Michigan Jeopardy & Riddles

This morning I’m facilitating a Where in Michigan session. One of the classes presented Michigan Jeopardy. We could hear them clearly, it was a fun game show, and they followed each clue with an easy to read PowerPoint slide. They even waited a bit while the slide was up to give the classes time to write it down!

Here’s another fun presentation that included rhymes & riddles for each clue:

Another fun day of guessing locations! These are great projects. You can find more information on facilitating your own similar program here.

VC Blog from the United Kingdom

I just ran across another educational videoconference blog from the Kent community in the United Kingdom. The project and blog is called Meet in School and appears to involve loaning VC equipment to its member schools. I look forward to learning from this group and possibly getting some contacts to do projects between our classes!

Preparing for a Videoconference

Ben Rimes of the Tech Savvy Educator blog, and FTL teacher at Countryside Academy here in Berrien County, did his first videoconference yesterday with the Indianapolis Museum of Art. He blogged some Simple Tips for Improving your Videoconference Experience. Be sure to read these tips, straight from a teacher’s perspective!

Sharing Lego Robots with NY

Can you program a robot long distance using your knowledge & measurement of exterior and interior angles of a polygon? Can you use you math skills to solve a problem under pressure?

This project connection started out with the students in New York sharing angle measurements with the Benton Harbor class. Then after some introductions, the Benton Harbor class input the angles into their robot, "Sam." Unfortunately the robot rejected the numbers, so the New York class had to recheck their math. After getting the numbers so the robot would accept them, Sam traced the angles of the polygon and got it almost right. Then they tried one more time and traced the polygon correctly.

Then the classes discussed how Sam was made. "Sam" is a kit from MathMachines.com. A couple of students in New York immediately looked up the website online!

Next the class in New York shared information about their Robolab robots. Our Benton Harbor students started up Robolab on their computer and the students in New York taught them how to use the software. The students in New York explained the software and then walked them through programming the robot to move around a rectangle. After programming, they tested the robot locally.

Students used so many academic skills in this program:

  • Math skills: measuring, estimating, adding & subtracting, working with angles, problem solving
  • Presentation skills: explaining their robot's setup to the other class, teaching the software to the other class
  • Communication skills: speaking clearly, listening to the instructions from the other class/teacher, and working in groups.

A group of teachers and administrators were also visiting the New York class, as well as a news team. The teacher in New York was excellent at multi-tasking! What a great example of multiple uses of technology within a project based learning environment.

This whole project was planned by the two teachers. The distance learning coordinators involved just helped get everything connected. This is happening to me more & more – my teachers are the ones dreaming up the project. They just need help getting a partner & getting connected. My goal is to increase this type of videoconferencing in my districts!

ESL Exchange

Today we have two ESL classes, one from Lakeshore Middle School, and one from Edmonton Public Schools practicing their English skills with each other.

The classes started with introductions. First the students each introduced themselves and told where they were from, their native language, their favorite food and movie.

Then the classes asked each other questions. Here are some of them:

  • Why did you move to Canada?
  • How many brothers and sisters do you have?
  • Where is your country?
  • Would you like to go back to your country?
  • How do you feel living in Canada?
  • What were the teachers like in your home country to compared to how they are here?
  • What are some differences between America and your home country?
  • How do the other students in the school treat you?

The classes discussed hockey (Edmonton beat Detroit last night) and weather (it is currently snowing in Alberta). This was a great project and clearly was a great experience for the students. Not only did they practice their English skills, but they realized they are not alone in their experience integrating into another society.

A VC Blogger from Australia

I am delighted to introduce to you another blog about videoconferencing! This one is from Carol Daunt, executive officer of the Australian based Learning Technologies User Group. Her videoconference blog is titled Videoconference Tips & Techniques. She also has another blog, Dial M for Learning, also worth a peek.

I'm sure we'll learn some new VC techniques from Carol. I look forward to learning about videoconferencing in Australia, and maybe even learning a few tricks for overcoming our 14 hour time difference (Australia EST and U.S. EST) for collaborative connections.

If you're coming to my workshop at NECC, you'll get to hear Carol talk about collaborative projects in Australia.

Welcome Carol, to the videoconference blog community!

NECC Early Bird Rates End April 28

Are you registered for NECC in San Diego this year? If not, hurry & register! Early bird rates end April 28!

I'll be presenting a few sessions & workshops and hope to see you there!

Workshop: Designing Quality Interactive Classroom Projects for Videoconferencing
Design your own IVC projects. Use formats for popular national projects or templates such as sharing a science experiment, solving a mystery, or exchanging information.
Tuesday, 7/4/2006 8:30am– 3:30pm
We'll be videoconferencing with Canada and Australia.

Showcase Session: Authors, Guest Speakers, and International Connections: Videoconferencing for Learning
(With Jim Wenzloff, Macomb ISD and Elaine Shuck, Polycom)
Imagine your students interviewing authors or guest speakers! Learn to plan your own special events. Discover the possibilities for international connections to classrooms and museums.
Wednesday, 7/5/2006 3:00pm– 3:30pm
We'll be videoconferencing with author Jim Stovall.

Concurrent Session: Designing Quality Interactive Classroom Projects for Videoconferencing
Design your own IVC projects. Use formats for popular national projects or templates such as sharing a science experiment, solving a mystery, or exchanging information.
Thursday, 7/6/2006 11:00am– 12:00pm
We'll be videoconferencing with the United Kingdom. (This is a much-shortened version of the workshop.)

Plants & Puppets

Can you identify a plant’s habitat? Students from North Elementary, Watervliet, are connected to the Center for Puppetry Arts for the Plants program.

Students are learning about plants and their various habitats. They learned about the largest flower in the world, the Rafflesia arnoldii. It’s smell, that of rotten meat, can be detected a mile away. One student exclaimed, “Cool!”

After an introduction to the habitats, the students begin making a puppet. The presenter, Patty Petrey Dees, is very encouraging to the students and gives them clear instructions for making the puppet during the program.

Students learn about the different parts of the plant, identifying, labeling, and discussing the details of each plant part. The program also includes kinesthetic movement as students learn how the plants work. These activities help students stay focused for the length of the program.

Students also look at various foods and identify which part of the plant they are eating.

We really enjoy the programs from the Center for Puppetry Arts and this one was top notch like the others!

Lest We Forget: The Korean War

Today several of our local Korean War veterans took time out of their schedules to talk to our history students about their experiences. We also had a couple of classes participating from Pennsylvania and Texas. The veterans answered students questions, shared pictures, and showed various artifacts.

Mr. Gobert, one of the veterans, showed the standard sleeping bag to the students to help them understand the extreme cold conditions.

Here is a sampling of the questions the students asked:

  • What things would you like the American public to know about the Korean war that hasn’t been told or was misunderstood?
  • Why is it called the Forgotten War?
  • It is said that the US administration was unprepared for the Korean War. Do you agree and why or why not?
  • The Korean War was called a Police Action. How does that make you feel?
  • Had we lost the war, do you think communism would have spread through Asia?
  • Describe what military job you were trained for and whether or not you felt that your training was adequate for what you experienced in Korea?
  • How did your families react when they knew that you might not be coming back?
  • Were you able to communicate with your family?
  • What was the most difficult situation you were in and what was the outcome?
  • How has the service affected your life?

The veterans really appreciated the expressions of gratitude and respect from the students. They also appreciated the opportunity to share their stories. In the words of one veteran, "Thanks for letting us blow off steam." The students gained a deeper understanding of the sacrifices made for their freedom.

ASK: Night of the Twisters

Today I'm bridging three sessions of ASK: Night of the Twisters. Students are interviewing Mr. Ostuno, a NOAA meteorologist. This program is coordinated and funded by TWICE. Students read the book and followed the ASK process to prepare questions for the specialist. Here is a sampling of their questions:

  • What are some signs of a tornado starting?
  • How come certain kinds of weather happen in certain states?
  • What is the diameter of a regular tornado?
  • How can scientists know that there were 7 tornados in one day?
  • How do you decide if you should evacuate when a tornado is coming?
  • What is the best way to be safe during a tornado?
  • Would you want to get close to a tornado?
  • What is the difference between a tornado and a twister?

This specialist had nice concise answers, which allowed for many students to ask their questions during the program. We'll definitely be doing this program again!