The Pisgah Forest Institute (PFI) staff and Advisory Board express their appreciation to Lynn Clark for the many contributions that she made to the program during her 3 year tenure on the Board. Mrs. Clark provided valuable and helpful insights based on her extensive experience as a public school teacher and administrator. As she now steps down from the Board, we wish her continued success as the Science Coordinator of the Henderson County School System.
Congratulations to Dr. Larry Ragsdale, Chair of the Environmental Studies, Mathematics and Natural Sciences Division and Director of the Appalachian Center for Environmental Solutions (ACES) at Brevard College, who recently was recognized by the Land-O-Sky Regional Council for his contributions to the better understanding of the French Broad River as well as for promoting sound ecological management of that waterway. PFI is a unit within ACES.
The PFI Summer 2004 workshops have gotten off to a smooth start. Enrollments in most courses are near capacity. The staff particularly enjoys having students in the courses who have taken similar training at other locations. These educators have a better basis of comparison for assessing the Institute's program. One such student, in the end-of-course evaluation of the June 6-11, 2004 Earth / Environmental Science For Elementary (K-5) workshop, stated, "I’ve been fortunate to experience many workshops and academies, but this was the ultimate”.
The PFI staff also extends best wishes to Dick Hilliard, a master teacher who instructs a breadth of geological subject matter in the Institute's courses for elementary as well as middle and high school educators, upon his retirement this spring from North High School in the Henderson County School District. Dick has been imparting knowledge to students in an informative and stimulating for 30 years. Hopefully in the future Mr. Hilliard will have more time to be involved in other PFI programs.
PFI’s website is located at www.brevard.edu/pfi.
KceeI has just concluded its first workshop – “Forest Stewardship for Teachers for Grades 7-12”. The workshop commenced on Sunday, July 11th with 14 participants from the Northeastern Pennsylvania region. After an interactive scavenger hunt on Keystone’s Interpretive Trails, the participants were given a pretest. Following this, presenters and workshop participants enjoyed a banquet dinner with Jim Nelson, retired state forester 41 years, and speaker for the Susquehanna River Basin Commission. Jim gave an exciting and informational presentation and slideshow on “The History of Logging in Pennsylvania”.
The week began on Monday with Katherine Cullen, Northeast Education Intermediate Unit – 19 giving an introduction to Pennsylvania’s Academic Standards for the Environment and Ecology. Rich Gulyas, Bradford County Conservation District; Tim Eichner, Water Resource Center Director; Howard Jennings, Director of KceeI and Keystone College Professor; Shane Kleiner, Director of Wyoming County Conservation District; and Jim Kessler, DCNR Bureau of Forestry forester conducted separate sessions on tree identification, forest products, secondary growth, a hike and discussion on Keystone College’s Forest Stewardship Trail, and ecosystem management. Dr. Robert Hansen of Penn State concluded on Monday with a presentation on Silviculture.
Tuesday was composed of a field trip to Woodbourne Wildlife Sanctuary, Cornerstone Sawmill, and a timber harvesting property. Dr. Jerry Skinner, the naturalist at Woodbourne and Associate Professor at Keystone College conducted a session on forest ecology, and Bob Daniels, retired teacher, guided a session about “Birds in a Forested Landscape”, a Cornell University Citizen Science Project studying the habitat of forest birds.
On Wednesday, the group went on a trip to the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, and Gifford Pinchot/Grey Towers National Historic Landmark. At these two sites, the group visited a site of woolly adelgid infestation and received a presentation from Daniel Banks, USFS Conservation Education Specialist (Grey Towers), and Doyle Nelson, Deputy Superintendent (National Park Service), on the history of conservation, the history and philosophy of the two sites, and current issues and challenges they both face.
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The presenters on Thursday included Donna Murphy, Coordinator, USDA Forest Service Mid-Atlantic Center for Urban and Community Forestry at Keystone College; Roxanne Palone, Forester, USDA Forest Service Presenters; and Dr. Robert Cook, Assistant Professor, Coordinator of Water Resource Management Program at Keystone College. Topics covered were exotic and invasive species, threatening forest pests, white-tailed deer, chronic wasting disease, and an analysis and discussion on the water samples participants brought to the workshop.
The Forest Stewardship workshop concluded on Friday, July 16th with a woodland inventory exercise by Jim Lacek, retired DCNR Bureau of Forestry service forester, and an urban forestry session with Vincent Cotrone, Urban Forester, Penn State Cooperative Extension. Collaborative presentations of group projects were given by the workshop participants and everyone took a post-test.
Each participant received a CD-ROM with photos of the week’s experiences, a resource notebook, and a travel bag filled with educational materials.
KceeI has just one week before the beginning of its second workshop – Watershed Concepts for teachers for grades K-6.
KceeI’s website is located at www.kceei.keystone.edu.
UNCA Computer Literacy Initiative
There is still a buzz in the air from the 32 young ladies who were on campus to participate in the 2004 Computer Literacy Initiative. Students from Buncombe and Henderson County schools and the Eastern Band of the Cherokee nation attended the residential camp led by UNCA faculty, staff and students.
Shortly after the participants checked into their dorms on Sunday afternoon, they began a jam-packed four days of learning. The program which focuses on building computer skills, diversity, and cultural heritage, also had built-in time for friendships to grow and connections to be made. The girls embraced the curriculum and enjoyed the classroom, computer lab, and recreation activities in equal measure.
The graduation ceremony was held Friday, July 9th and each girl received a certificate. Displays set up around the room showed off their work. There was an ongoing PowerPoint presentation showing the slides students put together in the Immigration class using American Memory resources. The Literature class exhibit included each girl’s newsletter which graduation attendees could read. The quilt squares students made were on display and each girl had a book that included theirs as well as their teammates. There was an exhibit board for the DNA class which included printouts of DNA chains. The artifacts students brought in were put on tables and labeled so that graduation attendees could read the significance of each piece. The work these students accomplished was very impressive.
You can learn more about the Computer Literacy Initiative by going to http://www.aamprogram.org/curriculum/special_projects.aspx#1 and clicking on Computer Literacy Program.
DePaul University
AAM-DePaul held its second summer institute workshop on June 12. The session covered the following:
§ The introduction to the recently added LOC exhibits
§ The American Memory site
§ Questions about final projects
§ Further exploration of topics covered during the classroom-based program
§ Questions concerning hardware and software
The teachers found the workshop to be very beneficial. An additional summer institute workshop was held July 10th and another will be held October 12th.
During June, several presentations were made to Chicago Public School (CPS) clusters to recruit schools to participate in the Phase II workshop series. Each CPS cluster contains four areas. Presentations were made to Cluster 4, including Areas 10, 12, 13, and 24, and Cluster 2, Area 20, and Cluster 1 Area 19. In addition, DePaul gave several presentations to private Catholic schools throughout the city. The Big Shoulders Foundation requested a presentation since they have grant money available to provide professional development workshops and have heard about the AAM program. The presentations resulted in a number of workshops planned for the school year starting in the fall. Two workshop series will take place in July – one workshop series at Lane Tech High School and one workshop series at King College Prep High School. Each workshop series will provide 18 hours of training and consist of six different modules.
The planning, implementation, and recruitment for Phase II are well underway. Our initial presentations to the teachers and principals have been well received and have continued to generate great interest.
DePaul’s AAM program website is located at: http://aam.depaul.edu/
Governors State University
Summer greetings from the south side of Chicago – or as Leroy Brown would say, “The baddest part of town.”
On June 21, the GSU participants engaged in their first video conference with LOC. While many people from LOC/AAM were at NECC in New Orleans, the south side of Chicago was linking with Washington D.C. After a little confusion, the LOC team threw away the script and tailor-made a presentation that met the unique needs of the GSU participants. Kudos to LOC staff from everyone at GSU for providing one fantastic experience. You can bet that there will be more video conferences scheduled for future groups.
On June 23rd, the GSU team, Luci Sweder and Sandi Estep, completed the direct instruction of their first Phase I group of participants. However, it was decided that a help session would be added prior to the July 26th final wrap-up. There are many elementary teachers in this group who will, hopefully, contribute to the less abundant lower grade level projects. Everyone is anxious to see the final project in a few weeks. Projects range from a 1st grade American Indians unit to a high school stem cell project. Take a sneak peek at http://aam.govst.edu/.
Luci and Sandi have engaged in the activities associated with continuous improvement of their delivery design. Having taught this through once, they have turned to how they will improve instruction this fall. For example, those “disappearing” URLs from LOC sources, as forewarned, will need more attention next time around!
Along with finishing up the first group, plans are underway for the second group which will begin late August. Laptops have been ordered and the menu for the kick-off dinner was finalized.
And now it is time for a short, summer vacation…
Governors State’s AAM program website is located at: http://aam.govst.edu/
Eastern Illinois University
Eastern Illinois University (EIU) AAM is in the midst of an exciting schedule of training at East Central Illinois schools. Of the 10 schools that have completed the basic workshop series, three elected to complete the series in one week, two completed the series in two all-day workshops, and the remaining five spread the workshops over several weeks.
Workshops were held in the computer labs at the participating schools to allow teachers to utilize their own equipment in familiar surroundings. One Charleston school elected to meet on the EIU campus, due to custodial work being completed in its building. Holding workshops in the buildings in which educators have classrooms is beneficial to the attendees, as well as those leading the workshops. By being immersed in the individual school environment, workshop attendees are more comfortable and materials are discussed and developed that meet the needs of the students that attend that school. Class sizes have ranged from six to 24.
Fifty-eight workshops have been presented to date. During these three-hour workshops, teachers are introduced to a variety of methods and tools that will enable them to use LOC and technological resources in the classroom. The workshops are held in an interactive environment which encourages discussion and sharing.
Presentations were made to the student chapters of the Association of Childhood Education International and the Middle Level Educators Club at EIU. Presentations consisted of multimedia presentations which highlighted various aspects of the LOC Website, with special attention paid to American Memory and
Two different groups of school workshop attendees have participated in separate video conferences. Each video conference was held as a component of longer workshops, meeting as a group both prior to and following the video conference. Participants enjoy the interaction with the personable LOC staff. Several teachers expressed that this was their first experience with video conferencing and enjoyed conversing with someone in Washington, DC. The presentation by LOC personnel adds an additional element of credibility and professionalism to this program.
The EIU-AAM website is established and provides access to program details, scheduling information and contact information as well as access to resources used in workshops and requested by teachers. The Website is continuously evolving to meet the needs of workshop participants and alumni. A unique page header was designed by EIU graphic designers which also incorporated a 1910 image from campus. This image was selected to illustrate the relevance of local resources to our history in addition to the national treasures housed in the collections of American Memory.
EIU’s AAM program website is located at: http://www.eiu.edu/~eiuaam/
Southern Illinois University-Carbondale
SIU-C AAM began teaching the newest section of EDUC 550: An Adventure of the American Mind on June 15th. Participants are now half-way through the semester. The curriculum has been revised to better accommodate the Master of Arts in Teaching cohort, and staff are pleased with their progress. Instructors introduced web page production early in the course, and the MAT students have attached a variety of additional elements to the website including a WebQuest, web research document, resumes, and related instructional components.
Summer Institute and workshop activities for American Memory pre-service and in-service teachers from the first two years are still being provided, and staff members continue to be pleased with attendance and participation. Additional video conferencing has been provided for the MAT course, and previous in-service and MAT cohorts. The staff greatly appreciates this resource, and Bill Bruns is checking the possibility of installing ISDN to provide greater flexibility.
Phase II planning is consuming more staff time as the summer wanes, and the Partner looks forward to a full schedule for the fall. The goal is to have agreements with four school districts by school opening. Inclusion of additional school districts is planned for spring 2005.
SIU-C AAM is involved in the developmental stages of web-based AAM programming. Staff members have begun discussions regarding instructional design and development aspects of an initial module with ID professionals on the campus. The AAM team plans to begin developing objectives and activities for one or two modules in the next month.
The AAM staff is also involved in discussions for further promoting American Memory and the LOC, including an ambitious U.S. Department of Education grant proposal which proposes reform of undergraduate education. Staff members are also involved in discussions with SIU-C Morris Library personnel regarding development of web-based evaluation workshops.
SIU-C’s AAM program website is located at: http://aam.siu.edu/
Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville
The AAM Team has been holding summer workshops for the second cohort of teachers still in Phase I training. The first workshop, held on June 18th, included Windows Movie Maker and closed with an afternoon session with the LOC video conference, "Gathering Community Stories.” The second workshop, held on July 8th, included the basics of GIMP Photo editing software and closed with an afternoon session with the LOC video conference, "Make and Take It.” The teachers evaluated both workshops as an enriching experience in technology and a review in searching American Memory before they begin their mentoring project. Many teachers also had the opportunity to locate new primary sources. The next workshop will be on August 13th, covering strategies and primary source analysis in the morning and closing with the LOC video conference, "Working with Primary Sources.”
The AAM Team is also busy presenting in CI 407 (Middle School Learner) undergraduate and graduate courses with a 1.5 hour introduction of the AAM Program and LOC Website. One graduate course presentation was made on June 28. In-service teachers requested information on receiving workshops in their schools after the presentation was complete. Other presentations are scheduled throughout the month of July.
Phase II is well on its way with beginning recruitment through meetings with regional superintendents. The AAM Team looks forward to the transition into Phase II workshops and meeting the needs of more teachers throughout the area providing training and technology.
SIU-E’s AAM program website is located at: http://www.siue.edu/education/aam
Metropolitan State College of Denver
AAM-Colorado is preparing workshop materials and other elements for the first educator workshops in August and September. Besides workshop preparation, AAM-Colorado is preparing a new Website and hiring staff.
Preparations are underway to present to Denver Public Schools, Jefferson County Schools, and Sheridan School District. Other Colorado school districts have been contacted regarding the AAM program and have indicated initial interest. Additionally, Peggy O’Neill-Jones recently attended the Technology in Education conference in Copper Mountain to promote the AAM-Colorado project.
MSCD’s AAM program Website is located at:
http://www.aamprogram.org/introduction/aam_partners_detail.aspx?id=26
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