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The Connected Classroom

“Information on and from Cooperating School Districts of Greater St. Louis' Learning Division”

Category Archives: Skype

Friday, December 7, 2012 2012 Show-Me a Movie Deadline in 1 Week

Show-Me Red CarpetJust a few reminders about the Show-Me a Movie Digital Storytelling Contest:

• Entries must be received no later than 3 p.m. CST on December 14, 2012. Entries received after this deadline will not be considered.

• Movies must be submitted via the web: required website for upload is SchoolTube. The online entry form includes a space for the URL to be submitted to CSD. We no longer accept movies on CD.

• There are two online forms (entry form- one per movie and reflection- one per student) as part of the submission process.

• The contest is now open for submissions from elementary (2-5), middle school, and high school students in Missouri + Illinois.

• Movies that lack the proper citations for resources used within the submission will automatically be disqualified from judging,
rather than just points taken off total score, as judges have done in previous years.

See all the rules online at csd.org.

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Tuesday, November 6, 2012 #kidvote brings election to classroom

To see some great images of students participating in mock elections this week, check out the #kidvote hashtag. One particularly active teacher is METC Spotlight Educator Krissy Venosdale of Hillsboro, Missouri. She’s documenting every step of her students’ election process- voting, tabulating, reporting, and Skyping- over several media platforms. You can find links to them all at her Twitter feed, including their mock election results. Remember, for those of you 18 and over voting in the real election, the closing time for Missouri polls is 7 p.m. central time; the Show-Me State is worth 10 electoral votes in the presidential race.

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Tuesday, July 10, 2012 Using Skype to Discuss Using Digital Portfolios to Collect & Evaluate Student Work

Today in her Using Digital Portfolios to Collect & Evaluate Student Work workshop, Stephanie Madlinger connected briefly via Skype to high school English teacher Nicholas Provenzano, who holds a Masters Degree in Educational Technology from Central Michigan University. He discussed with the St. Louis participants at Cooperating School Districts how he uses Web 2.0 to encourage student writing- citing Google Apps, Blogger and Evernote as his favorites. Visit Flickr to see more shots from the full-day workshop.

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Tuesday, April 3, 2012 what will you see this summer in the tele?

Registration opens soon.

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Wednesday, March 28, 2012 What’s the Recipe for a Good Book?

Author Amy E. Sklansky connected to first grade students in Stone Harbor, New Jersey for her interactive videoconference Cooking a Book. Into her cooking pot she added inspiration, drafts, revisions, pencil sketches, plus more as she explained to the participating students how an author’s idea becomes a published book this morning.

This is one of Amy’s most popular programs through New Links. Cooking a Book is for younger students; she has a new version of the videoconference for older elementary students called From Inspiration to Bookstore Shelf. To participate in any of Amy’s videoconferences (she also connects via Skype), contact Cooperating School Districts.

Monday, March 19, 2012 Going Green: Back to Nature from HEC-TV Live! this April

Date:  April 12, 2012 | Times:  10-11:00 a.m. and 1- 2:00 p.m. CDT
Grade Levels: 4-8 | Videoconference Cost:  No Fee
Register: www.cilc.org, search for
HEC-TV Live! Presents Going Green: Back to Nature

Abstract:
Students will learn about the importance of watersheds and what to do to protect them as they participate in a lab activity to test stream water for macro invertebrates & water quality at the Little Creek Nature Area in Florissant, Missouri.

Description:
What are watersheds and why do they matter so much to the health of the planet? How can we know how healthy a watershed is? What are ways to test for water quality? What steps can we take to reduce man’s negative impact on a watershed and help it thrive? What steps can we take to help a watershed struck by a natural disaster? To investigate the questions and more, HEC-TV Live! invites your students to join us outdoors and in the lab at the Little Creek Nature Area in Florissant, Missouri, to learn more about what we can do to protect the watersheds that are so vital to the health of the planet.

During the program, students will participate in a two-part lab activity. Your students will interact with students from the Ferguson-Florissant School District who will join us on site in the lab at the Little Creek Nature Area along with teachers from the Ferguson-Florissant Outdoor Education Center at Little Creek and representatives from the Missouri Department of Conservation. Part 1 of the lab activity will focus on the process used to take water samples from a stream or pond to test for macro invertebrates living in the ecosystem. Together, students will identify samples of macro invertebrates collected from the waters on site, record the number of each type and analyze what these results may indicate about the health of the ecosystem.  Part 2 of the lab activity will focus on testing water for dissolved oxygen, nitrate, phosphate, ph and turbidity. Students at Little Creek will test samples of the water collected on site and interact with your students to analyze the results of those tests.

Members of the Missouri Department of Conservation will answer your student questions about watersheds, water quality, and ways we can help protect both. Preparatory materials both written and in video form, as well as handouts that will be used during the program itself, will be sent to you after your enrollment is confirmed for the program.

Archival Viewing:
Can’t join live?  No problem!  All HEC-TV Live! programs are archived on the station website, www.hectv.org and on the HEC-TV page on iTunes U for on-demand viewing. Archives are usually up & running about a week after the program’s original air date. For questions, contact live@hectv.org.

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Tuesday, March 6, 2012 What are Your National Poetry Month Plans?

April is National Poetry Month. Second to fifth grade teachers, take some time away from state testing and celebrate the art in an one hour interactive distance learning program with author Amy E. Sklansky! Amy has written seven children’s books during her career, and poetry is a medium she often uses. Amy connects to elementary classes over H323 videoconference or Skype — whichever set-up works better for you, the classroom teacher. This videoconference is $195 for non-New Links members, and for New Links members, it’s just $155. To schedule a distance learning program with Amy in April, or at any other time, please contact Rebecca Morrison.

More about Inside a Poet’s Mind:  Amy E. Sklansky gives students a peek inside the mind of a poet. Sharing poems from her own books, she discusses the various places a poet finds inspiration. Then she gives examples of the ways a poet may revise her work – emphasizing concepts such as word choice, line breaks, action verbs, and punctuation. She encourages students to write a poem on their own during the videoconference using the same process. If a second grade teacher would like to participate, the program would be shortened to 45 minutes and would not include the interactive poetry writing.

Just some of the Common Core Standards met by this program:
• RL.2.4. Describe how words and phrases (e.g., regular beats, alliteration, rhymes, repeated lines) supply rhythm and meaning in a story, poem, or song.
• W.2.5. With guidance and support from adults and peers, focus on a topic and strengthen writing as needed by revising and editing.
• SL.3.3. Ask and answer questions about information from a speaker, offering appropriate elaboration and detail.
• RL.4.2. Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text; summarize the text.
• SL.5.1. Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners

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Thursday, February 23, 2012 Out of this World, but Into Your Classroom!

Last weekend, author Amy Sklansky (and New Links content provider) had a book reading for her seventh book, Out of This World: Poems and Facts about Space. She shared poems and asked the audience questions about space. Also in attendence was Robert Powell from the Challenger Learning Center-St. Louis (hey, another New Links content provider…. wonder how those two met?!). Robert spoke to the group about the Challenger Learning Centers, about living & working in space, and he too answered questions from the crowd.

It was an awesome event! If you haven’t had an opportunity to meet either Amy or Robert in person, we have the next best thing for you- over a distance. If you want to connect your classroom to any videoconference or Skype session with these two dynamic presenters, contact Rebecca Morrison for more information.

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Monday, January 23, 2012 Distance Learning Opportunity on Creative Writing & Publishing

Using examples from all six of her books (almost 7, with the February 14th release of Out of This World), author Amy E. Sklansky answers the question during this new distance learning session: Where does an author get her ideas and how do they become a book? From Inspiration to Bookstore Shelf (grade 3 & up) is a 45 minute videoconferencing or Skype session. Register with Rebecca Morrison. For Videoconference/Skype: New Links members pay $155, nonmembers pay $195.

Participants are encouraged to interact with the author and will develop an appreciation for both the creative writing and publishing process. With PowerPoint slides, original artwork, and other props, she touches on many aspects of the creative process – sources of inspiration; generating ideas; structuring a story; revising; the roles of the artist and publishing staff; etc…. and in her newest publication, Amy gives readers evocative poems about planets and stars and rockets and moon landings and satellites. Each poem is supported by additional facts and explanations (because once your imagination’s engaged, you’ll surely want to know more!).

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Wednesday, December 21, 2011 Here’s What We Did in 2011

12 months from the Virtual Learning Center
January – December 2011

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