Bill Colwell shared this Leadership Lessons from Dancing Guy video in a worship/inspiration today in our Leadership and Learning Group meeting. I thought you might find it interesting as well!
A leader needs the guts to stand alone and look ridiculous. But what he’s doing is so simple, it’s almost instructional. This is key. You must be easy to follow!
Now comes the first follower with a crucial role: he publicly shows everyone how to follow.
8/20/2010 note: I’m moving this article from my website to my blog for archiving. This lesson/collaboration was written by a high school special education / remedial reading teacher. These videoconferences were an early example of powerful sharing of writing via videoconference. Student feedback to each other was excellent.
Background
Niles, Michigan will be the host of the NBC Three Wishes TV Show in March 2006. Leading up to this event, teachers are incorporating the three wishes idea into their lesson plans.
Coordinating Teacher: Lynn Rouse
Online Registration: Please fill out the online form.
November 16. 11:30-12:30, EST. Three Wishes. Participating Schools:
Teacher Preparation
Students read Monkey’s Paw. They write at least one (up to three) wishes in the format for the show Three Wishes.
Each class should read the wishes to each other and vote on your top three wishes. Those students should then practice reading their wishes aloud so they can do so clearly over the videoconference.
Videoconference Format
During the videoconference Nov. 16, we’ll start with greetings from each school. Each class should introduce themselves with a bit of information about the school and a map of your location. Then we’ll rotate through each class sharing their 3 wishes. If there is time, we may hear more than those three wishes from
each school. At the end we’ll have time to allow the students to ask each other questions and give feedback on which wish moved them most.
. December 15. 11:30-12:30, EST. It’s Your Birthday! Book Talk.
Background. Mpanga from Zambia, a student in Niles, hasn’t had her birthday celebrated and her wish was to celebrate her birthday.
Close your Eyes; Make a Wish by Mpange
One wish that I would want in my life right now would be just to have a birthday party. I have never had a birthday in my life. I would like to have one. I think why I have never had one is no one wanted to make me a cake or had the money to plan one. If my mom were not dead, she could have created a birthday party for me. This is the most important wish in my life right now. I would also wish to go back to Africa (Zambia) to see how things are going and tell the people whom I miss that I love them. I also want to buy souvenirs for people I love in America.
The host class is making birthday cake posters with their favorite book.Students will share their favorite book & why. The other classes will sing happy birthday to Mpange. The other classes are encouraged to have cake & punch.
Teacher Preparation: Have each student write about a favorite book and be prepared to convince others to read it. Students should be creative in making presentations, a la Reading Rainbow.
Videoconference Format: We’ll start off singing “Happy Birthday” and then we’ll take turns saying, “It’s your birthday” (slang for “it’s your turn”) as students come up and convince others to enjoy their favorite book.
Curriculum Connections: English, Reading
. January 24 11:30-12:30 EST “Celebrate the Arts”
Participating Schools
Teacher Preparation: Prepare a presentation about a local landmark that needs saved. Preferably the students should make wishes as to which places in their community should be refurbished and used to celebrate the arts (i.e. a warehouse made into an art gallery or an old school house used as a dance studio, etc.)
Presentations should include name & location with a map; background information on the town; history of the town; background information on the landmark and why it should be saved. Have students work in groups to do various parts of the presentation to get as many students involved as possible. Be creative with the presentation.
Videoconference Format: Students will introduce their communities to each other, and then they will present their landmark to be saved to the other schools, pretending as if the other schools are selection committees on the show Three Wishes. As Amy Grant’s crew always does something for the arts community, these researched projects can be submitted on the NBC website. Contact coordinating teacher Lynn Rouse, lrouse@remc11.k12.mi.us if you have questions.
Curriculum Connection: social studies, language arts (researching, writing, presenting)
. February 14 11:30-12:30 EST “May Your Wish Come True” Teacher Preparation: Students will have to write essays about who their dream valentines would be. Teachers must remind students to choose people most people would know.
Videoconference Format: We’ll play some mood music and have a romantic theme. Students should have a way of showing a picture of their love interests. I’ll do a lead in about “love” being a theme of literature throughout the ages. Then the students will read their love letters to their unrequited loves. After each essay, students will respond to the writing, commenting on what they liked about the love letter.
Curriculum Connection: literature, speech, current events
. March 17 (tentative) 9:00-10:00 EST “Luck of the Irish” Participating Schools
Teacher Preparation: Students should research some part of St. Patrick’s Day to present to the rest of the classes. My class is doing Notre Dame lore. Each class should tell me what part of the day they are researching before the big day. By then, I hope to have a way to get Amy Grant with us. Cross your fingers.
Videoconference Format: I hope to have each school take a turn presenting and questioning.
Curriculum Connection: researching, presenting, history, folklore (Language Arts and Social Studies)
8/19/2010 note: I’m moving this article from my website to my blog for archiving. This project has continued each year since its inception in various forms as teachers and schools changed. In addition, this project marked the first installation of videoconferencing carts in elementary schools in our service area.
A Videoconference Project By Linda McConville and Diane Nye, E. P. Clarke Elementary, St. Joseph Public Schools
This project is shared online with the authors’ permission and with the purpose of encouraging other communities to create a similar project.
Background
Since the publication of the book Other Side of the River by Alex Kotlowitz, the two documentaries “Twin Cities: Understanding the Issues” by WNIT and the “Tale of Two Cities” produced by Michigan Public Broadcasting, and the Jimmy Carter Habitat Build in Benton Harbor during the summer of 2005, there has been a community focus on the need for understanding between St. Joseph and Benton Harbor. In addition, the civil unrest in Benton Harbor in June 2003 that received national attention escalated the need for programs and opportunities to bring a sense of unity to the two cities.
Project
As classroom teacher and media specialist, we designed a research project, Voices of Twin Cities Past, using distance learning to unite two diverse fourth classes and impact their learning about the history of the two neighboring communities. The specific program was to teach and use the Big6 research model to learn about important individuals from the past who made a difference in our Twin City history. We focused on schools and parks that the students attend or frequent. After designing the project we applied for and won a local Rotary Grant to pay for the distance learning equipment for both schools. Our working group consisted of fourth grade teachers from both districts, a media specialist, a social studies consultant, technology coordinators from both districts, and the Distance Learning consultant from our RESA.
Michigan Curriculum Framework
The specific measurable outcomes that apply to Voices of Twin Cities Past were derived from the Michigan Social Studies Curriculum Benchmarks (from the Michigan Department of Education -assessed by MEAP)
Time Frame
To complete our project, we established the following timetable:
Evaluation
The methods of evaluation we used to measure the outcomes of Voices of Twin Cities Past were:
A pre and post test were given to the fourth grade students to determine their knowledge of local namesakes of schools and parks. The pretest results showed that more than three-fourths of the students were unaware of the historical connections of names they see daily. However the results of the posttest showed the impact on students’ learning as over 90% of the two classes scored in the satisfactory range. Both classes also showed an increased interest and excitement when discussing the names of schools and parks with their peers and parents. In addition, both classes used the distance learning equipment at other times to connect the two classes. Because of this project, the students were able to develop friendships that were fostered when they met in real time through field trips and other activities. As the project progressed, we quickly discovered there was virtually no material written at a fourth grade level on the names chosen from our local history. Parent volunteers worked closely with student groups on the notetaking portion of the research to help decipher the difficult syntax and content of the primary documents.
The Inquiry outcome was measured using a rubric from The Big 6 Research Skills Model. All students successfully used all steps in the research process to produce the final written project. They also showed increased understanding of the importance of the rich history and stories of our communities.
The students’ final project was to create a “historical postcard” which included digital pictures and corresponding information on each historical figure. A full set was produced for each classroom and each media center. In the future we plan to include other final projects such as booklets, tri-folds, CDs, videos, and web logs.
Community and School Support
We received strong support on this project because administrators recognized that the potential impact of Voices of Twin Cities Past could have on students’ learning of local history, Furthermore, the community was eager to endorse a project that would facilitate collaboration between the school communities. Our superintendent wrote a cover letter of recommendation to the Rotary and our school board president signed our application. Upon receiving the Rotary grant award, our principal attended the awards luncheon with us. The technology directors and the RESA consultant worked closely with us in selecting the distance learning equipment. In addition many community members and our local Historical Society shared with us stories and primary documents of local history to use in our project.
Continuing the Project
After completing the first year successfully, we plan to continue this project with the original teachers and media specialist and the new incoming fourth graders in both districts. Involving other fourth grade classrooms in the two buildings is this year’s goal. This will require adding additional local names to use in the Big6 research process to expand the printed final project. To encourage others outside our local community to replicate this project, we have shared the information that will appear as a vignette in the new updated State of Michigan Technology Plan. We have also been invited to present Voices of Twin Cities Past in March 2006 at the MACUL conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and plan to present at MAME in the fall of 2007. In addition, we are working on a multimedia presentation to share with the community at a local Rotary lunch.
I’m cleaning my website again, and archiving old things here on my blog. This is a lesson plan / planning page for an international project we did in 2008. The report from 2008 is on my blog here.
Description: Students will identify misconceptions they hold regarding other cultures, while identifying and dispelling misconceptions held about their own culture. Preparation will involve researching other countries, journaling responses to reading, and formulating questions for interaction with students in other countries.
Subject Area: Reading and Writing
Intended Grade Level: Middle School (ages 12-14 – negotiable)
Time: This project will require several 45 minute videoconferences with interested schools throughout a 12 hour period. Before the videoconference, students will need approximately three weeks to research and present information to their classmates.
Moodle Project Website Login
Need help logging in? Email Janine at janine.lim@berrienresa.org.
Preparation: The host class, Coloma Middle School, will divide classes into groups to interact with each partner school.
The participating classes may also wish to divide students into groups to research the other countries, but they will only interact with Coloma Middle School in their time (see the schedule). They will be able to watch the streaming live, or watch it recorded later. (Windows Media Streaming).
After class discussion about why we develop misconceptions abut other cultures, students will engage in the following activities:
Optional: Create a brochure or poster to depict the country you researched. Be able to locate your country on a map. Topics may include major cities, urban and rural life, vital resources, ethnic foods, arts, cultural creations exported, type of money used, deadly wildlife, and any other important aspects of the country. Pictures will enhance the brochure.
Each participant is asked to prepare questions for discussion with students from other countries. Questions may include any of the following or those you create.
Learner Outcomes:
Possible GLCEs:
Time: This project will require several 45 minute videoconferences with interested schools throughout a 12 hour period. Before the videoconference, students will need approximately three weeks to research and present information to their classmates.
Materials
Template to create Jeopardy game
Construction paper for brochures or
Poster board for information display (use large lettering)
Props for play
Post Activities
Discussion of new information learned.
Journal Write reflection about what the student likes best about his/her country and the country studied. What have they learned? Would they visit the country they studied? What’s one thing learned that previously was not known? Which of the other country’s sports, hobbies or food would the students like to try?
Assessment and Evaluation
Videoconference Agenda Updated!!
Each connection will last 45 minutes
Schedule
Coloma Middle School will interact with each class. Each interaction will be recorded and streamed so the participating classes not interactive at that session will be able to watch the sessions they aren’t in.
Partners
We partnered with the following schools:
Project Authors:
Lessons Learned: Reflections from Two Years Later
This project was very interesting for the students and teachers. However, we learned that the skits were very difficult to follow. Students didn’t speak up loudly enough, or the skit came too fast to understand. Each class tried to help the other class to understand the misconceptions about their culture, but it was difficult to understand what was true, what was the misconception, and why it was a misconception through the medium of the skit. We thought skits would be creative, but they actually made it very hard to understand.
A better way to do this might have been to introduce the misconception, explain why it is a misconception and what the truth is, and then do the skit – more slowly & clearly and with visuals to help explain.
Another interesting thing we learned was that, for example, one country might have thought the other country had that misconception, when really they didn’t at all. Or they had no conceptions at all, not even misconceptions.
So…. the next time you want to do an international videoconference, consider what we tried to do and what we learned from it. Our recommendations would be:
What other tips do you have for international connections?
One of my pet peeves this summer has been the absolute confusion around videoconferencing definitions. Even I am struggling with the right terms to use to explain what I mean!
We use Skype because it’s IP.
Huh?! People using “standards-based videoconferencing” use “IP” to mean “H.323” as opposed to “H.320”. (Remember that, H.320/ISDN?)
But Skype doesn’t connect to “IP/H.323” or at least not without herculean efforts that aren’t easily replicable.
What is IVC?
I got this question at ISTE due to the SIG name – SIG IVC. We’re not doing a very good job if people don’t know what “IVC” stands for.
By the way, it’s interactive videoconferencing. (IVC)
Desktop videoconferencing doesn’t connect to zoos and museums with room systems (content providers).
That’s not true! There are now a whole slew of H.323 compatible desktop videoconferencing solutions. What this person probably meant was that Skype doesn’t connect to those content providers. But “desktop videoconferencing” doesn’t mean “Skype”.
“Desktop videoconferencing” no longer means “not H.323”. But some people are still using it that way!
I use Adobe Connect for videoconferencing.
Adobe Connect! It’s a webinar platform that has videoconferencing added on. Most webinars I’ve seen may show video one way – from the presenter to the audience, but it is rarely both ways.
Elluminate, a webinar platform, has added videoconferencing, even H323 support, with their new Elluminate VCS product.
That sure blurs the lines!
How do you explain the difference between videoconferencing and web conferencing? It used to be you could say web conferencing was on your computer. But now we have desktop videoconferencing too….
Do you remember these terms?
These terms are not consistently used, so it seemed simpler to use the term business and industry were using… videoconferencing. But that term has been muddied. It’s not clear anymore! How do I write descriptions for workshops? How do I differentiate between my Skype workshops and H323 workshops? I would like to call it “real videoconferencing”. Hear my bias?! But that’s not really fair! Standards based videoconferencing? It seems to be the most accurate, but isn’t a very teacher friendly term. How do we keep the communication clear?
Telepresence only a few years ago meant videoconferencing at very high bandwidth, with very high end cameras, with rooms designed identically so that it feels you’re in the same room: paint, walls, windows, furniture… the whole works!
Recently, Bob Dixon made this comment on the Megaconference listserv:
My only suggestion is to recognize that there is no real line between “telepresence” and “video conferencing”, and we now have vendors
using the telepresence term to mean almost anything. There will be interconnections among all levels of system sophistication. So whatever new protocols are developed for signalling and negotiation among disparate systems should be applicable even to the most basic systems, and not just to those which call themselves “telepresence”. This would allow interoperation throughout the complete continuum of video products, and might even improve interoperation among systems which do NOT call themselves “telepresence”. Of course all the vendors at all levels would have to incorporate these protocols to make that happen.
How are you navigating the ever changing world of videoconferencing terms? How do you explain it clearly to teachers you serve? What words do you use to compare H323 to Skype in a clear way?
Do you know any techs who insist on being “onsite” for every videoconference?
I’m coming to the conclusion that hovering makes it look hard. If the tech has to come out for every videoconference, how can the teacher or media aide feel that they can do it themselves?
The fact is, teachers can use the VC remote on their own!
In the Jazz Workshop, on Monday afternoon, we send participants off to small groups to practice dialing, moving the camera, setting presets, and adjusting the volume. On their own! And they do fine!!
Here is a comment from a teacher participating in the July Jazz 2010 workshop. Emphasis is mine.
There are a plethora of resources to enhance learning with students with videoconferencing. Why haven’t I used these resources before? Fear of technology is the response. However, after this workshop, my perception has been changed. It is easy to use the equipment and find a videoconference appropriate for your classroom.
I came into this class very apprehensive about videoconferencing. I wasn’t sure I could run the equipment and felt it was going to be over my head. However, I feel I have grown so much as a VC newbie! I feel comfortable looking for programs, filling out registration forms, and confident in my ability to be a leader in our building. I am really excited about sharing this information with our school through a staff meeting or allowing teachers to come in and observe during a videoconference.
What do you think? Do you agree? How do you reduce the fear for your teachers?
I love it when Google Alerts sends me interesting Read Around the Planet notifications. Here are a few little tidbits to tantalize you as the last moments of summer slip away and you start to think about videoconferences for the 2010-2011 school year.
This little clip is from a teacher whose inspiration from Read Around the Planet last year inspired a “Reader’s Coffeehouse” to involve parents.
In 2008, I considered having a Coffeehouse after remembering a snippet from Debbie Miller’s Reading With Meaning where she discusses twinkling lights, poetry, and a coffeehouse setting. After researching the history of coffeehouses, it made perfect sense to me. I wanted to host a parent night, but I wanted it to be simplistic and sophisticated. After all, the students were maturing as readers and writers. I suppose what set the idea in stone was our participation in Read Around the Planet.
Read the whole post here. Has Read Around the Planet given you new ideas by talking to students and educators in another location?
Cheryl Morin recently posted online her slideshare with pictures her class shared with their partner class for Read Around the Planet. Great examples of how to capture community experiences to share via videoconference!
So, what ideas do you have simmering in your brain for the 2010-2011 school year?
I have an email alert set up with ProQuest Dissertations and Theses on the word “videoconference”, so I can get an alert when any new studies are published about videoconferencing.
I was pleasantly surprised to get an alert for my dissertation in July!
It’s published with “open access” which means that you can download the PDF.
So, if you’re interested, check it out! I know, you probably don’t care! But anyway, more research published about VC in K12!
By the way, the AAT number (3410311) is the last piece I was waiting for to get the full citation for my dissertation. Hence the excitement.
Today is the facilitator debrief session for the 123 VC: Jazzing Up Your Curriculum with Videoconferencing workshop. We review the summer sessions and decide on changes for next year.
With that in mind, I thought I’d share a couple things:
Remember, if you’re interested in participating, review the documents on the right side of the Jazz website. Dates and application for next year should be up in a few weeks.
This week in the Jazz Workshop, my participants and I keep coming back to comparing Skype and videoconferencing carts (or standards based videoconferencing – i.e. H323). We’ve been discussing it all week. (For reference, here’s a previous comparison.)
Today, we did a 5 minute call with a group of teachers in OH who learning about Skype in an afternoon workshop.
We discussed how Skype is good for short learning experiences that aren’t critical/frustrating if it can’t connect right then.
Standards based (h323) videoconferencing carts are better when
What do you think? Do you agree? Do you have more to add to the list? Please comment!
