Spring
2004
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| Meet
Dale McCurdy, MarcoPolo's Field Trainer of the Year |
| Dale
offers the following tips to ensure a successful
and exciting training session:
Open
with a game
Plan
to do an engaging activity within the first
10 minutes. Get your attendees hooked early
and you will have their attention for the rest
of the session.
Show
relevant content
Make
sure that the area you focus on is relevant
to your audience. High school science teachers
absolutely hate having to learn about online
sing-along songs for elementary music!
Let
them explore
When
you introduce a site, give your attendees time
to check it out. If they want to print, let
them!
Keep
them going
When
you see people start to wander off task, move
on to the next feature or Partner site.
Be
flexible
Be
willing to explore when participants ask. You
will learn more and your audience will respect
you for making their opinions important.
Get
more tips from MarcoPolo Trainers
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MarcoPolo
is proud to recognize Dale McCurdy
of Region 8 Education Service Center in Texas, who was
named Field
Trainer of the Year for 2003 based upon his training
performance as measured in Rusticello. Last year, Dale conducted
28 training sessions, reaching 367 educators and earning
a mean training quality survey score of 4.8 out of 5.0.
As a regional technology consultant,
Dale finds that being a MarcoPolo Trainer gives him that "make-a-difference"
feeling that he misses from his days as a high school science and computer
teacher. "As I conduct a training, I make sure that educators will get
something useful to take back to their classroom," he explains.
Dale's first experience with
MarcoPolo came when his director signed him up for a two-day training
session. "I was just a few months into my new job as an instructional technologist,
so I needed a few tricks to add to my bag. Heck, I still needed a bag!
"That first experience got
me hooked," he continues. "After that, I began to incorporate MarcoPolo
into all my trainings. I offered workshops in various content and grade
areas, and I'd spend entire workshops just going over the lessons and resources
offered on the Partner Web sites."
Dales admits he likes to train
what he calls "the miscellaneous group" -- those who teach shop, home economics
or physical education. "I dive right into the MarcoPolo Search Engine
and help them navigate to the EconEdLink lesson How
Long Is Your Life?, which contains a link to the Living
to 100 quiz. We talk about how they could use this quiz in their content
areas. They love it!" Dale's favorite moment is when "everyone is quiet,
on task, and making 'cool' remarks to themselves as they manipulate their
answers and try to add a few more years to their results."
Then, he calls up the EconEdLink-reviewed
CIA
World Factbook Online. "I have them locate statistics for Iraq and
find the median age (19) and compare that to the United States' (35.8).
We discuss how perceptions may differ in our culture. I encourage attendees
to pose their own questions and look for answers in the MarcoPolo
Search Engine. At this point they can see how Internet Content for the
Classroom can engage students and excite them."
Dale conducts training sessions
for the schools and districts in his region. "I've yet to have a training
session where people do not enjoy themselves. I make sure that I give them
time to explore MarcoPolo and print their findings. I minimize speeches
and try to keep them engaged as long as possible."
Dales loves the integration
aspect of MarcoPolo. "It makes more sense to people when they can
relate what they're learning in the classroom to the real world."
|
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| Field
Trainers of the Year and Month |
| Last year, MarcoPolo's
Field Trainer
of the Year Program honored a total of 36 Field Trainers in 21 states
for their exemplary training activity in 2003. Each honoree trained at
least 50 educators during the year and earned a minimum average score of
4.5 out of 5.0. These exemplary Field Trainers hold various positions in
their respective school buildings, districts, regions and state departments
of education. Together, they represent the depth and breadth of the MarcoPolo
Field Training Program. Congratulations to all the honorees!
MarcoPolo also recognizes
outstanding Field Trainers through the Field
Trainer of the Month Program. This program honors MarcoPolo
Trainers who have reached at least 30 educators in a given month, with
a training survey mean score of at least 4.5 out of 5.0. As part of this
ongoing program, exemplary trainers are identified on the MarcoPolo
Web site and receive certificates of appreciation and letters of commendation
from the MarcoPolo program. Congratulations to Shelley
Smallwood of Texas, who was honored as Field Trainer of the Month
for January, and James Jones of New York,
Field Trainer of the Month for February.
|
| Eleven
Trainers Earn MarcoPolo Certification |
| Eleven MarcoPolo Trainers
have earned certification in the new MarcoPolo Certified
Trainer Program, administered by the professional development program
in collaboration with state and regional partner organizations. Newly certified
trainers are: Linda Pearce (Alabama); Kara
McElwrath (Illinois); Darlene Cardillo,
Roger Carroll, Dorothy
Hobbs and Susan Murphy (New York);
Patty Greenfield (Oklahoma); Marcia
Torgrude (South Dakota); Karen Horn
and Barbara Shaw (Texas); and Mark
Moore (West Virginia).
The majority of MarcoPolo
Certified Trainers are former Field Trainers who have met rigorous qualification
requirements and participated in advanced training and mentoring sessions.
They typically deliver MarcoPolo Training under the auspices of
a state or regional partner organization as part of a strategic plan to
roll out training to potential Field Trainers and educators as end users
in their respective service areas. Some 13 states are currently developing
MarcoPolo Certified Trainer Networks and more than 250 candidates
are working toward Certified Trainer status.
|
| Train
and Win! Contest Extended |
| MarcoPolo's Train
and Win! contest, which began with a three-month pilot in October 2003,
has been so successful that it will continue through the end of 2004.
Winners are randomly selected
in monthly drawings from all Field Trainers who completed the four
required tracking steps for the MarcoPolo Training Sessions.
Each completed training session is entered in the contest, so the more
completed trainings a Field Trainer conducts in a given month, the more
opportunities there are to win.
To date, 15 winners have been
named in the contest. Congratulations to the most recent group of winners:
February:
Pat
Garlikov (Birmingham, Ala.); Michael Russo
(Williamsville, N.Y.); and Holly Hunter (Murfreesboro,
Tenn.)
January:
Joan
Gil (Canutillo, Texas); Kandy Claybaugh
(Colorado Springs, Colo.); and Beth Teahan,
(Bradenton, Fla.)
December:
James
C. Jones (White Plains, N.Y.); Dave Moore
(Corvallis, Ore.); and Kathryn Morton (Hampton,
Va.)
To make your training sessions
count and become eligible for future Train and Win! drawings, be sure to
complete the four steps required to have a successful Field Training, as
detailed in our PowerPoint
tutorial.
|
| ARTSEDGE
Launches New Web Site |
| If you haven't visited ARTSEDGE
recently, you may want to take a look again. The site, created by The John
F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, a MarcoPolo Content Partner,
was relaunched with a brand new look at the start of the new year. Improved
navigation and design top the list of changes as ARTSEDGE aims to better
support teachers who are integrating the arts throughout the K-12 curriculum.
Of particular interest to
trainers are the Site
Map, Talking
Points, Sample
Lessons and Hot
Links.
We'd like to know what you
think about the new ARTSEDGE site! Send
us your feedback.
|
| Training
Lesson from Science NetLinks |
"Exploring
Pendulums" (Grades 6-8)
Science
NetLinks
American
Association for the Advancement of Science
Background
to the Lesson
In this lesson, students
learn about the force of gravity by examining how pendulums work. The experiments
in this lesson can be conducted through the Internet, hands-on in a classroom
setting or during a visit to a local science center or museum.
Preparing This Lesson
for Your Training Session
-
Register
your training session.
-
Bookmark and review the
lesson.
-
Familiarize yourself with the
pendulum interactives available through the lesson and bookmark each one
for later use.
-
Send out an introductory e-mail
message to your attendees. Ask for feedback on if and how they use computers
in their science classroom, as well as their thoughts on using simulated
experiments on the computer versus re-creations with common materials.
-
Ensure that all computers in
the training room have Adobe Acrobat Reader and are Java-enabled.
Using This Lesson
in Your Training Session
-
Open this segment of the training
session by discussing the feedback you received from your introductory
e-mail. Break the ice by encouraging attendees to share their experiences
with using online interactives in the classroom. Query your attendees about
their student-to-computer ratios and discuss how that affects their instructional
strategies.
-
Walk through the lesson with
your attendees, pointing out the different sections, the student-directed
worksheet and the interactive resources.
-
As you go through the lesson,
call attention to the areas that can be adapted based on the student-to-computer
ratio. Possible adaptations include:
-
teacher-directed learning,
where the teacher uses a projector or large-screen monitor to conduct experiments
with students all at once in a demonstration mode
-
in a learning center set-up,
where students work in cooperative pairs and move to different computer
stations to conduct the various experiments
-
in a laboratory setting,
where students use the downloadable worksheet as a guide when conducting
their own hands-on experiments
-
Based on the feedback you received
earlier, recreate the favored classroom set-up in a role-playing situation
with attendees acting as students, and conduct the online experiments.
You may wish to allow anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes for this activity.
-
When time is up, ask attendees
to share their thoughts and understanding about how the lesson will work
best in their classroom. How can the lesson be adapted for multiple intelligences?
-
If there is time left in the
training session, have attendees use the MarcoPolo Search Engine
to locate more Partner-reviewed resources about pendulums, and discuss
how students can use these resources to complete homework or research assignments.
Follow-up
About a week or so
after the training session, contact your attendees and ask them if they've
used this lesson with their students. How have their students responded
to using computers to conduct science activities? Be sure to forward relevant
feedback to the Foundation.
|
| Resource
Showcase: "Powers of Ten" |
| Reviewed and approved by
MarcoPolo Content Partner Science NetLinks, the "Powers
of Ten" applet is based on the concept advanced by architect Charles
Eames, who first utilized mathematical powers to aid in visualization of
large numbers and also directed the film of the same name. This applet
begins 10 million light years from Earth and zooms towards Earth's surface
in successive orders of magnitude until reaching the leaves of an oak tree.
The applet continues by zooming into a microscopic world that reveals cell
walls, the nucleus, chromatin, DNA and, finally, the subatomic universe
of electrons and protons.
In addition to reinforcing
the mathematical concept of exponential notation, this applet can be used
to help students understand and compare the size of things in their world
and universe.
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Do You Know How To
. . .
.
. . Refresh Your MarcoPolo Knowledge Base?
Check
out the hour-long Awareness
Sessions. These are great refreshers for busy
trainers and offer the latest look at the MarcoPolo
program and resources. Awareness Sessions are offered
free of charge via WebEx web conferencing and are
available to groups or individual trainers. Read
the schedule and register today! For session requirements,
click
here.
. . . Check for New
Lessons?
The
collection of MarcoPolo standards-based lessons
is constantly growing and new lessons are added weekly.
Check out the New
Lessons page in the Teacher Resources section
of the MarcoPolo Web site each Thursday for
a listing and synopsis of the latest additions.
How Do You Use . . .
.
. . the ReadWriteThink Calendar?
In
the Winter
2004 issue, we introduced you to the new ReadWriteThink
calendar, which provides links to classroom activities,
lesson plans, resources and more for each day of the
year. By now, we hope you've had a chance to use the
calendar and explore it in your training sessions.
Please
let us know how you've used the ReadWriteThink
calendar with your attendees. How do you suggest educators
might best use the calendar in their clasrooms? Have
you received any comments from end-users? We'd like
to know! Your feedback
helps us keep MarcoPolo responsive to educator
needs.
Bookmarks
Agenda
Creator
Audience
Inventory Worksheet
Featured
Resources and Lessons
Global
Considerations
Glossary
of Internet Terms
Glossary
of MarcoPolo Terms
ISTE
Alignment
MarcoPolo
Calendar
MarcoPolo
Search Engine
New
Partner Lessons
Partner
Site Overviews
Plug-Ins
and Utilities
Standards
Alignment
Talking
Points for Partner Sites
Training
Logistics Forms
Trainer
FAQ
Trainer
Resource Center
Types
of Internet Content
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