Find Out What's Happening with Videoconferencing in Kansas Schools!

IDL Teacher & Facilitator Training

If you are an IDL Facilitator or Teacher you need to participate in either of these events! Attendance is Free!

Facilitator Workshop 2011

Teacher Training 2011

2010-2011 Events 

KC3 Student Programs

Students from Texas and several other states have created student presentations for a contest called KC3. These programs were created by students with teacher guidance. The students presented their programs to schools as practice for presenting to the judges. The programs were created based on topics that were area specific to the students. One of these, What's Rattlin' taught students about Rattlesnakes which are common to the area where the students live. Another program, Raiders of the Backyard taught students about common animals seen in their area of Texas.

Many Kansas schools were able to view these programs. The programs were offered free of charge and the presenting classes asked that the schools watching offered feedback on what they liked and how they could improve their presentation. Presenting schools ranged in age from 1st to 6th grades. All of the students did a wonderful job on their presentations!

To view more about this project, please visit the website: KC3.

KDHE Utilizes Cowley County Community College's IDL 

A Pediatric Symposium was held March 3 & 4 with 38 sites across the state of Kansas, check it out!

More Info
 

Read Around the Planet 2011

There were 12 Kansas teachers this year for the Read Around the Planet Event. For more information about this event, go to: RAP 2011. Classes were partnered with schools in Texas, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, New York, and Canada.  Each class tells about where they are located and their school, presents a short presentation, then students have the opportunity to ask and answer questions from each other.

One El Dorado class presented "The Wide Mouthed Frog" to their partner class in New York. Click Here to watch their presentation. They did an excellent job!

 Click on the link above to view more pictures from the SCKDLN Web Album.

Snowman Exchange Collaboration 

Snowmen have been sited in Kansas classrooms! Twelve classes from Medicine Lodge, Hamilton, El Dorado, Wellington, and Marion participated in this year's Snowman Exchange. Each class was partnered with a class out of state to collaborate. Out of state classrooms were from New York, West Virginia, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Texas, Montana, and Canada.

For this collaboration, classes created their own unique snowman from common classroom items and wrote instructions how they created it. Then each class exchanged the instructions with their partner class so that they could recreate their partner's snowman. In December (and January) classes met over videoconference to share their snowmen. 

After sharing their project, students enjoyed Question & Answer time with their new friends. A common question was How many snow days does each class get a year? Surprisingly, a class in Montana stated they have never cancelled class due to the snow. They had a day that was -50 degree wind chill and started the day at 11:00am so the buses could warm up!  They stopped going outside for recess when the temperature got to zero degrees.

A 3rd grade class in Medicine Lodge exchanged directions during their connection then displayed each snowman for their partner to see. Each snowman brought an applause from the classes. These students did a wonderful job of positive reinforcement and encouragement! During another connection with Medicine Lodge 1st grade and New York, the NY teacher did a "thumbs-up" style Q&A with both classes asking questions about students interests. This showed the classes despite the major distance between them, they had many common interests.  

Naked Turkey Collaboration! 

The title is correct! Students took home a "Naked" Turkey outline to decorate with their families. The purpose was to disguise the Turkey's so that they made it past Thanksgiving without getting eaten! Classrooms in Wellington, South Haven, and Udall joined classrooms in Texas and West Virginia to share their clever Turkey disguises. Students also completed the sentence "I am not a Turkey, I'm a...".  

There were many different disguises, including a reindeer, cowboy, sheriff, volleyball player, vampire, Taylor Swift, Rockstar, Ninja, Avatar, nurse...just to list a few! Each class took turns showing their Turkey's on camera. Pictured above (left) is the South Haven class with their partner class in Lubbock, TX. Pictured above (right) is a Wellington student's Rockstar Turkey. After the presentations, kids were able to talk to their partner class and ask questions.

All collaborations, no matter the content, are a valuable experience for the students to interact with students in different cities, states, and even other countries. These are opportunities that are not typically available in your normal classroom setting. To all of the teachers and students that participated in this collaboration, you did a wonderful job!!

Cleveland Metroparks Zoo

So far, 207 South Central Kansas students in grades K-5 have participated in a videoconference program from the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo in Ohio using videoconferencing technology. The Zoo offers a variety of education programs provided over IDL free of charge! These programs are a great opportunity to take the kids out of the classroom to experience a lesson from a zoo educator without leaving the classroom.

One program, Discover Australia, taught Kindergartens and 1st graders in Wellington and Argonia about the different types of mammals found in Australia. They also learned how different our country is from theirs and where Australia is located. The zoo educator engaged the students by having them guess the characteristics of each type of animal. Students also got to see a "live" animal from several of the groups including a Whites Tree Frog, a Bearded Dragon, a Sugar Glider, and a Barn Owl.

Another program, Rainforest Life, taught students in El Dorado and Argonia about the plant and animal life in the Rainforest. They covered all 5 senses of what you would discover if you were walking in a real rainforest. The Zoo showed a "live" Madagascar Hissing Cockroach and a Green Parrot. Both animals commonly found in a rainforest. The parrot "Miss Chica" could mimic people and animal sounds including meowing like a cat and calling "here kitty kitty".

At the end of each program, the students were able to ask questions of the presenter. One first grade student asked if the presenter had any cats at home. The presenter said that he had a cat and three little boys running around at home and had the students guess what type of animal category they were!    

Other programs that they offer include: A Kid's Life in Australia, Jambo Means Hello, Wolf!, Boo I'm a Bat!, and many others! Registration for the Spring 2011 semester will open December 1st. Visit their website at: Cleveland Zoo.

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Monster Exchange Project

During the last two weeks in October, twelve classes from grades K-6 participated in the annual Monster Exchange Project. This project focuses on descriptive writing, following directions, and teamwork. Each class created a unique monster, wrote instructions, then exchanged instructions with a partner-teacher. Partners then created a second monster based on the new instructions.  

The partner classes connected over IDL from Wisconsin, New York, Texas, and Canada to classrooms in El Dorado, Argonia, Bluestem, Hamilton, Centre, Marion, and Hillsboro. For the connection, students began with where they were located in the U.S. Some classes shared maps and posters to tell about their community and school.  Then students compared monsters and discussed differences and similarities. Students made observations on how they could have wrote the directions differently to have different outcomes. Or they gained insight on how other students may interpret things differently.

After the monsters were discussed in detail, the students were able to have a question & answer time with their partner class. Students had the opportunity to ask any type of question. Some common questions were what was on the menu for lunch that day and what was the weather like. Younger classes discussed what type of play ground equipment each had, and what time they attended school. This gave the students the opportunity to learn about the partner class’s school and community, while teaching them about their own.  

What educators that participated in this event had to say:

• The students learned to work cooperatively and learned to read and write directions.
• The students enjoyed this and really got the point about writing clear directions.
• This was a fun way for the students to learn the importance of details. 

Thank you for participating!