Overview of First Year

After attending the training last summer, I was excited to start planning activities using the equipment. Naturally, there were technical obstacles to overcome. But through collaboration, problem solving, and exercising patience, those problems have been reduced dramatically.

Virtual field trips have opened up the world to my students. It has enhanced my teaching. I have learned the value of creating lessons that lead up to the virtual trip as well as culminating lessons afterwards. Being able to plan units of study centered around a virtual field trip, and having the funds available for supplies that support those lessons have made all of the troubleshooting worthwhile.

I am the TAG coordinator for my building. After talking to 3rd and 4th grade teachers, we decided to invite their TAG students to come to my room and do the virtual field trip units of study. It was a great way to provide learning enrichment for those kids.

Staff development is crucial to the success of virtual field trips. We held three staff development trainings this year. The first one was in our computer lab to allow teachers time and training to research virtual trips on the CILC website. The second training was directly with CILC. It was good for teachers to experience a virtual interaction firsthand. The third training was having teachers participate in webCT to earn eBucks.

This year my class learned about owls through the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. The culminating activity was dissecting owl pellets. Next, they wrote stories and shared them with a first grade class at Wolf Creek Elementary School using the document reader. We finished the year by learning about Egyptian hieroglyphics with the Cleveland Museum of History. Through a collaboration with Learning through the Arts, students built cartouches and broad collars. They also built pyramids and solved hieroglyphic riddles.

I am just learning about how to use wikis to enhance student learning. My advanced reading group participated in my first wiki. They read two companion books to The Giver by Lois Lowry and answered the comprehension questions using the wiki. Students were very excited about using computers to do their work. Many students accessed the site from home to get ahead (or catch up) on assignments.

I have learned a lot this year and am excited with all of the possibilities for next year.