My school has a video distribution system. It works well for the most part. We show the daily Channel One News using this system each morning at the beginning of homeroom. Immediately following the news, we send a live broadcast of our daily announcements to all classrooms each morning. We have four teams of three students (2 anchors and a camera operator) that alternate on a weekly basis to present the announcements. An administrator, usually our principal, is also present to help with announcements. A few weeks ago, we also used this distribution system to show a special video featuring our cafeteria staff as “School Breakfast Detectives”. Each day, students were given new clues to solve mysteries related to School Breakfast Week. Occasionally, we also show Channel One Connections videos or other approved videos in order for multiple classrooms to view them simultaneously.
Our system does use Discovery Streaming, but I didn’t know that it was available through GPB. This in itself is an amazing resource. Teachers have access to so many videos, and they do not have to purchase them. There are a ton of other resources available free on the GPB Education website. The only other resource that I know teachers in my school have actually used is Georgia Stories. Our eighth grade social studies teachers have used this to some degree. GPB Education also offers a program called Science Central, including modules entitled Chemistry & Physics, Climate, Nature, Georgia Outdoors, and NOVA. I’m not aware of any of our teachers who use these. After taking a closer look, the Chemistry & Physics module would obviously be a good resource for our eighth grade physical science classes, and the information and units about the scientific method could be used in 6th-8th grades. They also have a program called Irasshai that teaches Japanese to students. They also offer give access to a television series called Road Trip that teaches students about the benefits of Georgia’s technical colleges. Another great resource offered by GPB is Teachers’ Domain. It offers a large variety of digital media that can be used in the classroom or for professional development. Some of these include lesson plans, videos, and handouts.
I plan to create some new links on our media center website to lead teachers to these valuable resources. I may also try to feature a new one each month during the school year. I enjoy assisting teachers by providing them with good leads for relevant resources like these.
It sounds like you guys have a well organized schedule for your closed circuit. I like the fact that an administrator helps out with the news. You don't hear of that too often. I also like that you have consistent groups that rotate through the new presentation. We use to have 4 students that would work for 2 weeks. So every other week we were re-training students. It could be very taxing.
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned the other programs offered by GPB such as NOVA. In my 5th grade gifted class, I teach a connections unit and we learn about bridges. I use NOVA a lot during that unit and plan on using it with my architecture unit this semester. It has videos and sometimes worksheets that the kids do in conjunction with the info on the internet. They are AWESOME! I am planning on checking out some of the other sites you mentioned by GPB.
I also liked your idea of posting some of these sites onto your media center web site. I think that is a wonderful idea. I also like to send out links to the entire faculty as well. This way it is presented to them and they don’t have to look for it.
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ReplyDeleteI do my field experience at a local middle school, and they use a comparable strategy to your school's closed circuit program. The students do the daily announcements and school news. Many teachers will also engage in the morning news. The teachers who are managing clubs or have news about a program that they are coordinating will often engage in the closed circuit television program and inform students about updates to their activities. The librarian manages this program; therefore, I think that this is an appropriate subject for MEDT 6467 and a fundamental assignment.
ReplyDeleteI also like how you linked the use of the GPB website to the middle school curriculum. I think that these tools could improve the teachers' ability to fuse information literacy skills into the curriculum. I like your writing about the Georgia Stories link and how it would be an effective tool to use in eighth grade history classes. I also like the Georgia World War II project. I think that a high school teacher could use this tool to teach students about the impact of World War II. I think that you provide innovative techniques for encouraging students and teachers to use these tools.
I really like how your school rotates the students through the news crew. I've heard about a lot of schools keeping the same students all semester, or even all year. I like it that so many students get the opportunity to participate. It's really awesome that the principal is so involved!
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that GPB had so many resources. After reading your blog, I went to the website to check them out. I definitely think featuring them on the media webpage is a great idea. Teachers, students, and parents need to know what is available to them, and for free!