Since last semester...

Let's see, we've been videoconferencing up a storm since first semester. Over Christmas, I wrote a grant through the Lancaster County Partner's for Youth and was funded!

So far, we've used the money for an awesome videoconference with the Cleveland Museum of Art. The session was for sixth grade art students as they began a unit on African masks. The conference was perfect because it introduced the students to examples of African masks from all over the continent. As the students saw pictures of different masks, they created a passport using stickers. After the videoconference, they created their own African masks, and the teacher was so pleased:)

Later on, all seventh graders studying World War II had a great time meeting with the educators at the World War II Museum in New Orleans. It was a videoconferencing marathon with six conferences scheduled over two days. They participated in a program called D-Day: The Turning Point of the War in Europe. They were able to use maps, real weather information, and photographs from the time period to make predictions about where the battle should be fought. After making a decision, they were able to see real footage about what really happened--the kids are still talking about it, and the teachers are interested in scheduling another video conference with another museum later in the year during their unit on the Vietnam war.

And how could I forget the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame videoconference with the band teacher's 8th grade band/music students. It was an awesome experience as we heard music, so video clips, and learned how hip-hop music started in New York City. At the end of the session, students were able to create two hip-hop tracks like the professionals do!

I'm also making plans with NASA for an 8th grade science unit on space, and the San Diego Zoo for a 6th grade unit on animal adaptations. It's so exciting! We just need more money$$$$

Internship--Entry 7.75

I just have to share this! My students' broadcast has been added to the Baseball Hall of Fame website. Just scroll to the end of the Presentation section.
http://education.baseballhalloffame.org/experience/thematic_units/comm_arts.html#iv

Also, here's a slideshow of the session. There are about fifteen students in this single-gender class, and they loved it. I played their clip on the morning news show today, and saw several of them in the hall, today. They mentioned their project and just beamed.

Internship--Post 7.5

We'll I'm sold on videoconferences now! Even though it took me forever to finally get one scheduled, I'd say videoconferences are a future tool we all could use. My internship supervisor told me that EdTech had a videoconference keynote speaker with an astronaut!

Anyway, about today. Since this was my first videoconference, I wanted to start with a conference for one class--not four (each core teacher teaches four blocks because the teacher is on a four-person team; one teaches language arts, one teaches math, one teaches science, and one teaches social studies.) I selected this language arts class for a couple of reasons: 1. the teacher was willing, 2. the class was covering content that I could match with a potential content provider, and 3. the content provider was easy to work with, 4. this single gender class includes some students who often struggle with making connections between what they read and the world around them. This was a perfect choice. The all boy class loves sports, they'd just read Maniac Magee, a Newbery award-winning book about a boy who befriends a former MLB player, and the guys are extremely motivated by technology.

This morning, the students came in and were so exicted. When they say the big flat screen tv that was in the classroom, they got excited. And when we called the Hall of Fame and someone on the other end responded, they were impressed. Their goal for today was to record a broadcast of a baseball game in the old style of radio where sound effects had to be used. We recorded the broadcast using Audacity, and the Hall of Fame plans to host the file on their own site. I'll share it here, too, since I'm so proud of this group. The teacher even said he wished his other all-boy class could have experienced the conference. I invited our school's literacy coach and MYP instructional coach, and both want to share the outcomes with other teachers. I'd like to write a grant to fund more conferences throughout the rest of the school year now that I have the equipment at my school.

Internship--Entry 7

Things are really rolling now. My first videoconference will be held Monday, November 24th. Last week was all about finalizing details...my internship supervisor met with me the first time to first rearrange the room to accept the portable Tandberg cart. We had to call Video Systems (the vendor for Tandberg) to ask about why our internal camera view wasn’t working and why we weren’t able to connect to sites outside of the district. The suggested changing the input view on the equipment, and it worked!. We then tried test calling the Baseball Hall of Fame but had problems. After talking to our network technician, we realized we needed a public IP address (the reason we weren’t able to call out). A cell phone here was a life saver because all these calls were done in a classroom while trying to get the equipment to work. By the time all this was done, we needed to reschedule our test call, so today, we called them again around 10:15. It worked! What a relief! The Hall of Fame operator had suggestions for the room layout, and I know we're ready.

The teacher whose class will benefit from the videoconference prepared the class today. We showed them a scene from the movie Annie so they could see how radio programs used sound effects. The students then read through a script they'll use Monday during the conference. Here's a link to the program we're planning. http://education.baseballhalloffame.org/experience/thematic_units/comm_arts.html

I'll post again Monday evening to describe how the conference went!

Internship--Post 6.5

After my meeting with my site supervisor today, we have a site created for the tutorials. Unfortunately, that site is restricted to teachers within our district. Here are direct links to the tutorials, though. You'll need Windows Media Player to view them.

EMAIL:

Archiving messages (client)

Creating an Address Book (client)

Adding a Signature (client)

Adding a Signature (webaccess)

eChalk:

Logging Into eChalk

Email

My Account Space

My School

Using the Homework Drop Box

Destiny:

Logging Into Destiny

Internship--Post 6

I feel like I've done lots of waiting lately. The Baseball Hall of Fame has responded to my original request about scheduling a video conference. The teacher and I have selected a program from their list. It's called "Going, Going, Gone" and is about how baseball games used to be broadcast on the radio. We've read the description of the program and are eager to see how the description will look in the classroom.

Unfortunately, we're waiting on the museum to get back to us with a great date. The collaborating teacher's wife is having a baby around Thanksgiving, so I'd like to finish before then if possible. Plus, the deadline for this class is quickly approaching.

My site supervisor and I will talk tomorrow about linking to the video tutorials I've created and hosted on the district server. I just want to make sure that the people can find them now that they are done. The wait continues...

Internship--Entry 5

Just when I take one step forward, I end up taking two steps back. In my last post, I was so happy that I had a potential content provider and collaborative teacher matched up for a videoconference. Now, the content provider says they're booked through the end of the semester (at least until Dec. 15--past the end of this course). I'm back to the drawing board:( I did go to the SCRI Literacy coach in my school as a sounding board (we grew up up living next door to each other and love bouncing ideas off each other). She mentioned that one of the our single gender boys classes was getting ready to start reading the novel Maniac Magee. I LOVE that book, and it's about a boy who's a natural at baseball. His ability to play the sport helps unite a town racially divided. That reminded me of the videoconferences provided by the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. Information about it had appeared in one of the articles I read while preparing my Annotated Bibliography. I talked with the teacher during his planning time today, and he was stoked. He's looking at all the possible sessions the Hall of Fame offers, and said he'll let me know which one he likes the best. We're hoping to use the session with his last block of the day--some of them struggle as readers, so this would be a real-world connection to the book! My video conference equipment has also arrived, and the principal has given me a classroom to store it in (I'm not calling it the distance education classroom).

In other news, my supervisor has set me on the district server so I can know upload some of the video tutorials I'm creating about email, echalk, and our online catalog. I've created close seven or eight and have them hosted right now. I don't have a direct link to them yet, though, so I won't post them yet.