Day 3

I loved MysteryQuest.  How much fun was that?!  I love kindergarten but this activity made me really want to go back to teaching the upper elementary grades.  Using the computer, teamwork, creatively presenting. You just don’t get that kind of work out of the little guys.  I  think I will use this idea in the classroom as  kindergartners are asked to be able to read  simple maps of  it and their homes.  It just won’t be the same.  I have to look forward to videoconferencing with Steve.

Our videoconferencing project should be a lot of fun in  October.  We completed the preplanning stage.  I look forward to sharing the project and preparing with the students for it.

I am very impressed with David from Global Nomads Group.  What an honorable project to have undertaken.  I would have like to have heard some of his stories of memorable interactions and what was his most satisfying moment facilitating. I hope to see this project grow and perhaps go to all parts of the world.

Kathy DeMott

Day 3 Reflections

Day 3 Reflections  Sarah Porath 

The article I read this morning was interesting.  I had read about Carol Buckley founding her elephant sanctuary in Tennessee earlier.  She does not allow field trips to her elephant habitat because she feels that it interferes with the normal life of the elephants.            

 Have you ever heard the saying “You have a memory like elephant?”   Well here is a story that explains that saying.    When the sanctuary gets its elephants from zoos and circuses they are provided with the elephant’s history, what region in Asia they came from, right down to the different herds they were captured from.  They were to get a new elephant from the same herd of an elephant that was already in the sanctuary.  Both elephants were captured at the same time when they were small.    Now in their old age they were to meet again.  Well did they remember each other?  You bet they did.  The elephants were like two old friends.   They were overjoyed to be reunited.              

Map Quest         

Creating the map quest was engaging.  I also enjoyed the hunt. I had never looked at such a detailed map of Australia.  However we were unable to locate the correct beach.  Australia would make a wonderful vacation spot. This type of activity sparked my interest in Australia well as in Egypt.

Global Nomads          

 David has created an award winning program.  I also believe “The highest level of education is tolerance.”  His program has a powerful agenda.  All educators should try to instill empathy in their students.  What better way than using G&G for an interactive way to involve students.  By understanding the world around us we are promoting tolerance and we are helping students to realize they have social responsibilities to themselves and to others.  This is for our future.  Great job David!             

 Google docs.         

 What a wonderful way to create a document.  It is not without its problems though.  Mastery takes patience with Google docs.  

Mistaken Post

Thursday at Lamar

We were quite productive here at Lamar yesterday in terms of getting all the groupwork ready for Friday’s presentations.

The ASK presentation was wonderful.  We really enjoyed the process and being able to experience it first-hand.  I really liked getting all the different perspectives from all the participating sites.

 Global Nomads group had a representative explaining the organization and how we could involve our students in their programs.

We also enjoyed the presentation from Robert about JANET and UKERNA and I feel like we’ll be able to make a lot of great connections this year in our school district now that I have so many great contacts that share my interest in this technology.

Day 4 NYC Report: ASK Program stirs emotions

9:00 Roll Call

The Internet Capabilities at NYC are hampered due to power losses in the city from the extreme heat ( > 100 degrees).

We were presented with the ASK program and its possibilities. The opportunity to dialogue with an author or expert in the field has great impact. We read the children’s’ book, The Wall. It turned out to be an emotional and solemn read. Who would have thought a child’s book could be so moving? We presented questions to Don Alsbro, Vietnam Veteran. His experiences were enlightening as he discussed the differences between the U.S. media’s interpretation of the war and the reality he and other veterans experienced. Veterans from other locations began to share there experiences as well. The Marine veteran from El Paso shared a remarkable experience of his survival in Vietnam. The exchanges among the groups were emotional and moving. We learned new things and gained a deeper appreciation for our soldiers and our country. As Don Albro said, “Freedom has a special meaning when you’ve fought for it.”

Lunchtime – We had sandwich wraps.
The Global Nomads Group shared how they connect children from different counties and cultures in classrooms around the world. They have hosted fascinating discussions like Genocide in Rwanda, HIV/AIDS, Land Mines in Mozambique, Gorillas in Rwanda, and more. The price is $120 per broadcast. http://gng.org
Afternoon – We communicated amongst our groups for our presentations tommorrow.

These were the highlights from a powerful day. See you tommorrow.

Day 4- August 3, 2006

We began the day with the ASK program. We watched a great demonstration video where the teacher was introducing the book Bud, Not Buddy and the ASk project to her class. The students were eventually able to videoconference with the author of their book.

We then had the book The Wall read to us by Eve Bunting. We created questions to ask a Vietnam Veteran. We then conferenced with the veteran. Overall ASK took us two full hours.

 Next we heard a presentation from Global Nomads who provides videoconference opportunities to middle and high school students. There were great conferences that could be done with students all over the world. The majority of what they offer has already been created and the cost was around $120.00. They covered very difficult topics such as genocide. This is a great way for students to discuss tough subjects with people all over the globe, and to see different viewpoints.

Next we saw a slideshow introducing JANET which is Joint Academic NETwork.JANET is sponsored by UKERNA.We were shown great UK and European videoconferences services that were offered for schools. The slideshow was very detailed and informative.

We then went to local time for thirty minutes.

We ended the day working on our group projects which will be presented tomorrow.  

Day 4 Reading

Day 3: August 2, 2006

We began the day with a short video introducing the Mystery Quest project. We briefly discussed what we had seen, processing various do’s and don’t’s.

This was followed by an icebreaker: a template of a coaster displaying graphics and text. The model was shown and uses were presented.

We then applied what we had learned in the Mystery Quest video to an actual Mystery Quest simulation of world beaches. Each group developed a creative presentation, giving clues to their beach for the other groups to guess.  The groups were allowed to ask yes-no questions to further refine their guesses after doing internet research to pinpoint each mystery beach. This project culminated in guessing the beaches and learning the correct answers. We discussed skills which this project enhances for students: notetaking, listening skills, deductive reasoning, formulating critical questions, research skills, technology and multi-media skills. We also discussed other possible applications for this Mystery Quest project within our local group and then shared with the groups in other parts of the country. Some ideas included inventors, biomes, animals, cities, scientists, timeline chronology, historical periods, solar system(s), art periods and art history, literary periods, artists, musicians, biogrphies, trees, geo-cache activities, and different cultures.

Our local group had a discussion of our changing society and implications for changing our educational model to better prepare students for what they will find in college and the world.

The afternoon (Central Time) began with an exciting segment with accompanying Powerpoint presentation entitled “Voices of Tomorrow: Harnessing the Power of Student Dialogue Through Videoconferencing.” The explanation (with more clips of the actual dialogues available to be viewed online) included: racism and race relations, Sept. 11, U.S./Israeli, and U.S./Iraqi. The success and challenges inherent in such an undertaking were shared in this exciting and thought-provoking project. This is a powerful relationship-building tool for diverse populations where commonalities were found and bonds strengthened.

Next, the Poetry Slam Project (with students from Queens and the Bronx, New York participating) was shared. An Olympic-style rating system was used. The scoring rubric was based half on the writing, itself, and half on presentation skills. Censorship issues proved to be central to this project.

The small group activites picked up where we had left off from the previous two days. Videoconferencing and/or chatting were utilized in continuing our planning for videoconferencing projects involving participation from multiple sites.

 Blogging, reporting, and other closure activities ended the agenda.

 Another fun-filled, productive day!

A day of fun and surprises! Report Day 3

Today we started off with a bang!  Mystery Beach Quest was a blast! So many creative ideas, clues, and presentations in such a short period of time.  Everyone was blown away with their confident, wrong answers for most of us.  It was so much fun, I can see why kids love it.  Great way to get those research skills, geographic knowledge, and reluctant learners engaged.  Of course, we all understand that it wouldn’t be run exactly the way we did it for kids.  More time would be spent on building those pre-activities to prepare kids for the job in store as well as plenty of time for them to assemble their information and choose a mode of presentation.  Great assessment tool also.

When some of us lost our bridge, we were quite disappointed that we were unable to participate in the first part of the afternoon video conference.  Being able to hear ideas that have been successfully executed on issues that can be controversial or uncomfortable would have benefitted us all.  We will just have to go to the moodle and investigate more on our own. Our group talked about possibilities that might be related like conducting a trial with a couple of classes with each class divided into the defense and prosecution.  A couple of books recommended were: The Trial of Cardigan Jones (for lower elementary) and Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry ( upper elementary).

Our group really had lots of questions and excitement about the Poetry Bash idea. Thoughts were flying around the room discussing the possibilities from elementary to high school, trying to understand the whole concept and logistics.  Hopefully an event like this can get started down here in Texas. We wonder if there is a site that can be visited on the event.

 As the afternoon progressed, we all frantically tried to divide jobs or hash out issues for the final project that is rapidly approaching.  Hopefully, we all will take the hints for the morning’s mystery quest by dividing and conquering.  There is so much to do in such a minimal amount of time, I know some of us are worried that we won’t get it all in.  Ken’s posting of the projects from last year should really help us all have a better idea. 

Can’t wait to see what tomorrow will bring! Come back rested and ready to roll!

Around the World in One Day

We learned about beaches all around the world through Mystery Quest.  This is an excellent method of videoconferencing across the curriculum.  Our site learned about Normandy.  We brainstormed many ways to use this method in all grade levels as well.

Extending our trip around the world, we learned about Student Dialog using videoconferencing.  This would help our students to understand other cultures and regions.

Amy-TempleISD