Fall 2002

The Field Trainer MarcoGram is a quarterly newsletter that provides MarcoPolo Field Trainers with tips, activities, news and links to online resources. Send comments or suggestions for future issues to editor@marcopoloinfo.com.

The Field Trainer MarcoGram is created in HTML. If you are unable to properly view the images or hyperlinks, please view the online version at http://www.marcopolo-education.org/MarcoGrams/FT-Fall2002.html.

Copyright © 2004 Verizon Foundation. All Rights Reserved.

Online Resources: Printable Rosters & Surveys
Ever experienced those few tense moments during a training session when the Internet connection does not cooperate with your plan? In a situation like this, you should insert the MarcoPolo Training CD and hand out other backup materials--also, don't forget to download and print these roster and survey forms before the training session in case you experience Internet problems.

• Attendee Roster
• Attendee Survey for an End-Users session
• Attendee Survey for a Train-the-Trainer session
• Follow-up Form

Training Tip: Tempting Teachers with a Video
"Here in Broward County, Florida, we have four pre-planning days before the school year begins. I like to broadcast the MarcoPolo video over the in-house TV station so teachers can watch while they are setting up their classrooms. Then, I invite them to sign up for monthly workshops where we can focus on a different Partner site. Of course, the first session is an overview, dangling the carrot of temptation and excitement before the 'hungry' staff! Besides the wonderful resources of MarcoPolo, the teachers also receive cherished inservice points.

"After each session, the teachers take something from each Partner site and use it with their students. At the next training session, the teachers share their experiences and how the students responded to the activities. Gradually, we are developing a catalog of terrific MarcoPolo lessons for use by our entire teaching staff."

Update Your Bookmarks 
The MarcoPolo Education Foundation has a new Web address. You can find all of your favorite resources and links at http://www.marcopolo-education.org. Be sure to update your bookmarks to reflect this new change. And, check out our new Web site design, which will launch September 20. This redesign provides improved organization and navigation, allowing our visitors to quickly locate the resources they need to use MarcoPolo in and out of the classroom. 

Distance Learning Option Now Available 
MarcoPolo Train-the-Trainer sessions are now available from any location! Educators from across the nation have access to weekly Web-based Train-the-Trainer sessions. Visit MP Now! to learn more about this exciting new distance learning option. 

MarcoPolo Education Foundation Prospectus 
The MarcoPolo Education Foundation was established in August 2002 to ensure the future of the MarcoPolo Program. Read and share the MarcoPolo Education Foundation Prospectus, which provides a full description of existing program components, as well as future plans and funding opportunities for MarcoPolo. (You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to read the prospectus.)

Respond to Inquiries About the Future of MarcoPolo
As a representative of the MarcoPolo Education Foundation, Field Trainers are often asked about the future of the MarcoPolo Program. The MarcoPolo Education Foundation has prepared a list of questions and answers, that can help you respond to these inquiries. (This Word document is available exclusively to subscribers of the Field Trainer MarcoGram. Please contact the editor if you experience any problems viewing this resource.)

ReadWriteThink Web Site Launching Soon!
Expected to launch in mid-October 2002, the ReadWriteThink Web site is the combined effort of MarcoPolo's newest Partners, the International Reading Association and the National Council of Teachers of English. IRA and NCTE are combining their expertise in reading and language arts education to develop K-12 lesson plans and other educator resources for this joint Web site.
 

Stories From the Field

How educators and Field Trainers are using MarcoPolo.

Maximizing Training Time: Pre-Planning Is Key
"I like to select 'hook' sites to grab the attendees' interest. I often change those 'hook' sites from training to training, depending on the grade level of their students and the time of the curriculum year. As we progress through the calendar year, I try to select lessons and resources based on the sequence of their curriculum.

"I organize the content of my training sessions around who is attending the training. Before each session, I ask the attendees to send me some key objectives for which they would like to have Internet resources. This helps me gather materials and sites before the session and shows them that MarcoPolo is easy to use and implement right off the bat. Then, at the training session, I label each computer with a different objective--as the attendees enter the room, they move about the lab and look for the objective that fits their needs. After they're seated, we discuss Internet search techniques and locate Web sites that help meet their objectives. This technique helps them connect their pre-training needs to the solutions available through MarcoPolo.

"It's sometimes a challenge when I have a combination of elementary and high school teachers attending the same training session. In these cases, I prepare search terms for lessons and sites that will meet their overall curriculum area. This helps the group understand each other's role in the total K-12 process. It gives them an appreciation for the fact that they all are teaching graduating seniors, just at different phases of that student's education." 
 

Human Physiology--Systems of the Body: Lesson 1 (Grades 5-8), ARTSEDGE, Kennedy Center for Performing Arts

Background to the Lesson
In this lesson, students create movement patterns that express information about the basic systems, organs, and processes of the human body. Working in pairs, they make movement choices that communicate scientific concepts in creative movement, and make inquiries, through research and movement experimentation, into the ways in which the body's systems work and how those systems interact.

Preparing This Lesson for Your Training Session

• Bookmark the ARTSEDGE lesson: 

Human Physiology--Systems of the Body: Lesson 1
 
• Download this software:

Macromedia Flash Player
 
• Confirm the availability of these Web sites:

--Human Body Adventure
--ThinkQuest's "Tour of the Human Body"
--Yucky.com's "Gross and Cool Body"
--Science Curriculum Resources
--Science Links

• Walk through the lesson, highlighting the various online resources. 

• The lesson requires students to move freely in the classroom. Ask the attendees to consider how they can integrate computer use with physical activity. Would they teach the lesson over two class periods, one at the computer and the other in a gym or studio setting? Or, would they assign the Internet research as homework, reserving class time for the activity segment?

• This lesson also contains a heavy science component, as students explore the workings of the human body in order to act out certain functions. Ask your attendees to brainstorm ways that an Art or Movement teacher could integrate this lesson with the school's science curriculum. Is this lesson appropriate for health and science teachers to use in their classrooms as well?

• Separate attendees into groups and assign them a specific classroom setting, such as a gymnasium with no computers or a computer room with little floor space. Ask them to recommend the best way to present the lesson to students based on the number of computers available for Internet research and available floor space for the movement portion. 

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