A Lasting Friendship: Maine and Argentina

Forwarded by Dave Perloff

In 2001 high school students from Auburn, Maine and Avellaneda, Argentina began a correspondence and a friendship that continues today.

Spanish teacher Pam Davis and English teacher Claudia García found each other through epals.com, an online service that matches teachers and classes around the world, and with a grant from the Perloff Family Foundation, the Edward Little High School students began studying Argentine culture and exchanging emails, pictures and mementos with their pen pals in Argentina.

At the end of that first school year, the American teacher traveled to Argentina to meet her new friend and visit the Argentine students and their school. With her she took a new laptop computer, a gift from the students at Edward Little High School. The Argentine students had so many questions, both about American life and about their pen-pals back in Maine. The next September, a new group of students continued to write and share experiences, and with another grant from the Perloff Family Foundation, the Argentine teacher was able to visit Maine and teach at Edward Little High School for two weeks. Claudia was the first Argentine the students had ever met, and a very real connection to their new friends there.

Both teachers have traveled to each other's countries again since, and several of the American "alumni" of this experience have gone on to major in Spanish in college and to travel to Argentina.

This past year, with a new group of students, the correspondence has taken a new step: video tours and letters. (With two cameras supplied by the Perloff Family Foundation and lots of support from the school systems involved, the American and Argentine students can see one another's schools, hear jokes, give the latest news and finally see and hear each other as they communicate.)

Both teachers and all students involved in this correspondence would like to thank the Perloff Family Foundation and especially Dave and Sandy Perloff for their interest and their support of new ideas in public schools!

Annenberg Media: By Becky Ranks

If you have not checked out the Annenberg Media materials, I would add it to my personal professional development goals for the summer. I am including a description below found on their website:

Annenberg Media uses media and telecommunications to advance excellent teaching in American schools. This mandate is carried out chiefly by the funding and broad distribution of educational video programs with coordinated Web and print materials for the professional development of K-12 teachers. It is part of The Annenberg Foundation and advances the Foundation’s goal of encouraging the development of more effective ways to share ideas and knowledge.
Annenberg Media’s multimedia resources help teachers increase their expertise in their fields and assist them in improving their teaching methods. Many programs are also intended for students in the classroom and viewers at home. All Annenberg Media videos exemplify excellent teaching.

As a former classroom teacher and a lover of literature, I found a video in minutes that took me right into classrooms with students and teachers interacting with literature. The video modeled best practices in using literature with young students and it was as if I were given the time to visit someone’s classroom and see these best practices in action. I had to do a quick sign up, but once I did I was given an array of choices and could do a search within the site by grade level and content area. What an amazing resource…I am not sure how I missed this one.

The trouble with kids today . . .

"The children now love luxury; they have bad manners,
contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders
and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now
tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no
longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict
their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties
at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their
teachers."

     ~ Socrates, 5th Century B.C.  Google Answers



There seems to be a perpetual lament throughout history
about how the young do not measure up to their elders.

Here's the latest complaint:

The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupifies 
Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future?

Podcast Interview with Author, Mark Bauerlain, at Intended Consequences.

EmoryWheel.com - Are We the Dumbest Generation?

Thoughts?

Video in the Classroom, The easy way

by J Charette

Using digital video in the classroom has always been viewed as a very time consuming undertaking. The typical scenario included using expensive video cameras, microphones, downloading video typically in real-time, then editing the video, followed by exporting the video back to the camera or burning DVDs. Getting it online was a whole other issue that most teachers don’t want to tackle. It appeared daunting to say the least.

Thanks to Dave and Sandy Perloff, the idea of making videos in a classroom is no longer daunting. The equipment involved includes a Canon Powershot digital camera, a couple of SD memory cards, a card reader, iMovie (found on the MLTI laptops), and a program that converts the files to flash. All that’s needed can be had for a minimum investment, no big expenses, no fears of students breaking that expensive equipment, and most importantly no huge time requirements!

My project was a Step Up Day video. The basic idea was to take a 7th grade Language Arts class and ask them to provide information to the 5th graders who will be coming to the school next year. We brainstormed topics, formed into teams of 3, chose a topic from our class list and then began the real work of putting together a scene of approximately one minute. Each student chose a role, writer, director, or editor. The writer was responsible for taking the script through the writing process. Each student had ideas that needed to be meshed together so they develop a rough draft, conferenced with the teacher, made revisions, and put together a working script. The director was responsible for all filming, setting up shots, and coaching the “actors” which were team members, teachers, and friends. The editor was then responsible for downloading video into iMovie, working on editing, arranging effects and exporting video. Even though they chose roles it turned into a collaborative effort that required give and take to produce the final product.

Before the start of the project I laid the groundwork for the project. In class we looked at scripts, learned how to set up scenes, practice speaking to an audience, and viewed other student produced videos. In this way, I was able to generate excitement among the students about the upcoming project.

At the start of the project, I practiced the technical aspects of converting video to flash, set up the video player, and posted the video to a server. This part of the project required a little technical knowledge but with the assistance of Dave Perloff, I was able to learn the process (through e-mail conversations!) quickly and easily.

The only other piece was training the students to use the camera. This was done through an in-class “workshop” with the directors from each team. We practiced with the camera and discussed basic filming techniques. I laid out a time line from start to end of about 10 class periods from start to finish. This was shortened to eight because Step Up Day was moved forward due to a scheduling conflict. This didn’t prove to be a major problem as we had it completed on time and premiered it during the morning to the enthusiastic 5th graders! The video was posted online the same day and has been viewed many times by students, parents, and community members! The students were thrilled to say the least! Although we may not challenge Iron Man at the box office, the students have the satisfaction of creating, producing, editing, and premiering their “first” video. It used many different skill sets they had been learning about in the classroom. The final product was for someone other than the teacher which proved to be the most motivating factor.

I can’t say enough about how easy this process was. It actually was simple, effective, and fun!!! Please check out the video.

Video in the classroom doesn’t have to be daunting. It can be simple, effective, and fun. It has the advantage of being real world, as well as opening up your school, your classroom, and your own teaching. I plan on this being a yearly project, with several possibilities of expanding video use in next years Language Arts classes. I encourage others to try using video in the classroom!

Meta Cognition

Essential Question: How do I learn best?

Universal Design in Maine

Endings

It is almost time to start reflecting on the school year.

End-of-the-Year Resources




Photo credit

Maine Holocaust Education Network

Ernie Easter of the New Sweden School has created the Maine Holocaust Education Network which is a network of educators and students sharing and collaborating with each other in order to understand the Holocaust and work towards preventing future holocausts, genocides, and other human rights atrocities. Join them here.

Holocaust Resources at LIM Resources Wiki

Wicked Decent Learning: "Work with Me Here"

Listen to Episode 21
WDL Blog
Cooked on Education Blog


Co-Teaching Resources at LIM Resources Wiki
Interdisciplinary Learning Resources at LIM Resources Wiki

Trust

Who(m) Do We Trust?




We live in a world that has a flood of information. How do we decide which information is true? How do we sort out what is most reliable? Let's look at some handy tools and ideas that help to make sense of it all. Click here.

Essential Question: '"How do you know information is true?"

---

Digital Video - Getting the Word Out

by Dave Perloff

Thanks for your post, and your encouragement regarding our foundation's work. We've had excellent adoption of by key Maine technology integrators, including David Grant, Laura Richter and Bob Sprankle, but it's been challenging to get the word out more generally. "Learning in Maine" is certainly one avenue for addressing that.

Jay Charette at Madawaska Middle School has been especially active in using our approach to digital video. His work was cited in the article written about Fast Track Grants in the current ACTEM news letter (p. 5, http://www.actem.org/Pages/ACTEM_Newsletter/EE_June08.pdf). Perhaps you could encourage Jay (jaychar@madawaskaschools.org) to contribute a post concerning his "Step Up Day" video project, which is now on-line at www.mediamaine.org/Madawaska/Stepupday .

Recently, I've been focusing on the use of the media player for accessing and archiving audio podcasts. Check out the following link for examples:

http://www.mediamaine.org/Podcasting/

This page provides instant access to more than 250 audio tracks. All of the .mp3 files reside on their own servers. They can be downloaded by clicking on the symbols at the right of the playlist item.

Fast Track Grants

Dave and Sandy Perloff have been giving back to Maine schools. Have an innovative or important project that you need help in implementing? Check with the Perloff Family Foundation.

The following schools and districts are now eligible to apply for grants for the 2008/2009 school year:

• Biddeford School District
• Connor Consolidated School
• Edmunds Consolidated School
• Ellsworth School Department
• Kingman Elementary
• Madawaska Elementary and MS/HS
• MSAD 27 (Fort Kent, Eagle Lake, Saint Francis, Wallagrass)
• MSAD 60 (Berwick, Lebanon, North Berwick)
• Sinclair (Therriault Elementary)

Find more information and background on the Fast Track Grants at the Maine Community Foundation.

Have a video project? Check here.

Teaching Tech: Using The Internet In Language Learning

by Nicole Ouellette

The internet has made it much easier for "foreign" language teachers to make their subject more relevant and interesting to their students. A few applications include 1) accessing primary resources in the target language, 2) establishing pen pal relationships with people who speak the target language, 3) practicing language using games, 4) practicing language through internet writing (discussion boards, blogs, chat rooms, etc.), and 5) using internet assessments.

One issue about using the internet in any classroom is whether a teacher should allow students to look for their own websites or whether to direct them to sites. I have seen first-hand that student-found sites are often superficial; they may be the first sites off a Google search or they may even just got straight to Wikipedia. It is important that students have the opportunity to do their own web research, however, teachers need to discuss the evaluation of websites with students. It is important to note that even sites from reputable sources may contain (or may link to) false information.

To give students structure to do internet research, I would give them several (3-4) good websites to look at on the topic of interest. In addition to the given websites, I would have students research another website on the same topic and pass in the web address along with a brief description of the site as part of their class or home work. By giving the students several examples, 1) They will have more starting points for their research, 2) They will see examples of good websites and 3) If one link doesn’t work, the whole project won’t be in danger. As students find more and more different websites about the topic, 1) the teacher will save time looking up new websites and 2) new websites will be found to replace expired ones for a project. When I monitored an AP internet class, the teachers of those classes always gave students the web addresses of sites they were to use. When they didn’t, straight to Wikipedia they went.

Of course, this implies there is some work to be done beforehand by the teacher to compile the links but once compiled, the resources will self-replace on the part of the students. I worked under a Hughes Education grant for a teacher doing this very work for about a month the summer of 2003. I imagine funding would be available for teachers wanting to undertake this sort of project, providing the work would be shared with other teachers.

In providing some web addresses for students and giving them guiding questions or an activity, teachers structure contexts for using the internet. Teachers can not send students on the internet to play a game (or do anything else) without a purpose. Internet resources, like any other instructional technique, can only be used after making assessments and constructing objectives. Making assessments and objectives would also help teachers figure out what types of web technology to use. For example, if I want to assess students’ knowledge about “Clauses with si” on sight, I would send them to play the battleship game at quia.com. If I wanted students to know how to write different clauses or know the answer without a list, however, I would want to assess them in another way.

When you start collecting web addresses, the amount will become overwhelming very quickly. If I was going to organize myself for the internet for the semester or year, I would begin structuring web resources by making an outline of the topics so that websites could be organized by topic. By doing this, I would be able to see which topics are well covered by websites and which are not. I would also see when movies, simulations, video games, or other special internet resources are available for the unit. By knowing what isn’t on the internet, I know what I will have to provide for in class so students have access to the information.

The best uses of the internet for learning another language are accessing primary resources and communicating with native speakers. On the internet, students can listen to French music, read French newspapers and magazines, and watch French movies. Students could for example listen to “Cap Énrage” by Zachary Richard and look at the lyrics at the same time. They could then write a paragraph about what they think the song means. In addition to exposure to media, students can communicate directly with native speakers of a foreign language on the internet. Through personal communication, students get the unique opportunity to hear another voice (literally and figuratively) besides the teacher speaking the target language. If a friendship is formed, students also have new motivation to learn the language. With the internet, students can go beyond canned conversation and outdated issues discussed in textbooks. (Before I went to France, I often thought the people there lived in the 1980s based on the culture written about in the textbooks!) The internet has made language learning more exciting and more relevant than ever. The plethora of internet resources and uses makes knowledge and application of internet resources an essential part of teaching and learning in the language classroom.

It would be great if teachers would post their favorite French (or Spanish or any language that is not English) learning sites. It’s been a few years since I’ve done this so there is probably a lot out there I’m not aware of!

Nicole will post "Teaching Tech" (formerly Tech Tuesday) about internet resources for your classroom whenever she thinks of it, which is incidentally never on a Tuesday. She doesn't teach anymore but has her own personal finance blog and web communication business: http://www.breakingeveninc.com.

K -12 Education Jobs in Maine

A list of places to search for education positions in Maine. Any others that should be added to the list?

SchoolLaw.com: Serving Schools
Info Maine - Maine Teaching Jobs
Maine Department of Education - Jobs

Another Handy Tool from Google

I just discovered another handy tool from Google that seems to be a very user-friendly way of working with groups. It is called Google Sites and is of the wiki persuasion. Feel free to play with the one I set up here. What do you think?

* Oops . . . it appears that an invite needs to be extended in order to edit although viewing can be private or public. Thanks for the heads-up, Sarah Sutter.

OnTIME - Episode 6

Link to latest ACTEM Podcast

Google Apps Reprise

Why Google Apps?


Google Apps Quick Tour


What Students Think of Google Apps


Question: Are there any reasons that K-12 schools should not use Google Apps?

Who would ever think pain can feel this good?

by Ed Latham

I am not a masochist, but I am a boy scout leader which some may mistake as the same thing, at times. This weekend, I had the pleasure of attending a district scout camporee with 7 fine individuals from our small town of Frenchville Maine. Our crew ranges from 6th graders through high school juniors with most of our scouts falling on the younger range of the scale. Our scouts are not gifted athletes and half of them are not academically outstanding. In short you may say our troop is a typical sample of students you may have in class in any rural area.

One event at this camporee was the tug of war. With the lack of physically dominant kids, I figured this would be one of the events that our kids dreaded. In fact, it was one of their favorite. The leaders in charge of the camporee threw the tug of war event in more as a time filler as opposed to any serious intent of competition. When boys were finished other events, they would come over to the rope and just start pulling each other around the field creating grass stains that any laundromat owner has nightmares about. The boys had an official pull that they did very well at and then continued trying different permutations to test themselves. At one point only two of our boys were taking on an entire troop of younger, smaller boys. The testosterone was in the air and I have to admit I caught a good whiff of it as I watch the boys preening and strutting their stuff.

I got up off the grass and started sauntering over to the rope as I pulled up my sleeves getting ready for a major lesson. The two scouts that had been dominating were whooping and hollering nervously as a "real challenge" was coming in their mind. I weigh in close to 250 pounds and these two boys totaled 350-400 total. Still everyone was all charged up and eager to see this old man take on the young studs. When we started, everyone was dead quiet and you could actually hear a few joints in my legs "adjusting". We pulled and held each other. They had mass but I had leverage, experience and a confident attitude. The boys learned quickly that if they tugged together, simply weight ratios demanded that my body would be lifted off the ground. I would gain an inch, they would lift me 4-5 inches before I could land and pull back another inch or so. I saw the end coming and started laughing as I bounced on my butt as they dragged me across the line. I knew the pull was unfair. I knew the competition was in no way balanced and I knew I had little chance of winning. The boys did not know that last part of course. Still I congratulated the boys on a fine pull and everyone had a blast with no excuses. I think I pulled a groin muscle or something as I started experiencing a good amount of pain about an hour or so later. Ah, old age catching up with a young mind.

Fast forward a few hours. At the evening bonfire, the leaders had determined there was enough interest in the tug of war earlier to have a pull offs between the two top teams. Our troop was one of the finalist. Our 7 were up against 8 other boys that were marginally bigger than ours. Our team was able to pull on a downhill grade which I figured was to account for the more mass on the other side. The pull was very tight and only after a couple min of pulling did our boys succeed. Then they switched sides! More mass going down hill, I was a wreck. The boys quietly took their new post and gave it their best. They were dragged with ease. They got up proudly as it was pronounced a third pull would decide it. Evidently there was no call to change sides. The boys did not complain once, but dug in to do their best. They held a few seconds then proceeded to get dragged easily away.

All the way back in the crowd they never once hung their head, and never offered an excuse. They were proud of what they did in spite of everything being stacked against them. When they got home and parents asked about the weekend, the tug of war topped every boys list of cool things.

I started walking through the halls of a school today and those part of my body that chose to not keep up with my mental youth were reminding me of my group of scouts and how their learning experience this weekend was so much different from what they may be experiencing in class today. I look to almost any school vision and I see words like perseverance, courage, creativity and so many other positive habits of mind. Until this weekend, I had never seen what the attainment of those traits actually looked like in a group of students. I have seen glimpses in individuals in school, but never the entire group sharing the experience and the learning. In the scouting program, many of the skills and habits of mind are programmed into their activities and merit badges. Watching these boys tackle very clear challenges, failing, and still relishing the experience helps to show me how much is missing out of a student's typical day at school. I have four adolescent boys and between the four of them I might hear of one thing each week that one of the boys might have experienced at school and he thought everyone should know about in a positive way. School just seems to be happening to them with little involvement or personal action.

I limped back to my room at school with my problem solving brain in high gear. Thoughts of Competency Based Education models, Mastery Teaching, and the Scouting Model bounce around my head as I start looking over the revised Maine State Learning Results. Why can't our curriculum look more like these models? The inner puppy in me was barking like crazy that it was time to play with possibilities and revisit hopes and dreams for education. Although, I am sure the muscles will be reminding me of my foolishness for days to come, the aches will help remind me of what real learning can look like. My legs, back and other parts of my body may be quite uncomfortable, but the feeling in my head and heart is oh so good!

Featuring McFalls Elm Street School

The Elm Street School is a K-8 school about 10 miles from Lewiston/Auburn. It is located in Mechanic Falls and is part of Union 29. The good people in this school need to look at every possible avenue to stretch their small budget in order to provide the very best possible learning environment in a caring, community school. Though I haven't worked with them this past year, I had the opportunity in previous years to see their dedication to grabbing every opportunity that might enhance their school. On an earlier post, we looked at the importance of classroom web presence. Check the links below to see a small sampling of the free/inexpensive solutions that Elm Street 7-8 teachers made use of:



Laurie Callahan - Social Studies





Mrs. Callahan's Portaportal







Dan Knott - Science





Mr. Knott's Portaportal







Cathy Wood



Mrs. Wood's Homework Hero Assignment Page









Gigi Lee



Mrs. Lee's Math Website and Weather WebQuest

WDL Episode 19

Award Ceremonies Podcast
Wicked Decent Learning Blog
Maine Ideas in Education


Straight out of Western Maine, Jeff Bailey and Dan Ryder continue their famous/infamous weekly podcasts on issues and opportunities in education . . . with a focus on Maine.

Direct Audio Link to this Week's Podcast

Is it on the test?

Not on the Test
FairTest: The National Center for Fair and Open Testing
Process Skills

What is not on the test?

What should be on the test?