purchased this collection . . . hop back over to my shop and re-download this bad boy.  It received a facelift this summer (let’s just say my design skills have come a long way)!  It’s on sale until I make that final match . . . 🙂
**If you have additional questions about The Perfect Pen Pal Pair Up 2014, please feel free to contact me (kelleydolling@gmail.com).

***NOTE: The response last year was overwhelming – I received 500 entries in a few hours.  So, if you want in, get in now!!!  I’m going to place the first cap at 500 this year.  If my wrists hold out (stupid tendonitis), I will take the next 100-200 on the list.  So . . . I won’t close the sign ups until I hit 700, but I only guarantee the first 500 to get a match.  How’s that sound??  Don’t get me wrong my friends . . . I am delighted to help, but compiling the list and emailing each pairing takes hours and hours.  I’ll be icing those cranky little forearms like crazy . . . PROMISE!

Comments

  2. Sara S says

    Thank you so much for this opportunity! I am so excited, and I think this will be a great experience for my kiddos! 🙂

  5. Jennifer Maier says

    I am really looking forward to this. I think my special education students will gain a love of writing through this activity. Thank you for making this possible!

  10. Mrs. O says

    I am so very excited about this! I've been wanting to do pen pals for years and it never quite works out. Thank you so very much for setting this up for us!

    Rachel
    Mrs O Knows

  12. mrs. p says

    Very excited to try this again this year! Last year after our initial communication via email, my class and I reached out multiple times to our pen pals and never once received a response. Hopefully, if we get in this year, it will work out better!! Thank you for all your hard work putting this awesome project together!

  13. Erine Ames says

    Wow, I am vey excited to do this. Some of my students haven't been out of Southern, Ca so this will make them excited about traveling and learning about new people and places.

  16. Melanie Miday-Stern says

    I would love another 4th grade pen pal. I'm on the East Coast with students who haven't ventured much out of the county we live in to surround counties is about it. THANKS!

  17. Lori M says

    Thank you for doing this! I tried on a previous site but they were only doing 1 class per state so I missed out. THANK YOU!!

  19. Dezarae Birely says

    Is this only for teachers? If not I would love to get information as to signing up my two older children. I had a pen pal when I was their age and loved it! I would love to give them that same experience.

  20. Stacey Lagnese says

    A friend from Alabama and I want to connect our first grade classrooms. If we signed up is there a special website we would meet on, or do you just match teachers and they go off on their own writing to each other?

  24. Nikki Poole says

    I really hope I made the cut off time! I'm in Scotland so unsure what time I submitted the form (your time!) .. I'll just keep checking my email! 🙂 very excited for this, thank you.

  28. KathyS says

    Hello! Thanks for this match up. I participated last year and thought I signed up, but it was the Alphabet Exchange!! My bad! So if anyone needs a match up for a PreK class, we are available! I teach PreK in a public school Hampton, Va. Have fun everyone!
    Thanks again, Kelley! kschubert@hampton.k12.va.us

Join the Newsletter

Latest on Facebook

View on Facebook