Back in January, Silvia Tolisano, the "langwitches" teacher at San Jose Episcopal Day School in Jacksonville, Fla., told me of her plans to take her school "Around the World with 80 Schools" in six months.

So it 's time for an update.

So far, the students in Jacksonville have talked on Skype Video with students with 16 other schools, covering North America and Europe, Asia and Australia.

Time differences posed an obstacle to reaching out to schools in the eastern hemisphere. But Tolisano's Tech Club overcame the issue by meeting on a Sunday evening before President's Day.

During a special "Skype Sunday," Tolisano and her students, from fourth through eleventh grades, visited classrooms in Australia, China, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand.

She said, "Six schools in six countries in one hour. It was amazing."
Students visited with two classrooms Down Under. The USA was the sixth country students contacted.

Tolisano said Skype video experience has opened up the world to her students. They typically ask the other students about books they've read, sports they play and their favorite foods.

Tolisano, who herself is trilingual, said students have been especially impressed at how many languages students abroad speak.
She said the goal of making Skype video calls to 80 schools in six months may have been too ambitious since students have their classroom curriculum and preparation for standardized testing.

But given their druthers, she said the students would be on Skype video chatting up their new friend around the world.

You can follow the students' progress at a special wiki and at Google Maps.