Final Project

Rebecca Rink and I worked with Paula White and her Grade 5 class in Crozet. It was difficult to get going on this collaborative project, and slowly but surely, we were underway. Throughout February and March, I was in contact with Ms.White via e-mail as we were deciding just what to do as a project. She suggested several things we could work with, and decided that we should Skype to ensure everything was in place before we started. Several attempts were made at having this Skype call, but we had no success. We continued e-mailing until she sent us the links to two of her students' wikis. Rebecca and I explored these Wiki's, and soon learned that they were working on Google Lit Trips to take them on a virtual online adventure to visit spots in which these books were set. Prior to this project, I had really never heard of a Lit Trip, and I learned just how fascinating this is! Often times, students find it hard to really get into a book that seems unrealistic, but by visiting these places online, students are able to get a sense of what it is really like to be there, and relate more to the characters within the story. Ms.White suggested we post resources to a Wiki that she had set up for Rebecca and I that could help students learn to use Google Earth to create a virtual tour similar to Lit Trips. She sent us the titles of the books her students have been working on, and I researched these books a bit to get a sense of where they may be at. Although I have done some work on Wikispaces before, I had never actually had the opportunity to set one up to be used by students. This was a great learning experience for me, as I did a lot of "Googling" and asking around to figure out exactly how to do what I needed to. After watching Ellyse's March Teach Us, I fell in love with Glogs, and made one to get Ms.White's students started on learning Google Earth.
When Ms.White first suggested to me that we take them on a tour of Google Earth, I decided that perhaps we should try Google Maps first, to get a sense of online tours. I skyped with one of her students, and realized he was already quite familliar with how to use Google Maps, and I believe I learned a lot more than he did in this experience. (Especially since I've never operated a Mac before, and was trying to give him directions) Following this experience, I started doing a little more research on these books, and loaded up this wiki with resources. I think that this project was a great idea for students to experience books in an entirely different way than I could as a grade 5 student.
I did a lot of research on Google Earth, and in the interest of saving time, I provided links for Paula's students to youtube clips that I figured would be more help than what I could give in learning how to use these. I provided the students with contact information so they may contact Rebecca or I if they wish to ask any questions, or learn more about these Tours together, after this semester is finished.
Overall I found this to be a great learning experience, and I hope that Paula's students got as much learning out of this as I did. =)

Once again, here is the link for our Wiki