Day 3 Jazz Facilitator Notes

August 1, 2007

Disclaimer: Shane was off today and I was running the bridge. I did not follow any of the suggested local activities; I just taught what popped into my head after I made sure the connections were running properly.

• 8:30-9:00 AM (Local Time)
  Started the day with exploring MysteryQuest sites that are linked from www.123vc.net or from Janine’s blog or my blog. We are supposed to show the MQ video before we join the other sites. In June, I completely forgot to show the video before we started. Today I started showing it at 8:50 and we only got about halfway through it. Note to self…show video before exploring sites next time. We did have props and a cool back drop, but forgot to get pictures.
• 9:00-11:00 AM MysteryQuest
  Love this simulation. I had stumbled upon MysteryQuest last year and, despite Janine’s impeccable and detailed instructions, I did not understand how to facilitate this and what it would be like for students. Participating in the MQ Beaches for adults makes it make sense!
• 11:00-11:30 AM (Local Time)
  We debriefed the MQ connection a bit more. This MQ was HARD and it seemed that when we were trying to get the sites to focus on how they presented the clues (through a skit, a powerpoint, a drawing) and what worked well; what participants were more focused on was what information each site should have provided so that they could have solved the mystery. At our site, I pointed out that MQ Beaches is intentionally challenging because it is for adults.
• 11:30-11:45 AM (Wondered why lunch was not on site yet and why I couldn’t connect to the other bridge…missed Shane again!)
• 11:45-12:00 PM (lunch comes and other sites connect on Ohio Bridge…thank goodness for Plan B.)
• 12:00-1:00 PM (Guest Speaker)
  Global Nomads Group did a sample of their Pulse program with all seven sites. It was a great way to showcase excellent facilitation skills and more possibilities for using videoconferencing.
• 1:00-1:30 PM (Local Time)
  Review of expectations of small group work with our four sites, random debrief of best practice as modeled by Chris at GNG, stages of development, why I am passionate about bringing these opportunities to our students, and how each interaction changes us and helps us grow as people and educators…and other things as they came up.
• 1:30-2:30 PM (Small Group Time)
  Some groups hit “storming” phase yesterday, other hit it today…for everyone that is thinking that the pressure is on and some things are frustrating–the groups are actually working much, MUCH better than last year. One thing that is working well for our four sites is that every small group meets for the entire time in videoconferencing and uses Skype as a secondary communication tool, not a primary collaboration tool.
• 2:30-2:45 PM (Blog Time)
  Everyone in my site logged right in and blogged reflections without being prompted. Then they got immersed in reading responses from other sites.
• 2:45-3:20 PM (Continued debrief and reflection)
  Bottom line–we had powerful learning today about who we are, how we see ourselves, how others see us, and how we can use the technology.

Don’t take my word for it…read more from the participants at my site.

Posted in 123VC: JAZZ, MysteryQuest