To compete the grant I posted an article in the MACUL Community site. Read the complete post here: http://maculcommunity.org/skype-in-the-classroom/
The "Skype Cart" project is coming to a close. This project was funded by the 2016 MACUL Grant. Students at Tyrone Elementary School traveled over 11,000 miles, visited 2 countries, and toured places hundreds of miles away. It's been a great experience.
To compete the grant I posted an article in the MACUL Community site. Read the complete post here: http://maculcommunity.org/skype-in-the-classroom/
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Today I had the pleasure of presenting to educators around Wayne County Michigan for “Tech Day”. I demonstrated “Skype in the Classroom” and the creation of the Harper Woods “Skype Cart”. This was part of the MACUL Grant I received in 2016. I reviewed the process of how I developed the “Skype Cart” and showed a few demos of students in Harper Woods using the cart to communicate with authors and take virtual tours. However the highlight of the presentation was a call I was able to secure from the Penguin hospital in South Africa! Our caller, Tamlyn Hardy, showed us the process and hospital where they care for Penguins of South Africa. It was a great call and the group really enjoyed the tour. I’m still amazed that we can call someone thousands of miles away, see and experience something that would be impossible to do in a regular educational setting. Learn more about this virtual trip at education.microsoft.com/ConnectWithOthers/sanccob This week 6th grade students went to California to see Hearst Castle. They learned about the publishing millionaire William Hearst, but more importantly, they learned about the Artwork and architecture that fills the grounds of this California State Park. This directly relates to Greek civilizations which they are currently studying. To watch a recap of the visit: Click Here Today students had a visit from Bill Harley, the author of the book “Night of the Spadefoot Toads”. Mr. Harley lives in Massachusetts, and with the help form Skype, he talk to Tyrone students from the comfort of his kitchen. Mr. Harley entertained students with stories of how he came up with the idea for book, and answered several questions. The students had a great time. “If you spend an hour a day writing, you will write your life’s work”. To see a shorten video of the talk with Mr. Harley: CLICK HERE Today Mrs. Robb's class learned about the Mountain men of Wyoming. This interesting tour was done with Skype in the classroom. This tour was done with one class and it was a more comfortable atmosphere then trying to have 2 classes take the trip at once. The speaker talked about the Mountain Men of Wyoming, how they lived and the tools they used. Students were able to ask questions and interact with the speaker. The speaker showed some interesting artifacts. I wasn’t aware that a beaver pelt has an almost purple hue to it. I enjoy taking these Skype trips with these classes, I always find myself learning a little something. See a video of our trip here: Learn more about Skype in the Classroom here: Beacon Elementary's 3rd grade students visited the Lake Superior Canoe Museum this week. This trip was set up using Skype in the Classroom and the Skype Cart made possible by the 2016 MACUL Grant. Having a dedicated cart for Skype for these activities has been proven to be very useful, and easy for setup before the call and takedown after the call. For this virtual field trip, students learned about the early French fur traders in North America.We heard from presenters on what type of tools they used and traded. What types of furs they valued most and we were able to see authentic examples of the artifacts. Students also saw canoes of various sizes, one larger than a school bus! It was interesting to see the process and tools used to create the canoe. It was a fun experience, and we were able to travel to Canada without a passport or leaving our building. Check out the video of the event here: Learn more about Skype in the Classroom here: ToWant to take a fun and interactive brain break? Try doing a “Mystery Skype”. On this day 4th grade students from Mr. Wettstein’s class played “Mystery Skype” with a class from Kansas. To set this up I used “Skype in the Classroom”. I reached out to a teacher in Kansas, and she accepted. The day before the teacher and I did a Skype call to make sure we could connect, see and hear each other. We spoke for a few minutes and went over our ground rules. We would ask only “yes” and “no” questions, we also agreed that after 20 minutes if the classes were struggling we would help with clues. It’s great connecting with teachers from around the country, and Skype in the Classroom makes this very easy. Mr. Wettstein’s class was new to Mystery Skype, so to help prepare them, I did a practice round. I had the Skype Cart set up in the classroom, and I Skyped in from a different classroom pretending to be someplace else in the world, for my example I pretended I was in New York City. I then asked questions as if I didn't know where they lived. For example I asked if they were in North America, was it the same time there as where I was, etc. Each time Mr. Wettstein was helping students asking me questions, and guiding the students through this process. On the scheduled day for the Mystery Skype, I rolled the Skype Cart in the classroom, set it up, and we waited for the call. Mr. Wettstein had his class organized in groups, a team leader that would be asking the questions. When the call came in the class was excited. After we said hello, we began; students took turns asking and answering questions. Everyone had fun. In the end who won? I would say both classes did. You can watch some highlights from our Mystery Skype here: To learn more about "Mystery Skype" visit Microsoft in education: https://education.microsoft.com/skype-in-the-classroom/overview Today Mrs. Smith's class had a visit from Johnathan Rand. Her class has been reading and enjoying his "Michigan Chillers" books. However Mr. Rand did't physically come into the classroom, he visited via Skype from his store near Indian River Michigan. Mrs. Smith emailed Mr. Rand and he often does Skype visits, for free. So after a quick set up, studnets met the autor of the books they have been enjoying, and they were able to ask questions. Watch a video of the visiit HERE. We did training on the “Skype Cart” funded by the 2016 MACUL Grant that I received earlier this year. Staff liked the cart’s ease of setup and use. I wired the cart so the user only has to plug one cord into an outlet. Everything else; the computer, camera, and HDMI cables are all wired in so staff doesn’t have to fiddle with any assembly, they just wheel in the cart, plug it in, fire it up and it’s ready to go. I wanted this cart to be as simple as possible to set up. After reviewing the setup and use, I showed staff how to find resources and set up an account on Skype in the Classroom. https://education.microsoft.com/skype-in-the-classroom/overview. We then took a virtual field trip, just like staff can do with their classes. I set this up prior to the training by making arrangements with the “Buffalo Bill Center in Wyoming” https://centerofthewest.org. They agreed to do a short Skype call to show teachers what a lesson would look and sound like. At the scheduled time, the speaker called and began the lesson. She started at a table and introduced herself, and showed artifacts and gave examples of what they do with the teacher’s classes. Next, the speaker ended the call, and called us back on her iPad a few minutes later. From there she walked through the museum to a Buffalo display where she showed and explained the many features we were seeing. It was interesting to see how the presenter navigated the museum floor and show the virtual attendees a unique view of displays. I received positive feedback on this training, and for me, I always liked training that is authentic and relevant.
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About me...I'm an Instructional Technology Specialist in Harper Woods District Schools. Archives
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