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Online Resource: New Field Trainer FAQ

• Organization to Be Trained
  
• Training Date
  
• Training Type
  
• Training Location
  
• Training Start/End Time
  
• Number of Projected Training Attendees
  

To make these changes, please review the steps outlined in the Field Trainer FAQ.

Training Tip: Using MarcoPolo with Disabled Students

"For tactile learners, use interactive Java applets from Illuminations, or a Flash presentation about the Federal Reserve, reviewed by EconEdLink.

"For visual learners, use video clips, such as birds opening mollusks from Illuminations; tornadoes and space ships, reviewed by Science NetLinks, or historical video clips, reviewed by EDSITEment.

"For auditory learners, use audio clips about dolphins, reviewed by Xpeditions, children's books read aloud and musicians playing instruments from ARTSEDGE, or More Great Speeches, reviewed by ReadWriteThink.

"To find more interactive lessons and resources, use the MarcoPolo Advanced Search, and scroll to the bottom of the page to narrow your search results to application, audio or video."

Seeking Article Submissions
As part of our outreach efforts, MarcoPolo is working to build a library of MarcoPolo-related articles for submission to national education publications, both in print and online. We are seeking submissions from those involved in training, alignment, administration and implementation of MarcoPolo at the state, district and classroom level. Initially, we'd like to collect articles for submission to ISTE's Learning and Leading with Technology and FETConnections. For more information, please contact Ian Jones, MarcoPolo Outreach and Development Officer, at ian.jones@mped.org.

• Search Again: Users will be able to perform additional searches directly from the top of the results page, rather than having to go back to the home search page. Users will also be able to refine their searches within a specific results set.
  
  
• Improved Delineation between Partner-Developed and Partner-Reviewed Content: In the search results pages, we have added lines that clearly differentiate between the two major sections. Users also can mouse over the words and see a definition.
  
  
• Spell Checking: If no results are found for a search, a spell checker will appear to show users other similarly spelled words that may produce positive results.
  
  
• Thesaurus: If results still are not found, a thesaurus will appear to show users other related words that may produce positive results.
  
  
• Phrase Splitting: If a user enters a series of words that produce no results, those words will be searched individually.

• EDSITEment has redesigned its MarcoPolo logo to reflect a new National Endowment for the Humanities symbol.
  
  
• The primary navigation on all Science NetLinks pages now includes a link to the Tools index. Now you can easily access Science NetLinks Lessons, Benchmarks, Resources or Tools from any page on the site. In the Tools index, you will find a great collection of interactive activities created or reviewed by the Science NetLinks team, including the classification activity A Touch of Class.
  
  
• Illuminations has both a new MarcoPolo logo, as well as a new look to its site. All lessons are now called Lessons (rather than i-Pub, i-Me, and i-Plan). Math*lets are now included in the Tools index, and Reflections on Teaching is now called Inquiry on Practice. These changes reflect phase one of a two-phase process for aligning the site more closely to the other MarcoPolo Partner sites. Illuminations anticipates completing phase two of the redesign later this year.

• Elementary and Secondary Teacher's Guides
  
  
• Partner Site Overviews (login required)
  
  
• Partner Web Site Talking Points (login required)

Generating District-Wide Enthusiasm for MarcoPolo 
"As director of operations for the Twin Falls School District (TFSD) in Twin Falls, Idaho, I am always on the lookout for professional development opportunities for the educators in our system. When a district teacher told me about the MarcoPolo program, my interest was piqued. In late November and early December 2001, Twin Falls began a district-wide rollout of MarcoPolo. In two separate two-day sessions, 39 TFSD teachers, administrators and para-educators from the 12 district schools became certified as MarcoPolo Field Trainers. Over the course of the second semester, our Field Trainers conducted mini-workshops and generated interest in this valuable resource. In preparation for the TFSD Summer Teachers' Institute held in July 2002, the Field Trainers took a refresher course, and then worked in pairs to develop grade- or subject-centered agendas. More than 300 educators from our district, about 70% of the teaching staff, attended the MarcoPolo Training Sessions offered during the Summer Institute. The post-session evaluations were extremely positive.

"Over the past year, we've discovered that two-day trainings develop a much more comprehensive understanding of resources, search tools, ICFC, lesson development and state standards alignment than one-day sessions. Additionally, the two-day model allows our teachers to meet the requirements for graduate professional development credits offered through local universities. The fact that the universities partner with schools to offer professional development credit at both the Cadre-led and Field Trainer-led Training Sessions encourages educators in Idaho to participate in the MarcoPolo program.

"School districts in Idaho are truly utilizing MarcoPolo resources in the way in which they were intended, and without a formal endorsement or recommendation by the State Department of Education. This innovative commitment to MarcoPolo is evident as we host training initiatives, train library media specialists at regional events, create district-wide user groups, and present awareness sessions and executive briefings.

"Here are some tips to help your district have similar success with a MarcoPolo rollout:

• "Be flexible and innovative by offering incentives for teachers who attend training sessions, such as extra PD days and flexible schedules, and be sure to include library media or resource support specialists.
  
  
• "Insist that district level administrators and/or principals participate in training sessions.
  
  
• "Develop training schedules that are content-, Partner- or grade-specific.
  
  
• "Encourage teachers to facilitate workshops in teams. Since our teachers were not 'professional trainers,' we found that having them work together in a training environment made them more comfortable and their resulting collaborative training methods were outstanding.
  
  
• "Perform a district-wide technology test prior to holding a training session. Select a time or day to have computers in the district training labs access MarcoPolo and the Partner sites simultaneously. This can ensure your district network is capable of handling the increase in volume.
  
  
• "Conduct a Cadre- or Master Trainer-led training session with a solid core group that is sure to spread the word. This method makes subsequent training requests a grass-roots, teacher-initiated effort that has received a buy-in and commitment from district officials.
  
  
• "Allow for extended training time. Our surveys indicated that our teachers wanted more MarcoPolo training opportunities after attending one complete training session. Alternately, initial awareness sessions of a short duration developed only minimal requests for future training.
  
  
• "Encourage local universities or educational agencies to grant PD credits, CEUs, graduate credits or another type of certification for attending MarcoPolo Training Sessions.
  
  
• "Pay close attention to the results and comments of your training surveys, and make changes where necessary.

"We've found that once teachers attend a MarcoPolo Training Session, advocacy for the program is a natural."

Having Fun with Baseball Statistics
Grades 6-8
Illuminations, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

Background to the Lesson
This lesson, designed for grades 6-8, encourages students to apply mathematical reasoning and computational skills to examine baseball statistics. The lesson integrates the study of fractions, decimals, percents, rounding, Cartesian coordinates, probability and statistics in a cooperative setting that allows students to have fun as they learn. One phase of the lesson engages students in a simulated baseball game, using a spinner to determine "hits" and student desks as "bases." This lesson promotes interpersonal interaction, which can be helpful for ESL students. MarcoPolo Trainers can use this lesson either in a mathematics-themed training session, or with ESL and Spanish-language teachers who are seeking to use MarcoPolo lessons with their students.

Preparing This Lesson for Your Training Session

• Bookmark the Illuminations lesson:
  --http://illuminations.nctm.org/lessonplans/6-8/baseball/
  
  
• Familiarize yourself with the online resources utilized in this lesson:
  --Does More Wins Mean More Fans at the Ballpark?
  
  --Math on the Mound: Using the World Series to Teach Math
  
  --Play Ball

• Scan or make photocopies of a baseball player's at-bat statistics (found on the back side of most baseball cards, or in the newspaper during baseball season). To enhance the experience for the attendees, select statistics from the local baseball team.
  
  
• Ensure each computer has the following software installed:
  --Adobe Acrobat Reader
  
  --An Internet browser (such as Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator)
  
  --A calculator (on a PC, go to Start, Programs, and Accessories; on a Mac, find it in the Apple Menu Items). Or, you can bookmark the Illuminations Calculator applet, found by using the term "calculator" in the MarcoPolo Search Engine.
  
  
• Ensure the availability of a working Internet connection.

Using This Lesson in Your Training Session

• Illuminations recently unveiled its redesigned Web site. Walk your attendees through the site and point out the different types of lessons and resources. Although some lessons still can be used in a non-computerized classroom, Illuminations has gained popularity with mathematics teachers through its Interactive Math Tools -- Java applets teachers can use to create interactive lessons. These applets can be used in economics and science lessons as well.
  
  
• Review the "Having Fun with Baseball Statistics" lesson with your attendees, and highlight the learning objectives, NCTM standards, and printable worksheet.
  
  
• Acknowledge that this standards-based lesson originally appeared in the May 1996 edition of Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School Journal, and generally uses pencil, paper and physical activity more than computer software. Ask your attendees to identify areas that can be updated for use in a computerized classroom, such as locating recent player statistics online and using a computerized calculator instead of a hand-held one. Do your attendees advocate using online activities to supplement a mathematics lesson, or do they prefer to employ paper-and-pencil techniques? What is their comfort level with working with online resources?
  
  
• This lesson may be most effective with students when used as a review activity, since it requires pre-established knowledge and uses several mathematical principles (fractions, decimals and probability) in a relatively short period of time (two class periods). Ask your attendees how they would consider assessing individual students as they participate in the lesson. How can students collaborate on a mathematics project and still provide the teacher with proof of their level of understanding?
  

MarcoPolo Trainer Resource Center

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The classroom edition of the MarcoGram features warm-up activities and links to lesson plans and resources based on a monthly theme.

June 2003
Breaking the Language Barrier

May 2003
Biography: The Story of a Life

April 2003
All the World's a Stage

Read past issues

Subscribe to the classroom edition

Congratulations to Jennifer Fritschi and Wiley Dobbs. Jennifer's training tip and Wiley's story from the field are featured in this month's Field Trainer MarcoGram. Each will receive a classroom set of MarcoPolo mousepads and pens.

Tell us your "best practices," detailing in 300-500 words how you conduct a successful Field Training. If we publish your idea on the Web site or in a future Field Trainer MarcoGram, you'll receive a free classroom set of MarcoPolo mousepads and pens -- great to use in your training sessions!

Suggested topics include:

• How have you perfected your training sessions to maximize both resources and time?

• How do you teach your favorite lesson?

• How have you successfully integrated your state's educational standards into your training sessions?

• How do you follow up with your attendees after the training is over?

The deadline for the next Field Trainer MarcoGram is August 5, 2003.

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The MarcoPolo Partnership grants permission to reprint and distribute this Field Trainer MarcoGram for use in a training session or classroom, or on Web sites devoted to the field of education or professional development. All Web addresses and links must be maintained in their original form as used in the published MarcoGram.