Author Archives: Janine Lim

Test Call Turns into Planning Period

This afternoon I had a test call with Florida for an upcoming “presidential debate” between two classes on the energy policies of both candidates.

We tested, and then our media specialists chatted with the teacher in Florida for a while. Then they decided it would be easier to have the teachers talk to each other. Our media specialist went down to take our teachers’ class for a few moments so the teachers could talk to each other.

This worked out great because then the teachers compared notes on their students, what they were planning for the videoconference, and discussed the need to talk again about the debate questions etc.

I can tell this is going to be a great connection! The Florida class took the Democratic side, so our class took the Republican side. Our class has two students who are planning to impersonate McCain and Palin to welcome the FL class in the introduction. It should be really fun and a great learning experience all around. Stay tuned for a report on the actual connection on October 29!

The Joy in Their Eyes

Last year, a teacher from one of my poorer and more urban districts took the Planning Interactive Curriculum Connections class and got really excited about videoconferencing! They weren’t included in our recent RUS grant due to their high population, and so last spring she took the kids over to the high school to access videoconferencing several times. One time they walked through the snow, and each time they took a bus over they were struggling to find funding to get to the high school.

One of the programs was the ASK program with the book Ice Bear and Little Fox, and the students talked to Rebecca at the Buffalo Zoo. The kids loved it and afterwards the teachers found out two of the students had never been to the zoo!

Then, another teacher from this same school took the Jazz class this summer. With such enthusiasm and dedication from the school, what could I do but figure out how to get a unit to them!

Thankfully, due to closing a building in another district, I was able to reclaim an old Polycom Viewstation purchased by grant funds that we applied for. (Those things are like the energizer bunny – they just keep going!!)

Last Friday, my supervisor and I went out to deliver the Viewstation and discuss the details. We did a contract similar to the RUS grant contracts. They laughed when I said you need to do at least 5 VCs a year. I KNOW they won’t have a problem at all meeting that goal! And they have more than half of the required professional development done already.

So that was pretty exciting. It was fun to see the joy in their eyes over the opportunities they can now bring to their students!

Pumpkin Circle with the Liberty Science Center

This morning Ottawa Elementary is connecting to the Liberty Science Center for their Pumpkin Circle program.

Before the program starts, as the students come in, they listened to a song about pumpkins and pumpkin seeds. In the introductory part, the presenters asked the students questions to get them thinking about pumpkins.

The presenter walks through an animation of a pumpkin plant growing in the field, and has the students identify and spell the different parts of the plant.

Next, another presenter reads the book, Pumpkin Circle, showing the pictures from the pages at the same time. She asked the students questions throughout the program: i.e. why do the seeds look different? What was your favorite part of the story?

The students then look at different types of seeds and try to identify them. The lesson also includes looking at the difference between fruits and vegetables.

In another activity, students stand up and wave like a tree or plant and consider the strength of different types of roots.

Students learn about how the pumpkin (and other vegetables) decay or compost back into good soil. Finally the students get to ask questions at the end.

This program is visually rich and full of interactive questions and discussion. The price still seems a little steep to me, compared to programs where actual hands-on materials are mailed to the school. Still, a very good program.

"Race" is a Four Letter Word

Today and tomorrow, we have four sessions with the Cleveland Museum of Art for 8th and 9th grade art classes at Coloma Jr. High. They are doing the program, “Race” is a Four Letter Word.

One of the things I really like about the CMA programs is the way Arielle asks the students questions. Here are some of her questions from today:

  • What do you think the word stereotype means?
  • Why do you think artists use abstract art?
  • Has anyone ever had a caricature done of themselves? (asked while showing a great collection of caricatures of celebrities)
  • What do you see as being exaggerated in this figure?
  • What is this person in this painting doing?
  • Do you think this is a fair representation of this person? If you were from that area of the world, how would you feel about it?

After a few minutes of lots of questions, the kids woke up (this session was at 7:30) and really started to say what they thought!

This program includes a collection of art representing different time periods and ethnicities and really engages the students in the content.

Dialing from Tandberg MCU to Codian or Tandberg

Have you been as puzzled (frustrated?) as me in trying to dial into the right conferences from a Tandberg MCU to either another Tandberg or a Codian set up with the entry queue and conference numbers to access with a DTMF tone?

I finally opened a trouble ticket on the dialing that’s bugging me, and here’s what I learned yesterday.

Put the IP address in as usual.

In the DTMF field, put this:

,,,conferencenumber#

Or if the conference number/ID was 1234, it would be:

,,,conferencenumber#

My question is, programmers, why wouldn’t you make it more user-friendly and program the system to put the commas and the pound so the end user only has to put in the ID? Maybe there’s a good reason, but that’s the question that pops into my head!

Anyway, it works, so I’m happy.

Got another dialing problem on this same ticket, will report if I find anything out.

Upgrading My Online Classes to start Oct. 6

This week I’ve been working on my two online classes on curriculum videoconferencing: Planning Interactive Curriculum Connections, and Kid2Kid Videoconference Connections. They both start on October 6.

New Articles
It’s been time for an upgrade, and some new articles. Some of you know I’ve been working on a VC Literature Review. I’ve been able to add some great new research articles to both classes, many of which I don’t have on my blog review yet. I think this will definitely make the discussion more interesting and bring a much needed research base to our use of curriculum videoconferencing.

CAPspace & Collaboration Tools
I’ve added new assignments to get your account set up in CAPspace, and for coordinators, this will include getting your equipment verified for Read Around the Planet. Might as well get set up for that project, among others that will happen in CAPspace this year. We’ll also be exploring the wealth of other collaboration sites available for target audiences.

Movies
Haven’t done it quite yet, but am hoping to add some more little welcoming video clips to each week of the class. This will spice it up a bit more too.

A Little History
I’ve been teaching these online classes since January 2004. Did you know that the Jazz workshop grew out of the PICC class? Ken Conn & Bennie Tschoerner started it after they met in one of the early PICC classes. A few other famous videoconferencing leaders also got started with the PICC class, like Roxanne Glaser of VC Rox fame. I hope you’re reading her blog too!! In addition, it was Ken who suggested a follow-up class to PICC, the Kid2Kid Videoconference Connections class. “Kid2Kid” is Ken’s idea too!

Join us!
So, all this to say, classes start October 6 and we’d love to have you join! I usually have a mix of my local educators and those across the country, and even outside of the U.S. sometimes. If you have more than 10 teachers from your region/area, we can negotiate a discounted price. Click the link for either class in this blog to find additional details and registration information.

Native Americans and Settlers

Reed Middle School, Bridgman, is connecting today to The Cleveland Museum of Art for their Native Americans and Settlers program. Last year, this school did several CMA programs with another grade level, and since they loved the experience, the media specialist has found funding for most of the classes to connect to CMA this year!

We hadn’t seen this particular program yet, but it was excellent just like the others! The program was visually rich, with students learning about Native American and settlers differing views of the land, methods of building, and various native foods. As always, Arielle engaged the students with in-depth questions and discussion throughout the session.

The program ended with a trading activity. The students are divided into Native Americans and settlers, and they have to trade without talking to each other (since they couldn’t speak the same language of course). Afterwards, they discussed the process of trading and what they might do with what they traded for.

Great work, Reed Middle School & thanks Arielle, for another excellent lesson!

Sports Challenge

Today Village Adventist School is connecting to the New York Hall of Science for their Sports Challenge program. This is our first student videoconference of this school year (many meetings have happened already!)

One thing I noticed right away, is the presenter waved his hands and asked the students if the movement was fast or slow. He also had the students do the same, so he could gauge how well the videoconference was working. Great idea!

The program starts with a discussion comparing and contrasting various types of sports. Students found similarities and differences between different sports.

Next the students did a hands-on activity where they tested different surfaces for the ball to bounce on. The students first predicted which would work best, and then spread out to actually test their hypothesis. This led to a discussion and demonstration of the concepts of energy, kinetic energy, potential energy, etc.

The program includes several hands-on activities, as well as touring through a few of the exhibits in the New York Hall of Science. In one activity, students learned about reaction time for driving.

Because the session is presented from the exhibit floor, our students got to say hi to the NY students who were onsite using the exhibits.

The surfboard exhibit was used to explain the center of gravity and balance. Students discussed sports where a low center of gravity might be useful. Great session and lots of fun!