NETS•T Aligned

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.

Trainer Recognition
Section Expands

The Trainer Recognition Section of the MarcoPolo Web site has been expanded to include a new MarcoPolo Certified Trainer Recognition page.

This is in addition to the Field Trainer Recognition Program, which honors Field Trainers of the Month, Field Trainers of the Year and the Train and Win! Contest Winners.

MarcoPolo Train and Win! Contest Winners

Congratulations to the following Train and Win! Contest winners:

May 2005
Nancy Copeland (Idabel, Okla.); Joanie Gaskins (Salina, Okla.); and Michael Russo (Williamsville, N.Y.)

June 2005
Steven Bilder (Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.); Denise Smesny (Baytown, Texas); and Laura Coomer (Louisville, Ky.)

July 2005
Suzanne Smith (Forney, Texas); Ann Dixon (Midland, Texas); and Ronique Hicks (Monroe, N.Y.)

August 2005
Sally Morgan (Fairmont, W.Va.); Kristy Smith (Mounds, Okla.); and Anna Krueger (Kalispell, Mont.)

September 2005
Marion Lyons (Marlboro, N.Y.); Robin Harris (Buffalo, N.Y.); and Vicki Fletcher (Damascus, Va.)

October 2005
Denise Smesny (Baytown, Texas); Phyllis Highland (Unionville, Va.); and Jessica Weekly (Monongah, W.Va.)

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.

MarcoPolo Field
Trainers of the Month

MarcoPolo acknowledges the exemplary performance of the following Field Trainers of the Month:

May 2005
Ed Aycock (Oklahoma)

June 2005
Mae Adkinson (Florida)

August 2005
Ed Kennedy (Oklahoma)

September 2005
Sheila Bennett (Alabama)

October 2005
Sheila Bennett (Alabama)

All Field Trainers who train a minimum of 30 educators in a single month and earn mean survey scores of 4.5 or higher on a scale of 1 to 5 are recognized through the MarcoPolo Field Trainer of the Month Recognition Program.

The Field Trainer with the highest mean survey score for each month is named Field Trainer of the Month. Field Trainers must complete the four required tracking steps for the training sessions they conduct in order to be eligible for this recognition.

MarcoPolo Certified Trainers

MarcoPolo is proud to recognize the following trainers who recently earned certification in the MarcoPolo Certified Trainer Program:

Stevie Ash of Alabama, through the University of Alabama at Birmingham Rollout Partnership; Earlene Cool, under the Kentucky State Department of Education Rollout Partnership; and Trudy Bantle, Roberta Green and Rose Tirotta, all of NY, through the New York State Teacher Resource and Computer Training Centers Rollout Partnership.

MarcoPolo Certified Trainers complete rigorous training and performance requirements to earn and maintain certification.

Summer Humanities Seminars for Teachers

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), MarcoPolo's Partner on EDSITEment, has announced opportunities for teachers to study various humanities topics through a series of summer seminars and institutes that take place around the United States and abroad. The application deadline is March 1, 2006.

Teachers selected to participate are awarded a fixed stipend to help cover travel costs, books and other research expenses, as well as living expenses. For more information, including the list of Summer 2006 seminars and institutes and specific guidelines for each, visit the NEH Summer Institute Web page.

Bookmarks

About MarcoPolo

Browsable Content Index

Featured Resources and Lessons

Free Awareness Sessions

Global Considerations

Glossary of MarcoPolo Terms

ISTE Alignment

MarcoPolo Content Calendar

MarcoPolo Search Engine

New Partner Lessons

Partner Site Overviews

Partner Site Talking Points

Plug-Ins and Utilities

Standards Alignment

Trainer FAQ

Trainer Resource Center

Trainer Tips

Training Logistics Forms

The MarcoGram is written especially for K-12 classroom teachers, principals and trainers. Distributed by e-mail each month, this publication features themed activities to use in the classroom, along with links to lesson plans and other resources available through the MarcoPolo Partnership.

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!

Recent topics include:

December 2005
Disasters: How They Happen, How We Cope

November 2005
Past to Present: How Ancient Cultures Shaped the World

October 2005
A Celebration of Food

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.

Share the Wealth...
and Your Feedback!

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.

Trainer MarcoGram archive

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New training materials are in development! MarcoPolo is preparing both an updated Teacher's Guide and Teacher Training Kit to better reflect the new resources and navigation available from all of the MarcoPolo Web sites, as well as innovative new approaches to professional development.

A new K-12 Teacher's Guide, to be published by the end of 2005, will replace the existing individual elementary and secondary guides. The new Teacher's Guide will include an introduction to the paradigm for technology integration that is core to the MarcoPolo Professional Development Program and aligned to the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS•T).

The new 56-page guide also will feature scenarios that illustrate how educators can flexibly integrate resources from each of the Content Partner sites into a variety of teaching environments. The common and unique features of each Partner Site and strategies for effectively using the MarcoPolo Search Engine will be covered, along with definitions of key terms and helpful how-to's.

An update to the current Teacher Training Kit is planned for 2006. It will include a new approach to content, packaging and delivery of up-to-date, customizable training resources for MarcoPolo Field Trainers and MarcoPolo Certified Trainers. The new kit will be available as an online resource, which will allow the program staff to update it in real time, making it more responsive to the dynamic nature of MarcoPolo.

Members of the MarcoPolo Training Advisory Group (TAG), representing a cross-section of active and exceptional MarcoPolo trainers from throughout the country, have met several times with MarcoPolo program staff to provide recommendations and feedback on the training materials. As with all aspects of the MarcoPolo Program, educators are the final arbiters and the program is appreciative of the valuable input TAG members have contributed to these discussions.

To help ensure that the MarcoPolo Field Trainers she trains can take something tangible away from her sessions, Virginia's lead trainer Jean Weller assigns them to develop and then share a collection of resources that are relevant for them and the teachers with whom they work. Below Jean, who is the Virginia Department of Education's MarcoPolo Training Administrator, describes the Resource Tables she asks her trainees to create.

"When training trainers, I like to make sure they focus on their role as trainers while they are exploring the MarcoPolo Content Partner sites," Jean explains. "To accomplish this, I ask them to make up Resource Tables. These are tables in Word with the following headings: Name of Resource, URL, Standard of Learning (state standard) if known, and Title of the educator who would use the resource (for example, 'Third Grade Teacher' or 'Middle School Library Media Specialist').

"Trainers in my sessions are asked to include at least three resources from each Content Partner site, which can be lesson plans, student interactives or recommended Web sites," she continues. "To get them started, I provide a Web page that includes links to a wide variety of lesson plans, student interactives and recommended Web links for each of the Partner sites. This jumpstarts their browsing and keeps them from getting stalled just trying to think of something to look for. At the end of the course, the new trainers post their Resource Tables on our Exchange discussion board.

"This assignment focuses the trainers on their eventual goal, which is to share what they know with others. It also gives the other trainers a potential list of great resources that they may have missed. And it allows me to see what resources people are drawn to."

Do you have a training tip to share? Please send it to us.

The Trainer Resource Center, with its searchable collection of 100-plus tools and materials, supports the effective planning and delivery of MarcoPolo training sessions by Field Trainers and MarcoPolo Certified Trainers. While trainers may not utilize every available resource, here are a few that all trainers may wish to add to their own personal toolkits:

• The Plug-ins page includes links to all the requisite plug-ins needed to access MarcoPolo resources in one spot on the MarcoPolo Web site. This is a time saver when preparing lab computers for a training session. Access this page from the left navigation bar of the Trainer Resource Center.
  
  
• MP Hotlinks is a collection of high interest and representative lessons and activities that illustrate the breadth and depth of the MarcoPolo collection, providing a great 'hook' for the start of your training session. Find these links among the resources in the During Training section, under Sample Lessons and Learning Activities.
  
  
• The Certificate of Participation is an easy-to-use template that allows you to present attendees with verification of the training session they've just completed for their professional files. The Certificate is located in the After Training section.

As you identify your favorite resources, use the Add a Training Resource feature, under the heading "My Training Resources" on the Trainer Resource Center home page, to store the links in one easy-to-access area.

The MarcoPolo Program welcomes feedback from teachers and trainers. If you or the educators you are training would like to submit a comment, question or concern to MarcoPolo or any of the Content Partners, there are several options.

Feedback to Content Partners regarding lessons, interactives, broken links, or other issues, can be submitted by using the Contact Us link on each Partner's Web page. Exceptions are ARTSEDGE — use the Feedback link on the top navigation bar — and Science NetLinks, where the Email link is the best way to connect with the program staff. In addition to the contact links, the surveys on EDSITEment, ReadWriteThink and Science NetLinks are other tools for communicating with Content Partners.

For a general content, training or technical comment or question, use the Contact Us link at the top of the MarcoPolo home page. Before submitting it, select the specific type of comment on the form to make sure it is routed to the appropriate department.

MarcoPolo is always looking for training tips and success stories from our trainers that can be shared on the Web site or here in the Trainer MarcoGram. If you have a strategy for making your training go smoothly that would benefit others, or if you have a MarcoPolo-related anecdote, please share it with us.

This section of the Trainer MarcoGram offers step-by-step instructions for introducing each of the Content Partner Web sites to your training session attendees. This month, we focus on ReadWriteThink, presented by the International Reading Association and the National Council of Teachers of English in partnership with the MCI Foundation-MarcoPolo Program. Ron Harrison, a long-time MarcoPolo trainer, walks us through a typical training session agenda focusing on ReadWriteThink.

Before Your Training Session

• Register your training session. (NOTE: Certified Trainers and Candidates do not use the Field Training Registration process. Please check with your organization's Training Administrator for assistance.)
  
  
• Familiarize yourself with the look and navigation of the ReadWriteThink Web site.
  
  
• Review the following resources available in the During Training section of the Trainer Resource Center to help in your preparation: Partner Site Talking Points, MarcoPolo Hot Links and Partner Site Overviews. (You'll need your MarcoPolo login and password to access this portion of the Web site. Register for free or get help remembering your password from this page, as well.)
  
  
• Ensure the availability of a working Internet connection at your training site, as well as ensuring each machine has the free Adobe Acrobat Reader program. Test out some of the applets to ensure that JavaScript is enabled on both the presentation station and at least one workstation.
  

During Your Training Session

• Begin on the MarcoPolo home page and click the link to ReadWriteThink. Remind your audience that clicking on a link to a Partner site in MarcoPolo opens up a new window. Remember that you are helping your participants learn the process of finding their way to a resource as well as learning how to use it.
  
  
• Take the opportunity to "hook" attendees by demonstrating an audience-appropriate interactive tool from the Student Materials area. For demonstration purposes, make sure you are familiar with the tool and how it can be used effectively. If appropriate, discuss its use across grades and/or subjects. If you are sharing the resource with a K-12 audience, find a tool that can be used at many grade levels in a variety of subjects (Venn Diagram, Timeline or ReadWriteThink Webbing Tool). If the audience is interested in vocabulary building, look at Word Build and Bank. If poetry is the focus, look at Acrostic Poems, Diamante Poems or Shape Poems. Finally, make sure to share that nearly every lesson makes use of one or more of these outstanding tools.
  
  
• Explain that when you navigate to the page of the selected interactive tool, ReadWriteThink provides a description of the tool, a direct link to the tool and also links to lessons using the tool. That gives teachers options — they can choose the direct tool link to integrate the tool into what they teach or they can use or customize a lesson which uses the tool.
  
  
• Discuss the use of the tool and how it allows students to use technology in place of pencil and paper. Be sure to discuss how this is an effective strategy for a variety of learners, particularly those who have difficulty learning through "standard" practices. As an example, while the Venn Diagram is a useful paper-based tool, it can engage learners at a higher level when provided as a technology-based interactive. Kids love the drag-and-drop activity. The integration of technology can pique a student's interest in the content. Make sure to tell teachers that activities using the tools cannot be saved for later access, so students should be directed to complete the work and then print the resulting document as the deliverable.
  
  
• Allow time for attendees to explore other tools, too. Encourage attendees to think beyond how the resources are used in the ReadWriteThink lessons and work toward integrating the tools into lessons they already use or may develop on their own. After sufficient time, bring the group back together and discuss tools they found. Encourage attendees to share how they could use certain tools and the impact the tools can have on learners.
  
  
• As a transition activity, have trainees Roster into your session using the rostering process described in detail in the Fall 2004 issue of the Trainer MarcoGram.
  
  
• Walk attendees through the layout of the ReadWriteThink home page. The Highlights section features the ReadWriteThink Calendar, New Lessons and New Student Materials. Teachers can easily access Literacy Engagements, which provide information on Learning Language, Learning About Language and Learning Through Language. For easier access to areas within the site, use the Quick Site Guide drop-down navigation menu located at the top of the page. Finally, the left side of the page provides direct links to Lessons, Standards, Web Resources and Student Materials.
  
  
• Remind attendees that ReadWriteThink is produced in partnership with the International Reading Association (IRA) and the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). IRA was founded in 1956 as a professional organization for those involved in teaching reading to learners of all ages. NCTE, established in 1911, works to advance teaching, research and student achievement in English language arts at all scholastic levels.
  
  
• Point out that ReadWriteThink features interdisciplinary lessons and teaching units. The lessons are organized by area of literary practice: Learning Language, Learning About Language and Learning Through Language. Lessons also can be accessed by grade band. Key components of each lesson include a From Theory to Practice section, Student Objectives, an Instructional Plan, Extensions and a Student Assessment/Reflection piece. Additionally, most lessons make use of at least one interactive student tool thus incorporating technology into language learning.
  
  
• Navigate to a lesson to show how comprehensive the lessons are. You may want to choose a lesson that makes use of the interactive tool you featured earlier, thus "completing the circle." Share that a typical lesson includes a printer-friendly version, a national standards notation, an easy-to-reference "sidebar" listing all suggested resources and materials, the ability to e-mail the lesson to others and a link to provide feedback.
  
  
• Discuss that in the Lesson Plan Index, a user can sort lessons by title, grade or date. Additionally, one can use the Lesson Plan Selector which provides pull-down boxes to allow more precise lesson selection based on three criteria: Grade Band, Literacy Strand and/or Literacy Engagement. Allow attendees some hands-on experience using this secondary navigation.
  
  
• Explain that the calendar link in the Highlights section provides links to classroom activities and online resources associated with events in literacy and literature.
  
  
• Show trainees how easily the site is navigated. To return to the ReadWriteThink home page from any page, just click on the ReadWriteThink logo in the upper left corner.
  
  
• Permit attendees time to explore some ReadWriteThink lessons. Suggested lessons include:

• Acrostic Poems: All About Me and My Favorite Things — a K-2 lesson in which students write two free-verse acrostic poems about themselves. One uses the letters of their names to begin each line; the other uses a word from within their name poem for the letters beginning each line.

• Learning Vocabulary Down By the Bay — in this K-2 lesson, students learn high-frequency vocabulary words as they engage in singing and reading the song "Down By the Bay." Activities involve recognizing, reading and writing the words in the song.

• Identifying and Classifying Verbs in Context — a 3-5 lesson in which students identify and classify three kinds of verbs — action verbs, state-of-being or linking verbs and helping verbs.

• Dynamite Diamante Poetry — a 3-5 lesson which combines grammar and spelling instruction with creative writing. Students review nouns, adjectives and verbs and are introduced to gerunds. They then write and revise diamante poems using these types of words.

• She Did What? Revising for Connotation — a 6-8 lesson in which students examine the simple sentence, "She walked into the room." Students act out ways that the student in the sentence might enter the room, revising the sample sentence to increase the specificity of the word (e.g., Did she walk, skip, amble, dance?).

• Flip-A-Chip: Examining Affixes and Roots to Build Vocabulary — this 6-8 lesson uses a novel approach to word study that promotes vocabulary development. The activity provides hands-on practice with affixes and roots and promotes comprehension through structural analysis and vocabulary in context.

• Avoiding Sexist Language by Using Gender-Fair Pronouns — in this 9-12 lesson students write a response to a short prompt which includes no information about the participants' gender. Once the writing is complete, students and teacher analyze the narratives for the use of pronouns and what the pronoun choices reveal about language use.

• Manipulating Sentences to Reinforce Grammar Skills — this 9-12 lesson reviews and reinforces basic grammar skills through authentic instruction. Using any reading material (e.g., novels, textbooks, magazines, online texts), students find sentences and manipulate them to either change the meaning or enhance the intended meaning.



• A visit to the Web Resources will provide links to English and Language Arts-related Web sites that have been approved by the Content Partner.
  
  
• Ask attendees to select the Search link, which appears at the top of every page. The search covers all of the MarcoPolo resources and Content Partner sites. Searches will report results for Partner-Developed Content as well as Partner-Reviewed Content.
  
  
• A Contact Us link is provided at the top of each page for sending ideas and suggestions for online English and Language Arts resources to the ReadWriteThink staff as well as reporting any broken links or other issues. Encourage attendees to use this link when they conduct their own training sessions in the future or when they use the site for their own classroom activities. Teacher and trainer feedback help keep the MarcoPolo Program responsive to teacher and student needs.
  
  
• Reflect on all of the resources mentioned during the session, leaving enough time to answer questions. How will teachers use these resources? With MarcoPolo, the teacher is always the final arbiter. Ask your participants to make their own suggestions for how they would use ReadWriteThink in their classrooms.
  
  
• Finally, ask attendees to complete the Training Session Survey.
  

After Your Training Session

• Complete the Training Follow-Up Form. (NOTE: Certified Trainers and Candidates do not use the Field Training Follow-Up Form. Please check with your organization's Training Administrator for assistance.)
  
  
• Review the aggregated survey report, which you will receive via e-mail the morning after your session (provided your trainees completed their surveys during the session). Or you may view the survey report the next time you sign in to Rusticello, MarcoPolo's online program management system.
  
  
• Send us feedback on how these suggestions worked in your training session.