Best Kindergarten VC Programs

Posted on August 31, 2005 by Janine Lim

So you’re a Kindergarten teacher and you want to do a videoconference this year? What are the best interactive programs for kindergarten level?

  1. One of my absolute favorite programs is Let’s Go to the Show from the Cleveland Institute of Music. Highly interactive. Students sing and dance during the program. It’s excellent! You have to be able to clear the floor in your distance learning room to do this one, so hopefully you don’t have fancy furniture bolted down.
  2. See the K2K Connection 2005 post on Joan Roehre’s blog. A year long partnership between two classes. I quote: Kindergarten (YES- Kindergarten!) teachers Lynette Powers (Southport) and Kim Frost (Somers) are once again connecting their students throughout the year using videoconference technology. Starting in September with “All ABout Me” students will present and share interests to their buddy at the partner school. Projects following are “Monster”, “Nursery Rhyme”, “What Should You Do?”, “Catch a Leprechaun”, “Activity Riddles” and lastly, a face-to-face picnic in May!
    Sounds like a great year long project. I’m sure the kids love it!
  3. Read Across America! Getting matched up with another K-2 class for an exchange is a great way to start off with videoconferencing. Techs should register in November, teachers in December.
  4. The Center for Puppetry Arts has great hands-on programs. Check out the K-2 programs. Learn a little, glue a little, learn a little more! End up with a finished puppet! Perfect for short attention spans!
  5. The Cleveland Museum of Art is another great provider. They have two K-1 programs. I haven’t seen them yet, but they look excellent! We love the CMA programs, especially their green screen technology!
  6. Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum (new provider) has a program for winter on Critters in the Cold.
  7. Space Center Houston has two K-2 programs. They are new this year too – just got a flyer in the mail a couple weeks ago. Worth checking out it seems.
  8. Camden Children’s Garden has several K-2 programs. Haven’t seen these either but they sound really good.
  9. The Cleveland Zoo has K-2 programs, but they schedule them and you have to sign up quickly because they are free & fill up fast! Their schedule for this fall isn’t out yet.
  10. If you search our database for PreK, you get several programs that are good for young students.
  11. Michigan teachers, be sure to also check out our Grade Level Content Expectations & Videoconferences project.

Not a comprehensive list, but a list of favorites!

To my local teachers, email me or visit www.remc11.k12.mi.us/dl to schedule any of these videoconferences.

Filed under: Program Lists | Comments Off

Register for the Keystone Conference!

Posted on August 29, 2005 by Janine Lim

If you’re participating in the Keystone Conference this year, register quick before the early bird registration ends on September 1! You can participate onsite in Indianapolis, via videoconference from your school, or via web streaming!

Don’t miss it! Looks like a great lineup of sessions again this year. This is THE premier videoconference conference in the world!

Filed under: VC Community | Comments Off

Exciting New Class!

Posted on August 26, 2005 by Janine Lim

I’m just today filling out the paperwork for an exciting new class we’ll be offering starting November 1. Kid2Kid Videoconference Connections or K2K VC. 2 graduate credits. 5 months (November to March) with one week of readings/discussion and one K2K videoconference with a partner class each month. Stay tuned for more details. Registration will open sometime after Labor Day.

Here’s the description to tantalize you….

 

Videoconference (VC) connections between classes open up a whole new world of collaborative learning for students! Immerse yourself in videoconference connections with partner classes. Do one kid-to-kid (K2K) videoconference each month during this class. Learn about structures/templates for projects with other classes and implement them with your students and a partner classroom. During the class you’ll reflect on exemplary student-to-student projects, receive support during your own project connections, and apply your learning in your classroom. This class is best for teachers with easy access to videoconference technology. Interested distance learning coordinators or media specialists are strongly encouraged to sign up with a local teacher. 

Filed under: Collaborations, Professional Dev. | Comments Off

Videoconference or Video conference?

Posted on August 22, 2005 by Janine Lim

I was just exploring Alberta’s VCAlberta.ca website, and ran across a nice collection of Frequently Asked Questions. They are more creative and useful than the usual run of the mill FAQs out there, including the one on my site!

I quote Question #3:

Question: Do I spell it: videoconferencing or video conferencing or video-conferencing?

Answer: All three are commonly used and the use tends to follow what a localized community has decided is the right way. Videoconference as one word is the most common usage in Alberta and in fact the proper spelling. The oxford dictionary, among many other dictionaries, refers to videoconferencing as one word: Oxford Dictionary

Now you know!

Filed under: Resources, VC Community | Comments Off

Constructing Support & Analyzing Errors

Posted on August 19, 2005 by Janine Lim

I’ve been in a workshop yesterday and today with Diane Paynter, learning about Classroom Instruction That Works. Today we delved deeper into the Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers strategy to look at complex reasoning strategies such as Constructing Support and Analyzing Errors. See Dimensions of Learning p. 162-179 or so.

As always, I’m thinking about videoconference applications to what I’m learning. It seems that these ideas could be used to refine the “debate” videoconference template. One class could present something using the specific Constructing Support complex reasoning process and the viewing class could be Analyzing Errors. (It’s analyzing errors in thinking, that is, not the steps in the skill.) Then the classes could swap and the other class presents. This template could be used on many issues, especially in social studies and science.

There’s also the Analyzing Perspectives method of complex reasoning. In the class we took the issue of cloning, and brainstormed all the people who would have a perspective on the issue. We came up with 10-12 different groups of people and then wrote what they group of people might think for a “yes” position or a “no” position. It’d be interesting to have two classes present four perspectives each on an issue that is as convoluted and controversial as cloning, and then discuss it further after the presentations.

Filed under: Collaborations, Professional Dev. | Comments Off

The Best VC Demo Ever!

Posted on August 11, 2005 by Janine Lim

I’ve been at the Macomb Summer Technology Academy for the last three days presenting The World is Your Classroom with my good VC friend Arnie Comer. We’ve done the usual demo with a content provider to show teachers how videoconferencing works.

We’re also talking about collaborative connections, and another great VC colleague, Ken Conn from Lamar Consolidated ISD, has been giving clues about his location to help teachers see how collaborative projects such as MysteryQuest can happen. Well today we are lucky enough that the students are back in school. So today the clues came from students at Navarro Middle School. The teachers here loved it! It was also amazing and impressive to see how the students were able to remember VCs they did last year and tell our teachers about them. Nothing like hearing about videoconferences from the students’ perspective!

So the next time you do a VC demo, try to include kids if you can!! It’s a wonderful experience for the teachers to see!!

Filed under: Collaborations, Professional Dev., VC Community | 3 Comments »

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 104 other followers