November 15, 2008
One more reason we love COSI Columbus.They have adjusted the Gadget Works program to better align with changing curriculum. Here is a note about the changes. Be sure to register now for this great program that will engage students with real scientific exploration and thinking!
We’re just about through with the Gadget Works revamp and have some more specific information to share. The new program, Gadget Works: Forces and Motion, will still be for grades 2-6 and will be available starting in early December.
The new program includes pre-visit activities on gravity and air resistance, speed, and everyone’s favorite Happy Crab Hypothesis Sheet. Only now the hypothesis is about what forces make the crab move instead of what simple machines are inside. The show itself is now about balanced and unbalanced forces, pushes and pulls, and tracing the energy flow through the toys (the chattering teeth still make an appearance about halfway through the show).
Post-visit activities include: imaginatively designing a wind-up toy to make a specific movement, such as running or hopping, re-designing Professor Gadgeteer’s toys to make them move farther or faster, moving a toy car without touching it, and determining just how much force the Happy Crab generates when it moves on various surfaces.
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November 11, 2008
In honor of Veterans Day, I want to thank our veterans, Pike Anderson and Norm Hungerford for their service to our country. These gentlemen connect with our classes in a program that we developed called “All About the Flag” from our Let Freedom Ring Series.
We connect three classes at a time to learn about flag etiquette, respect, display and history. Each of the classes prepared questions before the connection and our veterans are getting comfortable with the technology and able to increase interactivity with our students.
One of the questions from a third grader during this videoconference was to Norm, “Have you served in Iraq?” 
Well, as you can tell Norm is a bit too old to have served in Iraq. He gently answered this young student with when he served and told him just a bit about his time in the Navy.
Then he asked the student who is from one of our schools where the majority of parents ARE currently serving in the Army, “Are either of your parents serving in Iraq?”
“Yes, sir” was the quiet answer from the boy. Norm and Pike both told this student that the next time he talks with his family to thank them for their service to our country. The smile on this young student’s face was priceless. It is why I love videoconferencing…it is live and it enables us to connect students with real world learning opportunities.
During Monster Match, we had a few instances where class stood and clapped for our schools that have so many family members serving. It was heart-warming! Today, in honor of Veterans Day, thank a veteran and their family for the freedoms that sometimes we take for granted.
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November 11, 2008
We have begun our 2008 Landmark Challenge. Thank you, Linda McDonald for creating this amazing project which is based on Janine Lim’s MysteryQuest.
We connect three classes at a time and they present 6 clues about their mystery landmark. We guide them through the note-taking guide and then quiz them about all ten landmarks.
I suggested this project to one of our Monster Match teachers that began teaching 2nd grade this year. She did a great job integrating this project into the curriculum. The class did an entire unit incorporating research and writing skills. The students also carved soap sculptures, wrote with quill pens (when learning about Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence), and one of the parents also brought in cherry pies when they learned about George Washington and the legend of the cherry tree.
Just wanted to say we had a blast this morning during Landmark Challenge. My students know so much about Mount Rushmore and each of the presidents featured on it. I am amazed at how much they got into it! Thanks again and count me in for next year!
This is the picture of Mount Rushmore that they used as their reveal. I love the details on the faces. Excellent job, second graders!
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November 4, 2008
We are in the first year of implementation of a RUS grant. It is wonderful to have equipment to make all of the connections that we can dream up.One big change is that we decided to move to HD with the Polycom HDX units for our schools. We also have one of these units in the room that we use to moderate Monster Match and Weather With Rusty.
James painted the wall with the “chromakey green” paint. I put on the make-up and the wig and pushed the “people on content” button and started moderating. It was so cool!
A couple of things we discovered about these units are not so cool.
- Sometimes the camera loses calibration and weird things happen and people and content merge into one fuzzy mess. We would repeatedly recalibrate and all of a sudden it would work again.
- These units can lose IP configuration if disconnected from a network while in “sleep” mode (blue power light on the front of the codec blinking) or when initially turned on. This usually occurs when the unit is being moved between classrooms or when the unit is disconnected from the network to free upa wall-mounted ethernet jack. While there is a certain protocol or procedure to follow to prevent this from occuring, it is a PAIN.
Really, Polycom…please do more testing of your equipment in K-12 environments where mobile carts have enabled us to grow our programs exponentially in the past few years. We MOVE stuff around in K-12 environments with limited space, bandwidth and resources. Hey, we even have classroom TEACHERS moving equipment. C’mon…help us out and involve us in your product development. We love to videoconference, but please make it easy for us to do. Pretty please?
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