Skype-a-Thon 2016 was a success for us. We have never participated in Skype-a-Thon before or really used much Skype in the classroom before this year. We had 3 Mystery Skype sessions and a virtual fieldtrip/Skype with a Yellowstone park ranger. Let me back up just a little bit and fill you in on part of my story as a Teacher Librarian. I do not have technology in my library. I have a computer that I use to perform my administrative duties as well as one for the students to use the OPAC. That is it. I do not have a projector, iPads, Chromebooks, or anything else that is considered technology. I was very excited last week when my principal found a projector for me to use. We used it to Skype with Salina Yoon last Monday. We used it the next day to for our accidental Mystery Skype with a class in Brazil that was part of Skype-a-Thon.
As I said before, on that Wednesday, I had 2 Mystery Skype sessions and the Skype with the Yellowstone park ranger. I was in the library getting everything set up because, again, I was so excited to be able to actually project the Skype sessions on the wall and not have to find a classroom or rearrange a classroom to do them. I got my computer hooked up and the projector turned on. The projector was no longer working! My heart sank. I was beginning to feel like this library was becoming a real library all because of a projector. I had dreamed of so many different things that I could display and do and felt the whole world open up in my library because of a projector. Now I was back to having to scramble because I absolutely refused to cancel our Skype sessions. The kids deserved these opportunities no matter how much inconvenience it causes me. One of the Mystery Skype sessions scheduled that day was for 4th grade and one was for 5th grade. I sent a message to the 4th grade teacher at our school who said her students would be thrilled to participate in two Mystery Skype sessions that day so we could just bring the 5th grade students to her room. I moved all of my equipment (my personal laptop that I use and the speakers that I borrowed) to her room. I also had already set up maps and atlases that I had to move. We set it all up and connected it to her projector. There were still a few issues such as the screen blinking on and off, but we made it through it and the students had so much fun and learned even more. Our first Mystery Skype session was with a 5th grade class in Pennsylvania. They sang us a song about the presidents that they had learned through some of their recent studies. Our second Mystery Skype session was with a school in Arkansas. The 4th grade students were definitely not expecting them to be in Arkansas. We will be doing more connections and collaborating with the teachers in both states in the future. So now how to solve the problem of the Skype with the Yellowstone Park ranger? Well, there was not much of a solution other than put my laptop in a chair in the library, gather on the carpet, have the speakers plugged in and hope for the best! Our first graders had not gotten to participate in any type of Skype sessions before so they were very excited. When I say very excited, I mean very excited. They also thought they needed to talk a little louder for him to hear them, as well as felt they needed to be able to see themselves on the computer as well as the park ranger. It was a very neat and informative experience. He showed them so many different animals, talked about them with them, discussed geysers, and so much more all on a level they could understand. All in all, we had a great Skype-a-Thon. We ended up traveling over 7,000 miles in two days. That is huge for our school. I am not afraid to have to get creative or for things to maybe not go quite as planned as long as our students are getting to learn, are being empowered, and getting educational experiences they have never gotten before. It is truly all about the kids.
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Kimee ReedI am a Teacher Librarian that believes in out of the box experiences to make learning fun, inspire, encourage, excite, and empower students. Archives
June 2018
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