Monthly Archives: March 2011

Career Interviewing Collaboration Idea

From the files and archives from our old website, I found this collaboration idea. It was written in our first year or so of doing VC in 2000-ish. Sharing here to archive it. Maybe you can build on this idea for your career classes?

Teacher Author of This Lesson Idea: Lisa Brady
School: Galien High School
Course: BST Core
Grade level: 9
Topic: Interviewing (a component of Career Planning)

Background: At Galien BST is team-taught by two teachers. We do very little with the interviewing portion of career planning. We sometimes will video tape the students interviewing with us. They are expected to dress as they would if they were on a real interview. They don’t take it very seriously—they know the two of us too well. We would like to have them interview with someone they don’t know and to see/critique others being interviewed.

Implementation: Students at participating schools would create a business and job opening to be advertised. They would need to create a background for their company, a job description, and then interview questions. Students at the other school would have to look at the job openings, fill out applications and submit resumes and letters of application, and then interview with ‘the boss’ from the other school. They would be expected to dress appropriately.

Additional comments: The research students do earlier could be used to develop their company. Applicant students would have to taylor their resume for the job they apply for.

Timeline/organization: Initial meeting to introduce companies/bosses-these should be prepared ahead of time with copies sent to the other school so students can look at them. After some intervening time, then we would have the interviews.

Issues to discuss/plan with participating schools:

  • Would we do this for every student?
  • Would each student develop a business/job opening and a job application/resume/interview (to be on both sides of the process)?
  • To do all students would require this to go on for several days. It might be better to somehow limit it to have it for 2 -3 days with maybe 3-4 interviews per day. Perhaps students could develop their business in small groups; although the interviewee would be alone but could be interviewed by a panel of interviewers.
  • Would we allow for a follow-up critique live or written; same day or later?

Lest We Forget: World War II

Today we had several schools from MI, NJ, and TX interview our World War II veterans for our Lest We Forget program.

Today’s panel included Captain Jimmy Butt, Sgt Arden Pridgeon, Sgt Val Ripsco. In the first session we also had a new veteran, Captain Rex Welch, who was a paratrooper.

Students learned about rations, v-mail (victory mail), and perspectives from both the European and Pacific theaters of the war.

Here are some of the questions students asked today:

  • Do you think the the war was inevitable? or that the U.S. involvement was inevitable?
  • What new military techniques were developed during WWII?
  • Do you have any good memories from the war?
  • What did you think of the New Deal?
  • What was it like to live during the Depression?
  • What was your inspiration or motivation during the war?
  • Which front do you think was the most difficult?
  • Do you think it made a difference in your experience if you were drafted or volunteered?

By the way, we still have a few openings in the April Korean War Veteran interviews. ($50 each – scholarships available; high school; everyone is welcome).

We also have a similar program but using the ASK process on the picture book: The Wall, where middle school students interview our Vietnam veterans. We have room in that session too! We’d love to have you! $50 or request a scholarship. Everyone is welcome!

Registration for both programs is in CAPspace. Let me know if you need assistance.

Hope you can join us!!

Troubleshooting a Timeout Problem

Ever had a videoconference drop after a consistent amount of time (i.e. 15 or 20 minutes) all the time? I have two districts struggling with this problem right now.

Timeout by deovolenti

How do YOU troubleshoot a time out problem?

Here’s what I do. Remember that I’m not a network person! I don’t know exactly how to fix the router or firewall settings. But I can help our district network techs know what to look for!

Check the Settings on the Endpoint

First, almost all videoconference systems have a maximum time in call setting.

On the Polycom VSX 7000, it’s under System, Admin Settings, General Settings, System Settings, Call Settings, Maximum Time in a Call. I usually set this as high as it can go.

Check the Settings on Firewalls & Routers

Next, if that didn’t fix it, I talk to the network techs and give them some ideas of what to look for.

Since I really have no idea how to change settings on a firewall or router, I can really only explain what happens during the videoconference call.

  • The call is set up on port 1720. The two codecs do a caps exchange (capability exchange) and negotiate the media ports to use during the videoconference. (If a gatekeeper is involved in the connect, ports 1718 and 1719 may be used also.)
  • Then after the call is set up, the traffic switches over to the ports that are used for the media traffic. We usually have our Polycom VSX 7000s set to “fixed ports” which means it should be communicating in the range of TCP 3230-3235 and UDP 3230 to 3253. You can find a fairly comprehensive list of ports used in VCs here.

Sometimes if the router or firewall isn’t seeing any traffic, it may close the ports thinking that the call has ended when really it hasn’t.

This info usually helps my techs enough to figure it out from there.

What about you?

Have you ever run into a problem with videoconferences ending after a specific amount of time consistently? How did you solve it?

6th Blog Anniversary!

Wow! Today is the 6th anniversary of this blog! Thank you to all the readers for your comments, partnerships, and collaborations over the years!

Been pretty busy with VCs the last two months, so it’s been a little quiet around here. I apologize for that. But here are some links and posts to consider today:

Read Around the Planet in the News

Did you know this year was the 10th anniversary of Read Around the Planet / Read Across America celebrations via videoconferencing through TWICE? Here are some blogs and news articles from RAP this year:

Today’s VCs

Upcoming VCs

I’m still trying to fill the following videoconferences:

Celebrate with me and sign up for a VC! 🙂

    21st Century Communication with TWICE

    Cross-posted with the MACUL conference blog.

    Here are the resources and links featured in my session at MACUL, 21st Century Communication with TWICE.

    We connected to Eagle Lake Elementary in Edwardsburg, for a feature of Where in Michigan; the ASK programs, and Read Around the Planet.

    Next we connected to Mars Elementary, in Berrien Springs, for a feature of the Holiday Hoopla Snowman Swap.

    Finally, we reviewed the TWICE Discounts with Content Providers / Field Trips, and the CAPspace website.

    Read Around the Planet with Wales and Allendale

    Cross-posted with the MACUL conference blog.

    Karen Mosier is hosting the first session in the TWICE room this morning (W2-66!). The session is on Read Around the Planet, TWICE‘s signature global reading celebration.

    A class from Allendale Michigan, is connecting with the Nant Celyn school, in Torfaen, Wales to show how a Read Around the Planet connection happens.

    St. David's Day Parade Cardiff from Wikipedia

    Both classes shared introductions about their communities.

    Then the class in Wales described how they celebrate St. David’s Day. One of the students recited her winning poem from the poetry competition; and other students shared their poems as well. In one transition, we heard from the teacher:

    Bear with us, we just had a bit of stage fright.

    Of course educators and students can be encouraging for each other, even over videoconference!

    The class in Wales sang their national anthem for us also!

    The Allendale class shared math problems inspired by the book Math Curse.

    They had prepared VoiceThread math problems; however, they discovered that the audio wasn’t clear enough, students talked too fast and too soft for the Wales students to understand. So they read the stories live instead.

    During the connection they decided to email the math problems so the students in Wales could solve them. This is common during a Read Around the Planet connection – that the teachers end up negotiating further future collaborations based on their first connection.

    Read Around the Planet celebrated the 10th anniversary this year. Hope YOU participate next year!

    (And if you’re at MACUL and participated in Read Around the Planet, go to the Presenters’ booth and ask for the RAP star Read Around the Planet ribbon!)

    Monster Mayhem and VC Tips with Whirlidurb

    Cross-posted with the MACUL conference blog.

    The last session in the TWICE room today at the MACUL 11 Conference was with Roxanne Glaser of Whirlidurb, sharing how to participate in Monster Mayhem along with excellent tips for quality videoconferences.

    As usual, Roxanne modeled excellent presentation and teaching strategies! While we experienced a Monster Mayhem collaboration from start to finish, we also learned five important tips:

    1. Make a sign to show your location.
    2. Use a document camera.
    3. Fake it! if you don’t have a document camera.
    4. Arrange your students’ seating.
    5. Create a space for the students to speak.

    We saw examples, then we reviewed from the handout, and then we divided into teams to do all 5 during the VC! I’m sure everyone remembers now!

    Roxanne explaining the 5th tip: setting up a place for the speakers to talk – zoomed in & location sign.

    Another example of student speakers location.

    Roxanne puts us to work!

    Roxanne’s version of Monster Mayhem (the original VC version) is where each class makes a monster – usually 3D – and then works in groups to create the other class’ monster. During the videoconference, students look for similarities and differences and analyze the descriptions to see where the writing or following directions could have been improved.

    If you want to learn more about similar videoconference opportunities, sign up for Whirlidurb’s mailing list!

    Stories from the Classroom: Our First Year of Videoconferencing

    Cross-posted with the MACUL conference blog.

    It’s Thursday afternoon and Danielle Letter is hosting a session in the TWICE room called Stories from the Classroom: Our First Year of Videoconferencing. We are videoconferencing with a class in Bridgeport-Spaulding and they are sharing about all the videoconferences they’ve done this year.

    Guess Who

    First the students explained about a project they participated in – the class connected to a class in Canada. Each student had written descriptions of themselves and they had to figure out who was who from the descriptions. Danielle had posted this in CAPspace to get a partner. Here’s a snippet of the collaboration and you can read the whole thing here.

    Students will begin preparation for their connection by drawing their face using principles of Art. After the drawing is done, students will write a short descriptive piece about their art detailing their characteristics.

    On the day of the connection students will gather in groups and each teacher will show one drawing. After reading the description, students from the connecting site will guess which student created the drawing and writing. Finally classes will have time to get to know each other through questions and answers.

    Native American Beads

    Next the students shared about how they learned about Native American Beadwork talking to an expert at the Hartley Outdoor Learning Center. They learned all about Native Americans and created their own bead necklaces.

    Monster Match

    Next some students described about their Monster Match project. They connected to a class in Pennsylvania. Each student drew a colorful monster and described it. During the session two or three students from each class describe their monster while everyone tries to draw it. You can read the full description of the collaboration in CAPspace here.

    Experiencing It!

    After the students described their videoconferences, we got to experience them with the students.

    For Guess Who, we saw a self-portrait that student had drawn, and then listened to the characteristics. Then we picked the student from a group of 5 students. After that the group of students introduced themselves. We did this several times. Here’s what it looked like. Students were lined up and we were guessing which student:

    Then the students shared why they liked distance learning:

    • We get to see people on camera from other places.
    • We get to see different objects (from the Native Americans session).
    • We learn lots of new stuff.
    • 100% more fun than a paper!
    • We get to learn about other states and countries.

    After this, we tried out the Monster Match. One of the students gave us directions and we followed as shown:

    After this, the audience asked the students & teacher questions. Great interaction and the audience was enthralled and engaged during the whole session. One of the 1st grade teachers in the audience said this was the best session I’ve been to because I got to color! Great work, Danielle Letter, TWICE President!

    Around the World in 80 Clicks BYOL Resources

    Welcome to my MACUL BYOL participants! The session is called Around the World in 80 Clicks (with thanks to Silvia Tolisano).

    Here is the link to many Skype resources.

    Handouts were:

    Collaborative VCs Wiki with lesson ideas

    Assignment: Please use the comment feature below to document your plans for using Skype in your classroom.

    • What ideas do you have?
    • Where do you want to connect?
    • What do you want to learn from/with another class?

    Designing Quality Projects MACUL Hands-On Session

    Here are links to resources and projects mentioned in my Designing Quality Videoconference Projects hands-on session at MACUL 2011.

    Featured Projects

    Collaboration Examples

    TWICE Resources

    Other Collaboration Tools

    Good luck with your future videoconference collaborations and projects!