Sure enough, I was. Not to worry, though, I was told, because I would probably never see Celest, our new student. The reason? She had leukemia, was undergoing chemotherapy, and was unable to attend school because of her weakened immune system.

I learned that a home studies teacher would instruct her, but by law she had to be registered in a class. Coincidentally, just a few months before I had been part of several online group discussions using Skype audio conferencing software. Skype also allows users to conference with one other person--and it's free.

As I stood in the office, it immediately occurred to me that we could include this homebound student in our class, at least part of the time, if she had a computer. Later that morning our school counselor, Ann Marlow, stopped by my room and handed me my new student's file. I explained to her the possibility of video conferencing. She nodded her head, asked a few questions about several requirements, and left.

I had recess duty that morning and when I returned to the classroom, I found a file on my chair. Ann had already obtained a commitment from a local agency to pay the monthly DSL internet fee, and possibly to have a phone line and DSL installed. It hadn't been an hour since I discussed this with Ann, and she was making it happen.

It took nearly three months for the pieces to come together, but come together they did. A local hospital came through with a brand new computer and a telecom company agreed to install a phone line and the DSL for free. Our local "Children In Transition" agency used a grant to foot the monthly DSL charge. We were set.

Now that it seemed that we would be using video conferencing with the new homebound student, it was time to tell my class. I started by having my students write journal entries about what it would be like if they couldn't leave their house except to go to the doctor, and if no friends could come visit. I reminded them how bored they tell me they are during summer, even though they can go out and see friends and do other activities if they choose. After we discussed their responses, I told them we had a student in our class that fit that description. Of course they looked around the room, wondering which one of them I was talking about.

That's when I explained about their classmate--a student who had officially been a member of our class for two months. The next day I did a lesson on leukemia, aided by a web site that used Flash videos to show how leukemia worked, its treatment, and its effect on the body. We talked about the plan to use free Skype video conferencing to include our classmate and how it would work. They were thrilled to be active participants in this experiment.