PFI just completed the distance learning version of the Earth and Environmental Science (EES) for Middle and High School Teachers workshop on April 24th. Each of the four main sections of the workshop, Geology, Hydrology, Atmosphere, and Ecology, was divided into several subtopics. Participants worked through the material for the subtopics and completed one quiz and lesson review each week for 8 weeks. The final project was to create a new lesson. Participants who successfully completed these requirements received a certificate of completion and the final notebook, packed with lessons, in hard copy. We began the workshop with 30, and anticipate that 28 will actually complete the course; there are a few more days remaining to turn in missing assignments. If you would like to view the distance learning website go to www.pfidistancelearning.org.
As part of the distance learning workshop, the new PFI staff substantially upgraded not only the web-based material, but the notebook for the course. We worked hard to confirm copyright permissions, to remove copyrighted material for which we could not secure permission, and to find many new lessons for our teachers to use. As a result, the already excellent notebooks for our existing EES workshops are better than ever. Kevin Fischer spearheaded this effort along with student interns Hayley Lawrimore, Austin Brodfuhrer, and Devin Gentry.
Our two summer workshops in Earth and Environmental Science for Elementary Teachers and EES for Middle and High School Teachers will follow a format very similar to the distance learning version, with the four full days of the workshop devoted to the topics of Geology, Hydrology, Atmosphere, and Ecology. Both workshops will begin with an introductory lecture that links the topics and conclude at the Cradle of Forestry, where we summarize the workshop and integrate the diverse topics.
Our new, 3-day mini-workshop, Goods in the Woods, was highlighted in the last newsletter. The topics covered will include Tree Products, Medicinal Plants, Edible Mushrooms, and Other Forest Products. In addition to Ms. Ila Hatter and Mr. Bill Sterret, we have confirmed Dr. Bob Bardon, NC State University professor of forestry along with a representative from Dr. Jeanine Davis’ lab who works on NC specialty crops.
Forest Ecology is another of our new workshops. In this workshop, students will learn how to evaluate the abiotic and biological features of different forest types, visiting different habitats on different days. On the first day, students will learn the basics from Dr. Frick-Ruppert as well as from visiting instructors Dr. Greg Hoyt of the Mountain Horticultural Crops Research and Extension Center and Dr. Carolyn Wells from the US Fish and Wildlife Service. On day 2, participants will travel along the Blue Ridge Parkway and visit various habitats within high elevation forests: granite outcrops, grassy balds, and a spruce/fir forest. The next day we will travel to one of the few stands of old growth forest in eastern North America: Joyce Kilmer National Monument. On Thursday, participants will examine Appalachian cove forests and mountain bogs at the Cradle of Forestry. We will conclude with a tour of different types of managed forests at the Holmes Educational State Forest. As part of this workshop, we will also offer an optional mini-workshop on Bat Ecology in conjunction with the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education. Participants will learn about bat ecology and then mist-net and tag bats one evening. The Forest Ecology workshop is already overfilled with a waiting list, but a few spots are available in the other workshops. Please check www.pisgahforestinstitute.org to register, but do so quickly!
PFI's website is located at www.brevard.edu/pfi.
Pacific Forest Institute
PFI summer workshop planning is in full progress and teachers continue asking about our K-12 programs scheduled for June 24-29 and July 15-20, 2007.
The mission of PFI is to inform and excite educators to teach about good stewardship of California forests through use of hands-on, inquiry based learning activities and using nature as a learning laboratory.
We urge all ERC members to encourage eastern teachers to sign-up for our free workshops if they plan to be in California during those periods. We will send information and a registration form directly to anyone who may be interested. For more detail and descriptions of the two sites, please log-on to: www.jessup.edu/academics/pacificforestinstitute
It is important that potential attendees view the two site descriptions because they are decidedly different. The June 24-29 workshop is field trip based, so that every day, except the first, and one special night in a Lake Tahoe motel, we will be driving to the Sierra and returning to comfortable accommodations at William Jessup University (WJU).
The July 15-20 workshop requires a little more rigorous participation, since it is located in the rustic and stunningly beautiful Hidden Lakes Retreat Center in the High Sierra. Participants have lasting memories of Hidden Lake in the granite rock setting and the adventure of sleeping under the stars.
Attendees will leave both sessions with a box of teaching materials, Project WILD and Project Learning Tree activity guides, lots of information, inspiration and contacts, plus a self-produced lesson plan ready for classroom use.
One of the field trips will be to the Forest Service’s Institute of Forest Genetics in Placerville. This will provide an excellent opportunity for education about tree genetics, seed banks, tree propagation and insect infestation.
Teachers receive a Certificate of Attendance for 45 instruction hours, or Academic Credit. The Academic Credit is for two semester units through WJU that is accredited by WASC ( www.wascsenior.org/wasc/ ) and available for those who register separately and pay a WJU fee that will be determined May 31, 2007.
April 23-26 Stewardship Week occurred once again at WJU. This involves walks on the grounds viewing gorgeous spring wildflowers, birds and the University Pond. We planned a pond and creek cleanup, as well. This annual activity requires little staff time, helps us to “give back to WJU” and greatly increases knowledge of PFI on campus.
WJU/PFI has contracted with Melanie Gasparich of Conservation Design. She is an interpretative consultant and is assisting PFI in planning the determining the educational messages for University Pond. Ms Gasparich was on campus for a three-day site visit two weeks ago.
Ms. Gasparich met with PFI staff, WJU administrators, WJU professors, and a member of a local environmental group. She will be conferring with Rocklin Unified School District (a local school district) representatives who are very interested in cooperating with us on the use of the pond.
The University Pond, which was originally used for cattle drinking water supply, has never been developed and offers a tremendous opportunity for educational experiences.
The area has 90 plus species of birds. The site has an interesting history: it once was a coursing field and part of a 27,000 acre ranch and later was the proposed site for a Sunset City that never materialized.
Again, we invite any and all ERC affiliates to assist us in spreading the word about our 2007 workshops and we will welcome a visit from you at any time.
For updated information on the Pacific Forest Institute, please visit our website at:
http://www.jessup.edu/academics/pacificforestinstitute.
Keystone College Environmental Education Institute
KceeI held its second course of the year, Amphibians and Reptiles of the Woodland Landscape, on Wednesday, April 11th, 2007. The group was a perfect size with 11 teachers attending. Even though the weather was not ideal for finding critters in the woodland, the group was still able to get out and find just a few salamanders. Just to give an idea of what the weather was like – there was still ice on the vernal pools and northeast PA received about 10 inches of snow the following week!
The day began at 8:00am with registration and breakfast. Howard Jennings, Director of KceeI, welcomed the group and gave a brief introduction to KceeI. Tim Eichner, Assistant Director of KceeI, then introduced the day’s activities. Dr. Jerry Skinner, Keystone College Biology Professor, was up next. Dr. Skinner showed a power point presentation on amphibian habitats, life history and metamorphosis which was very informative and well received. Tim then provided the teachers with a few sample activities from the PA Fish and Boat Commission’s PA Amphibians and Reptiles Curriculum Guide. The teachers became the students for a moment and participated in these activities.
After a great lunch, provided by Keystone College’s food service, it was time to get down and dirty in the field! By this time it had warmed up considerably from the morning but it was still chilly. The group set out on Keystone’s woodland trails to find the best spots for some sightings. The first stop was in a wetland area to see if there were any frog or salamander eggs masses present – no luck, there was still a layer of ice on the vernal pond!
The rest of the afternoon was spent flipping over rocks and logs and sloshing through the stream to see what they could find. Again, given the weather conditions, finding salamanders was few and far between. However, the group did find a few. Some of the species found were the eastern redback salamander and the northern two-lined salamander.
Back at the Water Resource Center, the group wrapped up the day’s activities and completed evaluations. The success of this course is probably best appreciated through some of the comments included in their evaluations:
“If you want your students to learn science by a hands-on method, KceeI is an excellent resource.”
“An absolutely wonderful, useful experience. I recommend these classes to all educators.”
“A conscious blend of background information backed up with field study and supported with materials and ideas for application in my classroom.”
In other news, KceeI attended the 2007 Pennsylvania Association of Environmental Educators (PAEE) conference on April 13th and 14th, 2007 at Genetti’s Hotel and Convention Center in Wilkes-Barre, PA. The title of this was “No Child Left Inside” and its focus was on bringing together people of various backgrounds, including: classroom teachers, non-formal educators, nature center staff, high school and college students, school administrators, and professionals from environmental and education sectors to discuss how to nurture a future generation of environmental stewards for our state.
Nora Dillon, Operations Coordinator for KceeI, set up an exhibit with information relative to our upcoming courses for educators. Howard Jennings and Tim Eichner were presenters during the Saturday morning session entitled “Teaching Sound Science using our Natural World.”
As part of the Watershed Explorers course, the group goes on a local watershed tour each year visiting places of local significance within the Tunkhannock Creek Watershed. KceeI just received confirmation from Alex Fried, Director of Public Relations at the P&G Mehoopany Plant, that the group will be going on a 2-hour water and industry tour at the P&G plant. This will be a great learning experience for the teachers and it is something that KceeI has never done before.
KceeI is gearing up for a busy summer. The Astronomy course is filled with a waiting list and all other courses are nearly there. We are looking forward to successful summer.
Just a reminder…
- To view the continuous water quality monitoring sites , click on the following link: http://www.waterontheweb.org/data/index.html
- If you would like to view the Northeast, check out the live “Streaming Camera” at www.atlas.keystone.edu/video.htm
KceeI’s website is located at www.KceeI.keystone.edu.
In the past month Jennie Pressley, Business Development Manager, attended and participated in two broadband meetings hosted by Advantage West. The first was attended by ERC Broadband, e-Polk (www.Pangaea.us), Foothills Connect (www.foothillsconnect.com) and Advantage West (www.AdvantageWest.com). The second was attended by Balsam West FiberNet (www.balsamwest.net) in addition to ERC Broadband and Advantage West. Both sessions were excellent opportunities for these broadband providers throughout western North Carolina to discuss what has been done and what still needs to be done to reach underserved and unserved communities.
Mark Haney, Systems Administrator, assisted Lewis Lightner of AB Technical Community College on Saturday, May 5, 2007. Mark conducted mock job interviews for a real Network Administrator/Engineer job posting with the eight soon-to-be graduates of AB-Tech's Network Technologies class. The students were evaluated both on their technical merits and their interviewing skills, but the emphasis was on the latter as interpersonal skills are often a deciding factor during the interview process. Each student will be provided with his or her evaluation this week so the critique can provide each person helpful suggestions on how to improve both interpersonal and communications skills.
For more information on ERC Broadband, please visit the website at: www.ercbroadband.org.
Western North Carolina
PROPEL (Primary Resources Opening Portals to Enhance Learning)
The Western North Carolina AAM partners taught five PROPEL professional development workshops during April. These included three Empower workshops at Montreat, Mars Hill and Brevard; one Prototype workshop at Western Carolina University; and one Launch workshop at Montreat. All PROPEL professional development workshops will conclude in May. Eight five-hour “Make It, Take It, and Use It” workshops will be held this summer for all PROPEL graduates and a teacher from their school.
As each PROPEL participant graduates, their pathfinders are added to the database. The database functions are also being updated. This should be available in the summer.
As part of their PROPEL completion requirements, each participating library media specialist/ coordinator created a tabletop exhibit using Library of Congress digitized primary sources (see sample pictured). Subject matter for each exhibit was selected and developed in collaboration with a classroom teacher to support a unit or lesson or to provide enrichment for a curricular topic. Using mixed media, exhibits include a variety of student activities that focus on primary source analysis and encourage further study of the subject area. Participants were highly creative in their exhibit development and often added historic artifacts from their families or communities to enrich their final projects. And frequently, they included books and other material from the school library media center that would be incorporated into student activities.
Following the conclusion of the PROPEL series, WNC partners will place on the national AAM website images of the approximately 150 physical exhibits. The images and accompanying brief descriptions cover a wide range of grade levels and subjects.
Research
The online survey for the WNC research component is complete. The survey has been tested and will be sent to all WNC AAM participants (from Phase I through PROPEL). Additionally, the WNC AAM partners are compiling AAM participant information into a single database.
The AAM national office is still accepting proposals for an independent evaluation of the Phase III program through May 15, 2007. For further information, please visit http://www.aamprogram.org/news/spotlight.aspx?news_id=38.
AAM Curriculum and Resources
In preparation for the conclusion of the AAM professional development initiative in WNC, all AAM professional development workshop materials created by the four regional AAM partners are being gathered and placed online. This material will provide educational help sheets on the various topics covered during the past seven years.
In addition, AAM directors have recently met with representatives of LEARN NC to discuss the inclusion of some of the materials developed by WNC AAM programs into the LEARN NC holdings. LEARN NC, a program of the UNC School of Education, hosts a website which offers resources for K-12 classroom instruction and teacher professional development.
More information is available at www.aamprogram.org and at www.aamlearning.org. In addition, readers may visit the AAM partner websites at:
California University of Pennsylvania
Workshops
In April, seven teachers from Ave Maria Catholic School attended their sixth and final workshop in a series of six AAM Basic Skills workshops. The final workshop, “An Adventure with Local History: Oral Histories and Local Online Resources,” was delivered on-site by Dr. Clarissa Confer. Dr. Confer, a member of the TAG Team (Teacher Advisory Group), completed
the series and now five of the eight participating teachers are Basic Skills Certified.
AAM in California University Classrooms
Dr. Confer presented to 17 students in Marsha Nolf’s Honor’s Information Literacy class at Manderino Library in April. The working session focused on literature and Library of Congress electronic resources. Prior to the class, the students contributed a list of books they had chosen for a classroom assignment. The list was forwarded to Dr. Confer, who researched the Library’s website and compiled a list of resources related to some aspect of each book that students reviewed after class. The review was followed by a group discussion about the selected books and the relevance of the selected resources.
On April 12, Michael Brna visited Dr. Deborah Farrer’s “Using Primary Sources to Teach Social Studies” class. Thirty of Dr. Farrer’s students were informed about the LOC website and online resources and how to find resources for activities, lesson plans, and unit development. This will be of immediate use as they develop lesson plans for a class assignment.
Veterans Oral Histories Project
Dr. David Lonich, TAG Team Member and subject matter expert, conducted an oral history on April 17 at the Media Center located in Cal U’s Morgan Hall. Dr. Lonich interviewed the parents of Lorraine Kelly, 2006 summer institute participant. The interview was recorded with both Mr. and Mrs. Bethem together on stage as they shared their unique story of the war, how they came to meet, fall in love and later marry. California University Library faculty member Loring Prest conducted an oral history of his father on April 23 at the Media Center. To date, this brings the total of oral histories at Cal U to 82. Eighty of the oral histories are digitized and available for viewing at our website at the link below:
http://www.cup.edu/education/aam/index.jsp?pageId=1580830010421143853578538
Other
Meetings were held with AAM staff, Dr. Lonich, and Dr. Confer regarding the 2007 summer institute. Following numerous team planning sessions, AAM/TPS staff have begun preparing marketing materials for the event and a marketing strategy for material distribution. Marketing will commence by -email, flyers, and phone calls. The daily agenda has been set for the week long event.
Michael Brna served as a judge for the Regional National History Day competition held at the Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center. He was one of six judges responsible for judging the Junior Individual Exhibits category. The Pittsburgh regional competition is the largest regional competition in the nation with 500 participants. Winners progress to the state competition, which is held in State College, PA.
AAM staff met with Dr. Brad Ferko, superintendent of Charleroi Area school district, to plan for engaging K-12 teachers at month’s end. Charleroi schools are part of Cal U’s Professional Development Schools project and future work will include collaborative learning exercises in conjunction with Charleroi’s Classrooms of the Future project, through which each student will have access to individual computers.
CUP’s AAM program Web site is located at:
http://www.cup.edu/education/aam
DePaul University
DePaul and Loyola universities joined forces to provide AAM/TPS instruction to 35 teachers at King College Prep High School. The librarian/media specialist provided very positive feedback concerning the content of the sessions and the value to the teachers. Loyola and DePaul will work together to design an evaluative tool to assess the outcomes of this workshop series.
DePaul faculty members who participated in AAM Phase III will gather on June 6 to participate in a colloquium to share syllabi, student work, and assessment tools created during this phase of the AAM program.
Two summer workshop programs are planned for DuPage school districts. Community Unit School District 200, June 12-14 and Hinsdale District 86, June 19-22.
DePaul’s AAM program Web site is located at:
Loyola University
This month marks the beginning of the teacher recruitment process for the TPS summer graduate course at Loyola University Chicago. This course will provide three credits to participants who are selected to participate in this teaching with primary source-based class. April 24 serves as the dinner date for principals to nominate teachers from their schools to be potential participants for this year’s summer course. The Loyola partner will then select 25 teachers from the pool of nominees for course participation. These selected teachers will also have a meeting in May to enroll in the class. Staff are very excited about this course and look forward to a great turnout for increased program exposure.
The Loyola partner has also been scheduling workshops for the next school year starting in August. The recruitment process for the summer course has provided opportunities to work with Chicago schools which have not been served by AAM or TPS to date. This should further expand the program’s efforts to reach a wider and diverse audience.
Loyola TPS staff recently assisted the DePaul partner with introductory and basic TPS workshops at a Chicago high school. The teachers seemed excited overall about the LOC and several had asked the program to come back soon. This is being planned with DePaul Director Margo Tomaras’ efforts. Thanks Margo!
Loyola’s AAM Web site is located at:
http://www.luc.edu/schools/education/aam/index.shtml
Northern Virginia Schools Partnership
Throughout the school year, 20 Northern Virginia educators have participated in a AAMNVA/TPS-sponsored, graduate-level, three-credit course designed for teacher researchers. The understanding goals for this course were as follows: How does primary source analysis deepen student understanding of the curriculum? How do students use literacy strategies to read, analyze, and interpret primary sources?
This course led the educators through the research process toward the final product of a publishable paper and public presentations. At the end of April, they presented their findings at a Teacher Researcher Conference in Fairfax County. Research abstracts can be reviewed at <http://www.primarysourcelearning.org/tps/step3/tarc/research_abstracts.shtml>.
AAMNVA-TPS also hosted three Library of Congress tours for 25 Spanish teachers in April. These foreign language educators enjoyed exploring treasures in the Hispanic Reading Room as well as engaging in hands-on learning with the primary source items.
Northern Virginia’s AAM program Web site is located at:
Online Education
The student lesson “J. A. Leinbach and the Music of the Civil War “ has been converted to the AAM Online Education lesson model. This model has been designed for the independent learner in a classroom and includes six stages: Lesson Introduction, Getting Organized, Exploring Online Sources, Gathering Information, Using Information, and Lesson Summary. In this lesson students will be gathering information about Civil War bands, the people, the music, and the brass instruments in bands from this era. Students have the option to complete one or all of the following projects: a paper scrapbook showing images and facts about Civil War bands; a computer presentation based on their research; or a homemade version of a musical instrument used in bands.
Each month, the AAM Online Education staff writes a short article on topics of interest for educators who are using online resources as a part of their curriculum. We call these articles Ed-U-Bits and include them with our monthly newsletters for home school educators and public and private school educators. The April Ed-U-Bit is Challenging Readers: Introducing Online Libraries. This Ed-U-Bit discusses why it is important for students to be reading eBooks, the value of learning to utilize eBooks in their education, and the various formats for eBooks. The Ed-U-Bit also includes links to resources for free online eBooks.
The piloting of the “Introducing Primary Sources” lesson resulted in the staff decision to split this into two lessons. During the past month Bonnie Jensen, Oran Mosteller and Dr. Pam Johnson have taken material from the Introducing Primary Sources lesson to create “Using Primary Sources in Teaching.” This new lesson does a more thorough job describing the planning process that teachers follow when incorporating primary source items in new or existing lessons.
The current versions of Introducing Primary Sources and Using Primary Sources in Teaching are available online at http://www.aamonline.org/primary.htm.
The AAM Online Education program Web sites are located at:
Quincy University
Quincy University has announced the appointment of Byron Holdiman as the new director for the AAM/TPS program. Byron was formerly the Digital Preservationist at California University of Pennsylvania.
The project is on the move at Quincy with several workshops scheduled throughout the summer. Quincy is also in the processing of becoming a Veterans History Project partner in cooperation with the Illinois Veteran Home at Quincy, one of the largest and oldest veterans homes in the country. University students, high school students, and community members will be trained in conducting oral histories of the veterans. Once the histories are gathered, they will be archived at the Veterans Home, the university library, and Library of Congress. Quincy University has also started working with the Illinois History Fair to help teachers involve their students in using primary sources related to Illinois history.
As the next step in forming the program, Quincy University is seeking to fill the position of a Technical Assistant to create and maintain the website, develop resources for teachers and students, and assist in teaching workshops. The full position announcement is available at: http://www.quincy.edu/Resources/JobsCareers/administrativeOpenings.php
Quincy’s AAM program Web site is located at:
http://websites.quincy.edu/~schoolofed/AAM.htm
Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville
SIUE AAM presented at the "Thinking about the Environment" 4th Annual Colloquium on April 6 on the SIUE campus. The session entitled "Connecting with the Environment Using the Library of Congress Website" was a hands-on look into environmental and conservation resources that can be found on the LOC website. To view the resource booklet, visit http://www.siue.edu/education/aam under the highlights section.
Planning and preparation continues for the "Learning with Lincoln Institute" with the Eastern Illinois University TPS partner that will begin at SIUE on May 12th.
The last seminar for Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) AAM graduate course was on April 30. Students prepared their electronic portfolios and projects before presenting on May 29 to all MAT faculty. Preparation for the summer CI 519 graduate course is underway and will begin classes in June for three weeks.
SIU-E’s AAM program Web site is located at:
http://www.siue.edu/education/aam
Waynesburg College
Waynesburg’s AAM/TPS program has begun working with the Green County Homeschool Network (GCHS) to develop programs that bring LOC primary sources to students who are home-schooled. May 7th and 8th will be the dates for the first set of workshops for parent-teachers. Parents will be introduced to the Library and shown how to locate and access primary sources to supplement their teaching. Courses targeting students are under development and additional parent workshops will be scheduled for later in the summer.
Kathy Heidler, fifth grade teacher at Central Christian Academy in Houston, PA, recently implemented a WebQuest she created through the WC AAM/TPS program. “Thomas Jefferson: 21st Century Man” asks students to investigate the political views of this founding father and decide whether he would have be elected president in today’s political climate. Visit all the WebQuests created by Waynesburg College AAM/TPS participants and staff at http://tps.waynesburg.edu/webquests.
WC AAM/TPS staff supported Kate Zimmerman, a student teacher from the WC Education Department, in using primary sources to make the Civil War “come alive” for students in a learning support classroom. Kate realized that the below grade-level reading ability of these students greatly hindered their capacity to grasp the subject matter from the middle school textbook. Ms. Zimmerman’s students analyzed lyrics from Civil War songs to identify Union and Confederate points of view. Photographs taken by Matthew Brady were analyzed to gain insight into military life of the time, and maps were used to show troop movements and battle locations. Mr. John Van Meter, Kate’s supervising teacher, recognized the positive impact on students and has requested these materials for use with next year’s class.
Waynesburg’s AAM program Web site is located at: