Tag Archives: Content Providers

In Depth: Autopsy

Today I also have two classes participating in the pilot tests of COSI Columbus’ new program, In Depth: Autopsy. We’ve now done three pilot sesions of this new program. COSI has revamped their Forensic Autopsy Interview into a program with a live presentation of a taped autopsy. Students receive case materials, toxicology test results, and more. As part of the program students have to determine the cause of death.

For classes studying forensics, this program is as real life and detailed (graphic!) as it gets! I know with the previous forensic interviews, my teachers wanted to see more. Well this new program certainly shows more! Perfect for forensics classes. Distance learning coordinators with squeamish stomachs might want to leave the room, though!

NASA Digital Learning Network

Today I finished up scheduling my first program this year with the NASA Digital Learning Network. I’m really impressed with the new system for scheduling programs with NASA Johnson Space Center and NASA Glenn Research Center. It was quick & easy and very efficient.

So if you haven’t scheduled anything with NASA yet this year, you should!!

Teaching with Documents

This afternoon we have several teachers learning about using primary source documents in the classroom. Leann Potter, an archivist at NARA, the National Archives and Records Administration. She’s a great story teller and knows what items will pique our interest. She showed us the patent documents for the light bulb and telephone, the check that paid for the purchase of Alaska, rough drafts of presidential documents, and many other cool things that can really enhance historical studies.

This is a great PD session for all levels of social studies teachers. I highly recommend it!

Living History Museums

Today we’re taking two trips back in time to living history museums.

First we have Lighthouse Education Center connecting to Conner Prairie, IN for the Creating Communities program. This program really explains to kids the difference between goods and services – a great introduction to these social studies concepts.

It’s pretty funny when kids ask a question about something outside of the time period – such as “Do you have pizza in your store?” Mr. Whittaker stayed in character for the whole interview to the slight frustration of the kids. “He doesn’t know what pizza is!” they said. It was a good learning experience for them!!

Then this afternoon we have Lawton students connecting to the Historic Cold Springs Village, NJ. Students are learning what it was like to live and learn 200 years ago.

Both programs connect students to presenters dressed in period costume in a historical setting and students get to interact with the historical person. Conner Prairie also had a map for students to work with in addition to interacting with the presenter.

Save the Cincy Zoo DL Program

I just heard from Ken Freeman at the Cincinnati Zoo, one of my favorite content providers. Ken needs our support. Please take the time to write explaining to the Director of Education the great value of distance learning programs at the Cincinnati Zoo. Here’s details of the situation from Ken:

The reason I called you today (and am writing you) is to ask for your help. Serious consideration is being made by the Director and Assistant Director of Education to eliminate, or at best, drastically scale back, the distance learning program at the Cincinnati Zoo. One of the main reasons is because they believe that the value of the visitor experience, the visitor who physically comes to the Zoo, outweighs the value of a virtual experience. While I believe that we do need programs for students who physically come to the Zoo, I can’t imagine eliminating a videoconferencing experience for students unable to travel to a Zoo or museum due to distance or financial constraints. In addition, I know how many students and faculty we have reached in the five plus years I have been involved with the program, and I do not want to eliminate this valuable resource.
Would you be willing to write a short letter to the Directors of the Education Dept. highlighting the benefits of videoconferencing, in addition to how our programs have impacted the students in your region? Responses can be sent to my zoo e-mail address at ken.freeman@cincinnatizoo.org.

So please take the time today to write a response to Ken to support distance learning from the Cincinnati Zoo!! Thank you!!!

Here’s a link to my blog entry on a recent program we did with the Cincinnati Zoo.

ASK: Stellaluna

Today we’re doing a set of three ASK programs on the book Stellaluna. Tw0 classes from E.P.Clarke Elementary, St. Joseph; two classes from Countryside Charter, Benton Harbor, and three classes from Hollywood Elementary, Lakeshore are participating. We also shared the program with a class in Rosenberg, Texas, and a class in Hudsonville, Michigan.

Students read the book Stellaluna, journalled, and then wrote questions in preparation for the program. Yesterday’s ASK program was an interview with an author. Today’s ASK programs are with a specialist, a staff member from the Bat Zone at the Cranbrook Institute of Science. We’re actually doing a modified version of their program, Bats of the World. We listen to part of the program, see a live bat, and then take a set of questions from the students. This pattern rotates throughout the program.

In ASK programs, the difference between interviewing the author and interviewing the specialist is the focus of the questions. Interviewing the author focuses questions more on the writing process; while interviewing the specialist focuses questions on the content of the book. If you’re thinking about starting an ASK program in your area, it’s easier to start with books that you can interview a specialist related to the book.

It’s pretty funny to see the little Jamaican Leaf Nose Bat chewing on Dawn’s finger as she talked about him. He’s pretty unhappy because he wants to sleep!

Kids questions are fun to hear too:

  • Can you have a bat as a pet? (No! It’s illegal. Plus they don’t make good pets for several reasons.)
  • Why do some bats hibernate & some bats hibernate?
  • What should we do if we find a bat on the ground?
  • Which bats are found in southwest Michigan?
  • How are bats helpful to humans?
  • Would a fruit bat ever eat a fruit bat eat an insect if there was no fruit available or would they starve?

Another great ASK program finished for today! Great questions from students and interesting facts about bats. Kids especially liked seeing the live bats.

Halloween Slime Time

This morning we’re taking a 1st grade class to the newest Michigan content provider, Ann Arbor Hands On Museum. We’re doing a program called Halloween Slime Time, and the students are talking to Witch Patricia. Today they’ll be making slime in a study on the states of matter.

The museum has some great visuals to explain the states of matter within the context of Halloween, such as gas coming from the cauldron.

Now the students are using pipettes to follow a simple recipe to make two kinds of slime (a polymer). The kids are really enjoying playing with the slime. They say it smells like glue. Witch Patricia encourages the students to investigate the slime and see what it can do. I hear the joy of learning coming from my TV!

The second slime had properties of a solid and a liquid and students used their knowledge of solid & liquid to describe the slime.

Kids really enjoyed the program. Some kids said, “Can we do this again?” and “Can we keep our slime?”

Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum offers programs seasonally. The next opportunity is Critters in the Cold, offered December 1 through March 3. Schedule a program by request during that time frame.

Nobody Likes Me: Bats

This morning we have a Kindergarten class from Hollywood Elementary connecting to the Cincinnati Zoo to learn about bats. Ken was kind enough to tailor his Nobody Likes Me session to just the bats part of the program.

It’s so fun to see to the awe on the kids’ faces when they hear a voice and just see a logo on a document camera. They get so quiet!

Ken, as always, does a great job of getting the kids talking and interacting from the very first of the videoconference.

Today the kindergarten kids saw bats in the Cincinnati Zoo, answered questions, practiced flying like bats, and learned all about bats! We ended with questions from the students. They have been studying bats, so they had good questions ready. Why do bats hang upside down? Do bats go to school to learn to fly? How high can a bat fly?

The students are building a bat house on Friday, so the teacher asked Ken for advice on where to put the bat house.

Ken was really sensitive to the attention span of kindergarteners and worked with the teachers even during the program to make sure the length and discussion covered what they wanted to learn.

Animation Mentoring

The Orange County Animation Project: Mentoring From The Real World with Michael Guerena, Program Specialist, Orange County Department of Education (CA, UNITED STATES), Dave Master, Director, ACME Animation, and Don Isbell, Animation Teacher, Century High School.

Dave started by explaining the need for students well trained in animation. When professionals review students’ portfolios, they only keep 1 in 1000 of the portfolios that come in.

He showed a video how how students get feedback from professionals on their work.

They have 3 levels of telecasts:

  1. Audition room for students who are just learning the basics. At this level they have a year’s resources for teachers.
  2. The intern level is for students who are really serious. The students work is evaluated by professionals in the industry.
  3. The apprentice level is the same as in the industry. Students have to have 5 pieces of work that are at the level to get a job.

The pros in the studios just walk down the hall to their videoconference room to evaluate the students’ work.

He showed another clip where the students at the intern level are given an assignment. The students work on it for two weeks, revise, review, and then the professionals critique the students work. Then the students do an informed revision on their work. The teachers in the classes around the US also interacted and learned with the pros through the program.

Their group is now considered a major source of talent by the studios!

They do have room for other schools to join (jr high, high school, & college). The telecasts are a round-robin. They make webcasts available for other classes as well.

How do you participate? Contact Debbie Brooks, 323-334-6191, dbrooks at theacmenetwork.org who is the director of this program.

It’s $1000 a year to participate online or $12,500 for all the telecasts which is about half the cost of what it really costs to do the program.

Here’s the project website.

Next we’re hearing from Michael Guerena, and he’s explaining how they are implementing this project on a county wide basis. The project goals include developing opportunities to showcase student animation work through exhibitions, broadcasting, and the Internet, as well as preparing students for a wide range of animation careers.

They partner with local colleges and also work to develop highly-skilled animation instructors.

It’s incredible really how students interact with professionals and get live feedback on their work. One student shared how good it makes him feel to realize that pros care about giving feedback to them and helping them work with their work.

On a side note, you can really tell that these guys are all into video. They have a great background and really good lighting that makes the presentation really easy to listen to & watch.

Now Don Isbell, Animation Teacher, Century High School, is explaining how the program works in his school. His school is in a high poverty and most of his students haven’t been to a museum or traveled much. This program brings an incredible experience for the poorer students and expands their understanding of the types of jobs open to them and gives more of them the realization that they CAN go to college!

Don shared how his students learned collaboration skills, how to behave professionally interacting with the professionals, and how to mentor each other. In addition, the program raised the literacy levels of students as they had to use technical jargon in communicating about animation.

Neat program! My ideas of what can be done with VC have expanded again!

Flying with Butterfly Puppets

Last session of the day! I’m back in the Teaching strand for a videoconference with the Center for Puppetry Arts. We are doing the Butterflies program. This is one of my most favorite videoconferences of all!

Patty is great at making the program interactive. She asks questions, getes us to comment, uses student names, and more.

But the really interactive part is how we learn a concept, glue part of the puppet, learn another concept, glue another part of the puppet, etc. Or as I like to say, Learn a little, glue a little, learn a little, glue a little. Perfect for young students with short attention spans! What a fun end to a very full day!

If you haven’t gone to the Center for Puppetry Arts, plan to schedule a program this year! Excellent programming!