(From January 11)

After a few tense moments with the network (love the Internet these days), we successfully connected St. Joseph High School students to the Orange County Department of Education, coordinating a videoconference with author Chris Crutcher on his latest book, The Sledding Hill.

We started with introductions, and then started with questions. Here are some of the more interesting ones:

• How was Billy able to come when his dad was not?
• How did you write the part for Eddie? His comments are quick but for the most part incomplete. Is his personality like yours?
• Where did you get the idea for Montana West?
• Why did you use religion in this book?
• Why did you criticize one of your books in your own book?
• Have you ever written a book that has not been censored or banned?
• At one point should schools ban books? or should they?
• Are there any topics that you are hesitant to write about in a novel?
• How long did it take you to write this book? Which of your books take the longest to write?

It’s always entertaining to hear the author interact with the students. The author sees how students have thought deeply about the book, and the students hear interesting stories behind characters, names, and ideas in his book. Both seem to enjoy the conversation and students definitely increase their understanding and appreciation of literature and the writing process.

Some fascinating quotes from Mr. Crutcher:

• “When does innocence turn into ignorance?”
• “It’s fun to poke fun at myself in the story.”
• “Every human in the world has some creative way to express him or herself.”
• “You hear 5 stories, 10 stories, and 50 stories, and some truth rises to the top.”
• “I will tell you the truth in its native tongue.”
• “Any issue that comes up, we need to be in a position where we can talk about.”
• “Your body of work does represent what you’ve learned in life.” in answering a question about the message in the book.

Thank you to Orange County Department of Education for sharing this program with us.

Have you watched Megaconference Jr.? Then you should present this year!

Never heard of Megaconference Jr.? Then you should participate AND present this year!! Don’t be shy!

Think of a class doing something really cool in your building: music, drama, reader’s theater, science experiments/research, an invention, etc. Present!!

Here’s the official announcement that has gone out on the various VC listservs.

Deadline for presenter proposals/activities – January 23, 2006

We look forward to your involvement!
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WHAT IS MEGACONFERENCE JR.?
Megaconference Jr., now in its third year, is a project designed to give students in elementary and secondary schools around the world the opportunity to communicate, collaborate and contribute to each other’s learning in real time, using advanced multi-point video conferencing technology. Presenters will design and conduct videoconference-based presentations and activities focused on both academic and cultural issues. Participants will be able to address questions to presenters and to collaborate with geographically diverse peers in collaborative learning activities, thus building international cultural awareness.

WHEN IS IT GOING TO BE?
The event will be on May 18, 2006, and it will run from 7:00 am until 7:00 pm EDT (UTC-4). The 12-hour duration will make it possible for schools from many time zones to participate during their regular school hours. We strongly encourage schools to open up participation to parents, administrators, and the community and to stay connected for as long as possible so that they can actively participate with sites from around the world in different time-zones. Museums and libraries are especially encouraged to invite children and library patrons to participate during non-school hours.

HOW CAN I CONTRIBUTE?
You can propose a 10-15 min. interactive presentation or showcase an interesting collaboration project that you have been doing in your school. You can also suggest activities that could be organized at “downtimes” between the blocks of presentations. Or you can join us as participants, with no special presentation given from your side. (Questions at the end of presentations are more than welcome from everyone.)

WHO CAN BE A PRESENTER?
Students and teachers can be presenters. Presentations with multiple sites are strongly encouraged.

HOW DO I SUBMIT A PROPOSAL?
The proposal submission process has been streamlined again this year to ensure a successful conference for all. Anyone who wishes to submit a proposal must first register as a presenter for Megaconference Jr. 2006. Once registered, sites will be contacted about testing their network connections. Upon successfully testing, those who wish to submit a proposal will be able to do so. This will ensure that all sites proposing presentations have passed a preliminary connectivity test and will allow presenters more time to focus on their dress rehearsals.

HOW WILL PROPOSALS BE EVALUATED?
Proposals will be evaluated on the following criteria:
1. Title: The title is catchy and unique and related to the objective of the presentation.
2. Presentation is Related to Theme: Student presentations should focus on academic or cultural issues and incorporate global awareness and collaboration.
3. Collaboration/Interactivity: The ideal presentation should include collaboration with students in another geographic location. If your project includes another site please identify that in the “Overview” section of the proposal submission form.
4. Creativity/Uniqueness: The presentation is delivered in a creative way and presents a different or unique topic.
5. Multimedia: Without distracting from the proposal objectives, the students use a variety of media resources and appropriate distance learning activites.

WHAT TECHNOLOGY DO I NEED TO PARTICIPATE?
Most sites will need Internet2 or comparable high-speed connection and access to H.323 video-conferencing equipment. Presentations must be made using H.323 technology, preferably at 768 Kbps, and they will be made from the presenter’s location. Presentations with multiple remote presenters are encouraged (see evaluation criteria above).

WOULD I BE ABLE TO REHEARSE?
Yes, all presenters will be required to hold at least one dress rehearsal prior to the event to rehearse and refine their presentations.

HOW TO REGISTER AND SUBMIT A PROPOSAL:
Presenter registration and subsequent proposal submission (upon successful testing) should be completed online at: http://megaconferencejr.org/?id=registration

DEADLINES:

Submit your presenter proposal(s) by January 23, 2006.
(If you are unable to submit by this date due to special circumstances such as extended holiday break, please let us know and we will do everything possible to accommodate your schedule.)

General registration opens February 10, 2006.
General registration closes April 28, 2006.

AND….
Please forward this message to anyone you feel would be interested in being a presenter site, anywhere in the world.

Check out the NEW Megaconference Jr. 2006 website at http://megaconferencejr.org

Today high school government students from Coloma High School, Decatur High School, and New Buffalo High School are interviewing Senator Levin. He has taken time from his very busy schedule to talk to our students, even though an important bill is on the floor. We certainly appreciate his willingness to talk to our students.

Today students asked questions about many topics, including Iraq, Michigan’s economy and the loss of manufacturing jobs, Hurricane Katrina, taxes and the feasibility of a flat tax, the secretive nature of the current administration, the consolidation of agencies under the Department of Homeland Security, and other topics.

Students questions showed they had researched and considered current issues, they had visited Senator Levin’s website and thought carefully about their questions. One of the classes had participated in the Exercise in Hard Choices videoconference on the federal budget, and you could tell from their questions that they were prepared!

It’s been a great week – 17 videoconferences! I can tell that MEAP (our state testing) is over! Everyone is ready to connect somewhere!

Project “Empower Peace” has been connecting high school youth in the United States with their contemporaries in the Arab and Muslim world for a few years now. This “connection” is made possible through video conferencing and the Internet. To date, nearly 10,000 students from

over twenty countries have participated in or viewed our “virtual” cultural exchanges.

Here’s where we need YOU! Our most recent broadcast was the best to date, on September 29th, hundreds of students in Boston and New York interacted live with hundreds of students from Cairo, Egypt and Islamabad, Pakistan. Additionally, thousands watched the broadcast on

the Internet.

However, a few days later, disaster struck Pakistan in a form of an earthquake…tens of thousands dead, millions homeless…the Empower Peace students in Boston and New York wanted to do something to help their new friends in Islamabad…in an effort to do so, we are

organizing a LIVE TV/INTERNET TELETHON…entitled, “EMPOWER PEACE, PLEDGING FOR PAKISTAN.”

The TV/Internet Telethon will be broadcast live on Thursday, November 10th at 1-2PM (ET) in Boston on WB56-WLVI-TV and will also be streamed over the Internet (empowerpeace.com). Of additional significance, the broadcast will be transmitted by satellite back to Pakistan enabling viewers there to see the telethon.

We need a lot of schools from around the USA to pledge via e-mail….. would like them to pre-register on the empower peace web site http://www.empowerpeace.com we’d like to read their pledge out loud during the broadcast…so let them know they can compose a sentence or

2 to be read….

Also, if at all possible, we would like for your school to produce a high quality video message to youth in Pakistan we will review for airing…message should be no more than :30 in length….

Go to http://www.empowerpeace.com for more information.

This morning Coloma High School students are balancing the federal budget! Actually they are participating in Exercise in Hard Choices, a simulation that helps students understand the federal budget process. We’re connected with the University of Akron, Ohio, who is facilitating the videoconference, and a class in Decatur and Midland, Michigan.

The program started with an overview of budgeting, at a student level, state level, and federal level. Additional graphs helped students compare U.S. federal spending with other countries.

Student groups start by setting a budget goal of when (and if) they want to balance the federal budget. Each group is diverse with different viewpoints so that students experience the process of negotiation that occurs at the federal level. Then students make choices on 8 main areas: National Security, Income Support, General Government, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance, Health Insurance Coverage, and Revenues. Students enter their choices into an electronic scorecard that shows the longterm consequences of their decisions.

After they have deliberated and made their choices, the facilitator asked the students to share where their hot topics were and what issues came up as they debated. Students shared stories from people they knew and how the budget decisions affected those stories/experiences. Students clearly were engaged in the discussion and considered the country’s choices. Great experience!