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| Video conference with Margo Sorenson and Mrs. Millar's students |
Getting started can tax one's courage reserves. As Sue pointed out, "I scheduled a number of Mystery Skypes which, for one reason or another, never materialized." "I got stood up a few times." she added. It is probable that teachers got busy, fire drills happened, or assessments won out. I thought she had given up, and was surprised to hear that she connected to a second grade classroom from Michigan for a Mystery Skype, a park ranger from Yellowstone who spoke in front of Old Faithful as it geysered, and author Anika Denise.
Learning that Sue and her students had just read Ambrose and the Cathedral Dream by Margo Sorenson, I invited myself to observe the upcoming conversation with author Sorenson. Here are some takeaways.
- The tech worked well. Really. Everything just worked - without a nerd's intervention.
- Our district's bandwidth rocks. While it was snowing outside Wawaloam, author Sorenson conferenced with us from sunny California. Her voice and video feed were of high quality and without buffering issues. She may as well have been seated at the front of the classroom.
- Practice made perfect as evidenced by Sue's comfort with and mastery of the tech used for the video conference.
- The format was excellent. Author Sorenson gave a brief overview, showed students the original manuscript (including scribbled notes), and opened the floor for about 20 minutes of Q&A. Students asked all sorts of questions about her books, writing habits, favorite stories, and much more.
- Writing was the core theme. Students had to write their questions prior to the video conference, and also had to write about what they learned as a result of the conference.
- Her students are in to writing in a big way. After an earlier author conference, Sue remarked that, "My kids want to write all the time now." I mused, "That luster will fade." but learned that weeks after the first author conference, her students want to keep writing.
- The early morning PD, learning Skype, figuring out a new tech and developing new classroom activities did not happen with finger snapping expediency. Students' enthusiasm for writing has proven the effort worthwhile, though.
- The fire to write has staying power. After author Sorenson's Skype session, one student exclaimed, "I know what I'm going to do when I get home." "Write a book!"
If you would like help connecting through Skype in the Classroom or something like Connected Classrooms on G+, or can imagine reinventing your classroom with tech in way that goes beyond what you could normally expect to do with your students, let me know. I would be happy to help.
The summary of this work and the shared experience is very exciting! Kudos to Sue Millar for the passion based and resourceful learning opportunity she provided for her students. You may not be aware but for Wawaloam School, the "Mystery Skype" idea was taken from the book, "Learn Like A Pirate" by Paul Solarz. This was the follow up book from our year long Professional Growth Goal using "Teach Like a Pirate" by Dave Burgess. As an entire faculty, we participated in a Google Hangout with the author in 2015. @Daveburgess.com
ReplyDeletehttp://daveburgess.com/learn-like-a-pirate-is-out/
Another teacher in our school, Carin Corcoran was willing to "sail into unchartered territories with no guarantee of success, she was an entrepreneur who first took this risk".
Not only did she try something new with her students, she shared this excitement with other members of her Grade 2 (at the time) team and invited them in to participate.
I could not be more pleased that this technology has permeated throughout the building and has had such a profound impact on writing in Sue Millar's classroom. We are fortunate to have a number of educators who are open to the use of technology for the experts we can bring right into our schools! Thank you for sharing your positive experience with us! #ewgrsd