| Meet Eddie Kennedy, MarcoPolo Field Trainer of the Year for 2005 |
| MarcoPolo
is proud to recognize veteran trainer Eddie Kennedy of
Oklahoma as the Field
Trainer of the Year for 2005.
This honor is based upon Eddie's outstanding training performance
last year — he trained 139 educators in 14 training
sessions and earned a training mean score of 4.60 out of
5.0 from his trainees. Over the past several years, Eddie
has held various leadership roles within the MarcoPolo
Training Network — and the education community — that
have contributed to his experience and expertise as a staff
developer. He is a former MarcoPolo State Training Administrator
for Idaho, where he was responsible for the Technology
Integration In-service Project for the University of Idaho's
College of Education and also for coordinating the rollout
of MarcoPolo training to teachers statewide. As a member
of the MarcoPolo national training cadre, Eddie traveled
the country delivering train-the-trainer sessions. Currently,
he serves as a federal grant coordinator for the Eufaula
Public Schools in his home state of Oklahoma, where he
previously held positions as a teacher, coach and principal.
As with
many other Field Trainers, Eddie has taken his passion
for MarcoPolo wherever his career leads him. "My roles and duties associated
with MarcoPolo have continuously morphed in the last five
years, but my belief in what this program can do for education
has not changed," Eddie says. "Showing others how to use
the MarcoPolo resources is the best way I can impact education
as it relates to technology integration."
 Eddie's
Quick Tips
for High-Impact,
Stress-Free
Sessions
|
•
|
Be
in shape physically and mentally. As
an active, dynamic presenter who can
move from trainee to trainee, you'll
endear yourself to your audience and
avoid ending a full-day training event
exhausted. |
| • |
Preparation,
preparation, preparation. You'll
mentally cover more scenarios than you
will ever encounter, making it possible
for you to address any issues that might
arise as you train. |
| • |
Handouts — by
nature your trainees expect handouts
and support materials, so be sure to
provide them. |
| • |
Electronic
documents — supplemental to the
handouts, have any documents that trainees
will use (lesson plan templates, worksheets,
etc.) saved electronically on the school
server or emailed to your trainees so
they can complete activities using existing
technology. |
| • |
Save
as many of your resources as possible
on a jump-drive (removable USB memory
stick) for easy transfer to the school
computers or for quick back-up. |
| • |
Visit
your training site in advance or arrive
at least one hour early to make sure
computers, projectors, SMART boards,
etc., are all adjusted and functioning
as your training style requires. Start
all computers and load the MarcoPolo
home page. |
| • |
After
the session, share your training scores
and comments with the school or district
professional development person. |
| For
more tips from MarcoPolo's top trainers, click
here. |
|
|
Good
Rapport is Key
Eddie's
success as a MarcoPolo trainer has a great deal to do with
the rapport he develops with his trainees. He begins each
training session by helping to make his attendees comfortable. "A little self-deprecating
humor and real-life examples always open the door for me," Eddie
explains. "Once
attendees are comfortable with my training style and the
day's objectives, they're willing to share with one another.
When the group is comfortable with one another, they often
self-select with whom they will work. Even so, I watch for
those that are eager or early adopters and pair them with
reluctant learners or those who are not comfortable with
technology. I also make it a point to find common ground
regarding the content, whether it is cross-curricular or
progression by grade level. Teachers know that their curricular
expertise is where we are concentrating our MarcoPolo training
efforts and that technology is just our way to get to these
resources — and effectively use them to engage and
teach students."
Sharing MarcoPolo Success Stories
As any
veteran trainer knows, there is always the possibility
that the training audience will include some challenging
participants. Helping these educators find MarcoPolo resources
that work for them is among the most satisfying experiences
for the trainer. "At some point, you'll have a moment when
you know that you and MarcoPolo have made a difference," Eddie
notes, adding that there are two examples that immediately
come to mind from his sessions.
The
first was a "resistant" teacher who sat with arms folded
at the beginning of a two-day training session. When asked
why he was in the workshop and what he hoped to learn,
the teacher noted that an administrator had "made him" attend
and that he "doubted MarcoPolo had anything for an art teacher." By
noon, the teacher was engaged. By mid-afternoon, he was sharing
sites he had found with colleagues. The next morning, the
teacher admitted he had spent four hours on MarcoPolo at
home the previous evening. During the second day of training,
the teacher eagerly aligned his newly-found MarcoPolo lessons
with state standards. Nine months later, he voluntarily attended
one of Eddie's workshops for trainers and went on to help
roll out training in his district. The once-resistant teacher,
now a confident MarcoPolo Field Trainer, earns consistently
high training scores from his session attendees.
The
second was a teacher who personally challenged Eddie to
help him find resources he could use in his alternative
education program. By the second day of the session, he
had developed an outstanding lesson using MarcoPolo resources
and aligned it with his state standards — only to lose
the document due to a technology issue. But he was not
dissuaded, telling Eddie that he knew he could "quickly
and easily find the MarcoPolo resources again" and recreate his lesson. As he
left the workshop, the teacher commented that, in his 24 years of teaching, this
was one of the few professional development workshops that he had enjoyed and
found useful — and it may just have been the best workshop he had ever attended.
Suggestions for New Trainers
Hearing
about experiences like these, while empowering, can also
be daunting for trainers who are new to MarcoPolo. To help
them get started and gain confidence, Eddie recommends
that new trainers team with — or shadow — an experienced
MarcoPolo trainer. Alternatively, two new trainers might team with each other
to prepare and co-present a session. "New trainers who try one or both of these
strategies will be amazed at how much they already know about MarcoPolo," Eddie
says, "and they will truly realize the depth of their knowledge when they reflect
on their training sessions."
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|
 |
| Foundation
News
MarcoPolo
Moves to Verizon Foundation
Following Merger
As
a result of the recent
merger of MCI Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc., MarcoPolo is now a flagship program of the Verizon Foundation, exemplifying Verizon's vision of advancing and applying technology that touches life. Educators and trainers will now notice the Verizon logo and references to the Verizon Foundation on MarcoPolo Web sites and training materials. MarcoPolo Program development remains on track through the transition period, with enhancements underway to MarcoPolo's
Professional Development Program and
educational resources.
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MarcoPolo
is a proud member of the ISTE
100 alliance, a select group of forward-thinking
corporations and non-profits who share a commitment
to improve teaching and learning by advancing the
effective use of technology in education.
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Trainer
Recognition
Through
the Trainer
Recognition Program, MarcoPolo is proud to acknowledge
the dedicated trainers who roll out the Professional
Development Program. To be eligible for recognition,
trainers must track their training activity. Click
here for more
information.
Train
and Win! Contest
All
Field Trainers who have completed the four
required tracking steps for the training sessions they lead are
eligible to win prizes in the random drawings that
are part of the Train and Win! Contest. Congratulations
to the following recent winners:
November
2005
Gilda Haddox (Parkersburg, W.Va.); David Stride Los Angeles, Ca.) and Michael Russo (Williamsville, N.Y.)
December
2005
Jacques Chaput (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.); Edith McAllister (Grand Prairie, Texas) and Suzanne Shilling (Patterson, N.Y.)
Field Trainers
of the Year
Each month, MarcoPolo recognizes exemplary Field Trainers who trained at least 50 educators and earned training survey scores of at least 4.5 out of 5.0 in the Field
Trainers of the Month.
On
an annual basis, MarcoPolo recognizes Field
Trainers of the Year,
who have demonstrated outstanding training activity
by training a minimum of 100 educators, with a training
mean of 4.5 out of 5.0.
Eddie
Kennedy of Oklahoma, who trained 139 educators in
2005 and earned a 4.6 mean survey score, has been
named Field Trainer of the Year for 2005. Other honorees
include:
100+
Club
Jean
B. Weller (Virginia) and Sheila
Bennett (Alabama)
50+
Club
Rosalee
Taylor (Texas), Carolyn
Gaylord (New York),
Sylvia Baca (Texas),
Gina Morrison (Texas),
Mae Adkinson (Florida),
Gilda Haddox (West Virginia),
Karen Finter (New York),
Denise Smesny (Texas),
Lane Hunnicutt (Texas)
and
Paula Crawford (Oklahoma)
Certified
Trainers
MarcoPolo
Certified Trainers are highly skilled staff
developers who are required to participate in advanced
training sessions and demonstrate a high level of
performance in order to earn and maintain certification.
MarcoPolo
is proud to recognize the following newly-certified
trainers:
Julianne Laverty, Richard
Davis,
David Parzych, Christopher
Smith and Joe Pesavento,
all of New York, through the New
York State Teacher Centers MarcoPolo Rollout Partnership.
All
MarcoPolo Certified Trainers are listed on the MarcoPolo
website.
Training
Advisory Group
The
MarcoPolo Training Advisory Group (TAG) is comprised
of outstanding MarcoPolo trainers who are invited
to preview and review various aspects of the MarcoPolo
Program, including educational resources, professional
development and Web site design. MarcoPolo is proud
to recognize these dedicated volunteers on the newly-launched
TAG
Recognition Page.
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MarcoPolo's
training paradigm and materials are aligned to the International
Society for Technology in Education's (ISTE) National
Educational Technology Standards (NETS) for Teachers.
View information about the MarcoPolo
alignment and learn more about NETS
for Teachers.
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Ask
the Trainer
In
this column, MarcoPolo staff trainers and Trainer
MarcoGram Editorial
Board members
answer questions on a variety of topics.
Q: Can teachers use the lessons from MarcoPolo in their
classrooms exactly as they are presented on the Web?
A: Yes,
lessons and activities can be adopted directly from
MarcoPolo or teachers may modify and adapt them to
match state standards or other requirements. To see
if MarcoPolo resources have been aligned to your
state standards, check the Content
and Web Projects that
have been developed by MarcoPolo's Rollout
Partners. If you are
publishing an article about how you have used a MarcoPolo
lesson plan or activity, you are required to use proper
attribution and cite the source.
Q: Why
do the MarcoPolo gateway
and Content
Partner Web sites change from time to time?
A: MarcoPolo
is a dynamic program that is always being updated
in response to educator requests and recommendations.
The Program staff makes every effort to keep the
site current, meaningful and responsive to educator
needs. For information on current updates, check
the Features
section of the MarcoPolo Web site, which is accessible
from the MarcoPolo homepage. In addition, tools for
Partner site explorations, including site maps,
overviews and talking points, are available in the
During
Training Section of the Trainer
Resource Center. NOTE: Free registration is required.
Do
you have a training question? Send
it in with "Ask the Trainer" in the subject
line of your message.
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Did
You Know...
about
these great
training resources?
Here
are some top picks from members of the Trainer
MarcoGram Editorial Board:
Global
Considerations is a nice review that I use when
I'm preparing
my agenda prior to a training session because it
helps me to focus on the needs of the group that
will be walking in the door. For example, remembering
to take into consideration the type of equipment
I will have in the training lab as well as the equipment
they will be working with when they return to their
schools. When things are crazy (and when are they
not?), this is a quick way to do a double check in
preparation for the session. The Global Considerations resource is located within the Trainer
Resource Center.
—
Michael Russo
Technology Facilitator
Williamsville
Central School District
Williamsville, NY
The "Start
Your Engines" worksheet
activity helps teachers see how the MarcoPolo
search engine quickly provides them with only
authoritative and non-commercial educational resources
appropriate for their needs. In this activity teachers
use their favorite search engine to look for a curriculum
resource or lesson and then look for the same resource
or lesson using the MarcoPolo search engine. They
pair and share the results. To locate the worksheet,
go to the MarcoPolo Search Engine training
resources, which you will find in the During
Training section of the Trainer
Resource Center.
— Darlene
Cardillo
Director of Educational Technology
Diocese of Albany
Catholic School Office
Albany,
NY
(Note:
Access to the Trainer Resource Center requires free
registration.)
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MarcoPolo
E-Newsletters
MarcoPolo
News is a quarterly e-newsletter
that brings "big picture" program updates
to members of the MarcoPolo Education
Community. It's a great tool for trainers
who often are asked general questions
about the program and those who integrate
program news into their training sessions.
Trainers and trainees are encouraged
to subscribe.
All issues are archived
online.
The
MarcoGram
is a monthly e-newsletter written especially for K-12 classroom teachers, principals and trainers that features themed activities to use in the classroom, along with links to MarcoPolo lesson plans and other resources. The MarcoGram is a great training tool, whether you copy and distribute it to trainees at your sessions or point them to the online archived
editions. Remember to encourage your attendees to
subscribe
to this popular newsletter!
The Trainer
MarcoGram is a quarterly newsletter
that provides MarcoPolo Trainers with tips,
activities, news and links to online resources.
Permission
is granted to reprint and distribute
the Trainer MarcoGram for use in
a training session or classroom, or on Web sites
devoted to the fields of education or professional
development. All Web addresses and links must
be maintained in their original form as they
appear in the published version.
Archive
Subscribe
Unsubscribe
Send
feedback
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Trainer MarcoGram
Editorial
Board
Special
thanks to the members of the Trainer MarcoGram Editorial
Board, a group of exemplary MarcoPolo trainers who
contribute their expertise and guidance to this publication:
Stevie Ash, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Education, Ala.; Darlene Cardillo, Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany, N.Y.; Camilla Gagliolo, Arlington Public Schools, Va.; Amanda Hammes, San Antonio Urban Systemic Program, Texas; Beth Klineman, Independent Trainer, Va.; Susan Lancaster, Bellarmine University School of Education, Ky.; Karen Mack, New York Institute of Technology, N.Y.; Kay Rewerts, Grant Wood Area Education Agency, Iowa; Michael Russo, Williamsville Central School District/Heim Middle School, N.Y.; Lydia Shipley, College Station ISD, Texas; and Sherry Thomas, Christian County School District, Ky.
Jennifer
Fritschi, MarcoPolo Program Officer for Professional Development, is the editorial consultant to the Trainer
MarcoGram.
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|
|
|
| Catch
Up with the Trainer of the Year
for 2004 |
Dr.
Susan Lancaster of Kentucky, Field Trainer of the
Year for 2004, continues to maintain an active
training schedule. That's in addition to her full-time
responsibilities at Bellarmine University School
of Education, where she works with undergraduate
and master's level teachers.
Last
year, she also found time to present at several
conferences. Included were a handful of MarcoPolo
sessions at NECC 2005, where Susan also delivered
the keynote at the annual MarcoPolo Content and
Rollout Partner Reunion (see the Summer
2005 MarcoPolo News).
This year, she plans to spend a considerable amount
of time writing articles for publication.
Whatever
the venue, Susan's message is consistent. "My greatest
success as a MarcoPolo trainer has been the opportunity
to share these rich resources," she explains.
"And my charge to the educators I train is to pass
it on. Technology will never replace teachers,
but teachers who use technology effectively will
replace those who do not." See
our interview with
Susan in the Spring 2005 issue of the Trainer
MarcoGram.
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|
| Professional
Development Report |
MarcoPolo's
Professional Development team has been hard
at work updating training materials and creating
new course offerings. Here's a look at some of
their current projects and new releases.
New
K-12 Teacher's Guide Now Available for Ordering
 Bringing
Innovative Ideas Into Your Classroom: A Teacher's
Guide is
now available for ordering. The
new 56-page guide incorporates MarcoPolo's
successful Framework for Integrating Online
Resources and also includes strategies for
flexibly integrating the high-quality materials
available from each of the Content
Partner Web sites into a variety of teaching
environments.
In
addition, an update of the Teacher Training
Kit,
including a format change from hard copy binder
to a dynamic and customizable online resource
is underway and should be completed by the end
of the year.
Online
Science Course for Teachers About to Launch
The
new self-paced online course for teachers from Science
NetLinks will launch
shortly. Educators who enroll in the three-week course
will receive the Science NetLinks 42-page Teacher's
Guide, along with additional resources for successful
integration of Science NetLinks' inquiry-based resources
into their classroom instruction. College credit
and/or CEU's will be awarded upon request.
Specialized
Training in the Pipeline
Today's
classrooms are anything but homogenous. To help
prepare teachers to meet the needs and leverage
the abilities of a differentiated classroom, MarcoPolo
is developing a new course on differentiated instruction,
which is scheduled to launch in Fall 2006.
The
new course will identify MarcoPolo resources that
can provide multiple options for students to acquire
content, process ideas and develop products. Participants
will learn to develop and adapt instructional plans
that engage learners and maximize student achievement,
incorporate principles of universal design for
learning in instructional planning and identify
key points in the instructional cycle at which
to embed MarcoPolo's
high quality resources. Watch for the launch announcement
on the Features
page of the
MarcoPolo Web site.
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|
| Training with the Redesigned Illuminations Site |
 The
National
Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), MarcoPolo
Partner on Illuminations, recently
redesigned its Web site with improved navigation
and graphics, as well as enhanced search features.
Christen Cummings, MarcoPolo staff trainer, takes
a look at the new site and offers suggestions for
introducing it to your trainees.
During
training, be sure to point out these
features and updates:
- The
Illuminations flash
tour, accessible from the home
page, shows visitors
how to navigate the site. It's
a fabulous tool to orient educators who are first-time
visitors to this site or to update previously-trained
educators on what's new.
- Activities is
the new term for Tools (formerly known as applets),
which are interactive online student resources.
Users can sort Activities by grade level or locate
a specific activity simply by typing a keyword
in the advanced search box located in this section.
- Explorations are
suggestions for activities that students can
do independently.
- Lessons can
be searched and sorted by grade level and standard.
Users can filter for lessons with associated
online activities.
- Lesson
and activity details can be hidden or viewed
in their entirety by clicking on the + or - at
the beginning of each sub-section to expand or
collapse it, making these pages easier to navigate
and read.
- Feedback can
be provided immediately on any lesson or activity
using the "comment about this page" links,
which appear throughout the site.
- Email-to-a-friend links appear in each section, making it easy
to share lessons and activities with others — or
email them to yourself for later reference.
- Additional
off-line workbooks and software are suggested
on each lesson and activity page, located within
the NCTM Resources box on the right side of the
page.
- Web
links are exemplary mathematics education
resources that have been approved by an NCTM
editorial board and can help teachers understand
NCTM's Principles
and Standards for School Mathematics.
- The
MarcoPolo
Search Engine appears on the top right
bar of every page and allows the user to search
all MarcoPolo resources.
Ideas
for follow-ups after training:
- Email
a new navigation tip or trick.
- Create
a scavenger hunt.
- Ask
a math question of the day during the morning
announcements and award a small prize to the teacher
who is the first to email the correct answer from
Illuminations.
- Email
a new lesson or activity of the week related
to content being taught in the classroom.
- Highlight
an activity or lesson in the faculty newsletter.
- Encourage
teachers to share favorite resources with their
colleagues by using the "email-to-a-friend" link
that appears on every page.
Whether
you are preparing to train educators who are new
to MarcoPolo or updating past training session
participants, we hope this section provided helpful
ideas. Please send
us your feedback.
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|
| Engage
Trainees with Treasures from Xpeditions |
Xpeditions continues
to team up with some of the National
Geographic Society's most
exciting projects to bring the best of our world
into classrooms worldwide.
Already
available is the official
activity guide for the Academy Award-winning
March of the Penguins, the most successful
natural history documentary of all time. Now the
team is hard at work on lesson plans for the upcoming
film,
Call of the North, which follows the adventures
of polar bear and walrus families in the Arctic — and
is scheduled to premiere in August, just in time
for the new school year.
 The
new Chesapeake
Bay: Then & Now Web site,
for which Xpeditions created suites of lessons for
both social studies and science classrooms, is a
finalist for the prestigious CODiE
award for 2005's
Best New Social Studies Instructional Solution.
As
previously announced in the Trainer
MarcoGram, Xpeditions has
also partnered with the Genographic
Project, the Society's landmark five-year
study led by geneticist and anthropologist Spencer
Wells that is using genetics to trace the human
journey back tens of thousands of years. New lessons
and special grade-versioned supplementary guides
on migration, genetics and cultural markers — as
well as those on documenting migration through
photography, interviews and maps — are among
the available resources. Over the next few years
the project will travel the world continent-by-continent,
beginning with a celebration of Africa, and will
include resources from National Geographic conservation
fellow Mike Fay's breakthrough MegaFlyover
project.
Keep
an eye out for announcement of new lesson plans
on marine life in connection with the Oceans
for Life marine literacy project, under
development in collaboration with the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
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|
MarcoPolo
Content
Partners are always updating their
Web sites and educational resources. This section
includes briefs on enhancements to their Web sites,
programs sponsored by Content Partner organizations, and kudos for these efforts from national publications.
For a quick list of the most recently-released
educational resources, check the New
Lessons page, which is updated every Friday.
'Science
Update' Podcasts Now Available
Science
Updates,
the popular radio shows accompanied by transcripts
and lesson ideas from Science
NetLinks, are now
available as podcasts.
They can be downloaded in MP3 format or you can subscribe
to have the shows delivered directly to your computer
every week.
Science NetLinks is produced by
the American
Association for the Advancement of Science in
partnership with the Verizon Foundation.
EDSITEment
Announces Best Humanities Sites
EDSITEment has
announced a list of 46 Web sites that have been
chosen as the 2005-2006 "Best
of the Humanities on the Web". The selection
process begins with an open call for nominations
and concludes with the work of a peer review panel
composed of master teachers, college and university
faculty and administrators from across the country.
Evaluation criteria include intellectual quality,
creative design and educational impact. To suggest
a website for the 2006-2007 selection process,
fill out the nomination
form. EDSITEment is produced by the National
Endowment for the Humanities in partnership
with the Verizon Foundation.
ARTSEDGE
is Named USA Today 'Best Bet'
ARTSEDGE,
which is produced by The
Kennedy Center in partnership
with the Verizon Foundation, has been
selected as A "Best
Bet" on
the USA
Today Education
Web site for the week of Feb. 24 - March
2. Links are listed on the e-publication's home
page for one week and then archived for
future reference. Fewer than 150 sites are selected
each year as USA Today Education "Best
Bet" Web sites.
NEA
Today Features EconEdLink Resources
NEA
Today, the monthly online publication
of the National Education Association, featured EconEdLink in
its
On
the Web section in February. The article,
titled "Economics for the Real World," provides
an overview of EconEdLink, developed
through a partnership between The
National Council on Economic Education and
the Verizon Foundation.
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|
| Trainer
Tip: 'Making Glyphs' Fosters
Introductions |
To
facilitate participant introductions, especially
when the trainer is the only person in the room
who doesn't
already know the trainees (and they all know each
other), New York trainer Karen Mack suggests using
Making
Glyphs, a lesson from Illuminations.
Glyphs are a fairly new and powerful way to show
several pieces of data at once. They can be created
in two dimensions as this lesson demonstrates or
in three dimensions with a medium such as clay.
"With
a few adjustments to the directions, Making
Glyphs, not only
helps trainers get to know a group, but also allows
easy access to their names and background information
throughout the session, gets them involved in the
training session and models a lesson all at the
same time," Karen explains.
Glyphs
can be created with just a few materials: blank
white paper, a few boxes of crayons and tape to
hang the finished products in a visible spot at
each trainee's desk
or computer station. Karen likes to include a bag
of bite-sized chocolates like Hershey's Kisses
for a fun reward (see below for the tie-in).
Karen
suggests using the kite example from the Making
Glyphs lesson and simply modifying the directions
to accommodate your training group. She finds that
reading the directions step-by-step during the
session helps keep the activity moving along. Here's
a sample set of directions from Karen for a mixed
grade level group of PreK-12 teachers:
1. |
Print your first name (nickname) at the top left of your paper in large letters, approximately two to three inches high. |
 |
2. |
On the rest of the top half of the paper, draw the outline of a kite — make it big for decorating. |
3. |
Draw
a star for each year you have taught — this
year counts! Use a blue star to represent 5
years if you've taught for a long time
and can't fit all the stars in the space
provided. |
4. |
Write
in the number (grades 5, 6) or letter (E=Elementary,
M=Middle, HS=High School) of each grade level
you currently teach. |
| 5. |
If
you are a special education teacher, add an "SE" to
your kite; if you are a technology specialist,
add "TS," etc. Customize the codes
for your training group. |
6. |
Add a drawing that represents your favorite activity — outside of teaching, that is! For example, use a book for reading, a fish for fishing, etc. |
7. |
Add
a long string to your kite. |
8. |
Add
six "empty" bows to your kite string. |
9. |
If
you teach art, color in the top bow. |
10. |
If
you teach English language arts, color the
second bow. |
11. |
If
you teach math, color the third bow. |
12. |
If
you teach physical education, color the fourth
bow. |
13. |
If
you teach science, color the fifth bow. |
14. |
If
you teach social studies, color the sixth bow. |
15. |
Add
an additional bow for each other subject area
you teach; label the bows and color them in. |
16. |
Add
a Hershey Kiss to your kite if you love chocolate. |
Once
completed, Karen recommends having a few participants
share their kites with the group. Then, pass around
the tape and ask everyone to hang their kites at
their training stations, where they are easily
visible. Not only can you see each trainee's name, but also other useful information that might help you form groups by the subjects or grade levels they teach, for example.
Karen
points out that this activity also helps to ease
the way into the world of MarcoPolo for those who
are less technology oriented and those without
easy access to computers in their classrooms — by
reassuring them from the outset that they will
find resources to meet their comfort zones and
circumstances.
Karen
Mack is the MarcoPolo Web and Content
Alignment Coordinator for MarcoPoloNY,
a project of the New York Institute of Technology
in support of the New
York State Teacher Centers-MarcoPolo Rollout Partnership. She is also a member of the Trainer
MarcoGram Editorial Board.
Do
you have a training tip to share? Please send
it to us.
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| Trainer
Tip: 'Stapleless Book' Showcases Tools |
 When
staff developer Kay Rewerts of Iowa
trains teachers, she always uses the Stapleless
Book,
a student tool from ReadWriteThink,
as a way to showcase MarcoPolo's student materials
and provide an overview of the various types of
resources available for teachers. This tool allows
users to easily create an eight-page booklet from
a single letter-sized sheet of printer paper by
simply folding and cutting, and it comes with printable
PDF
planning sheet that can be used for drafts
and revisions.
"Teachers
love getting the tiny book and many of them have
told me they would never have tried using this
interactive student tool if I hadn't given them
an example," Kay explains. "I create the book ahead
of time and print copies for everyone in the training
group. I also give them printed directions on how
to fold the books and we practice folding them
together during the training session. Even
though I share many other resources from all the
Partner sites during the training session, I try
to list one or two specific items from each Partner
site in my Stapleless Book and I always include
at least one Web resource, one lesson and one student
material."
Here
is an example of the resource listings Kay might
include in her Stapleless Book for a general training
audience:
Kay
finds that the Stapleless Book is a good training
tool for multiple reasons. Not only does it showcase
an example of a student tool and how it might be
used, it also gives participants practice locating
the various MarcoPolo resources Kay has included
on each page.
Kay
Rewerts, a staff developer for the Grant Wood Area
Education Agency in Iowa, is a member of the MarcoPolo
Training Advisory Group and the Trainer
MarcoGram Editorial Board.
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