Plugging in my Class (Updated)

 handshake-2009183_1280 by John Hain from Pixabay 

Our current unit of inquiry is about members in a community living and working together. Our grade level usually takes turns going on a walking field trip to the local fire station, but cannot this year. 

I have reached out to a couple of parents from previous years for virtual tours and Q/A sessions. Our local Chick-Fil-A proprietor is meeting with us on our school-approved M.S. Teams platform next Thursday. *All* of our students have been there, so there will be interest. 

Additionally a veterinarian has agreed to come each morning next week, for better interaction. This is going to be such a treat! A good third of our students already want to be vets. I'm sure 3/4 of them will afterwards! We are going to do some pre-interview activities, so that the students will be prepared with the expectations and format. We would also like the students to generate and ask the questions.

One of  the teachers on our team is a native of Brazil and has a good working relationship with an elementary school in her home town. Tomorrow in our PLC, we are going to begin with the end in mind and plan out this connection. If it weren't for this IB class I am taking, I would not have asked, and this wouldn't be happening. I am so looking forward to my initial imaginings becoming a reality!

After reading about Kathy Cassidy, I am also toying with the idea of creating a Twitter account for my class. Hmm.... Am I biting off more than I can chew? I should delay this, at least until I get a couple more things securely under my belt. Better safe than sorry. Also, I need to think through potential issues and secure permission with all the people first.

Post-Video Conference Update:

Please do NOT snip and use this image.

This week we held a video conference with the Chick Fil-A operator in our community. It was held on MS Teams with our entire grade level. Here, you can see that each teacher logged in on the desktop for the SmartBoard, and laptop for the camera and mic, while Mr. Chick Fil-A was on his mobile.

I chose this establishment because I taught the family's child a couple years ago, and all of our students have been to their restaurant. It was a perfect fit. Mr. Chick Fil-A started by speaking directly to the teachers, and gave us a brief tour. Students started raising their hands immediately, and we soon had a queue in a couple of the classes. With each student question, Mr. Chick Fil-A gave specific answers with close-up images of what he was referring to. The real-time aspect of the Q/A was very engaging and led to even more questions. There were a lot of  "How do you..." questions. Some even asked "Why is your ___ so good?" (Mr. Chick Fil-A enjoyed answering these: "I can't tell you the secret to that.")

I had two initial concerns:

1. The teachers would have trouble with the tech.
1. A) Only one teacher felt uncomfortable with the Teams, so she took her class into another for the VC.
2. B) There was squealing feedback when teachers turned on their mics, but Mr. Chick Fil-A could still hear. That can be easily addressed for next time.
2. The students would not feel engaged, because everything were through a flat screen.
1. A) They had enough background experience with Chick Fil-A to make personal connections to make meaning.
2. B) The student involvement was contagious. Many students wanted to be on the screen.

Ultimately, I was pleasantly surprised by how well the video conference was received. It was a clear success!

1. Our most vocal team member raved after the event because she learned so much. That is capital on our campus! 
2. Compared with the vet who brought a dog on campus for examination and petting, the video conference was just as popular. Half of my students chose to make thank you cards to Mr. Chick Fil-A.

How have you connected your classroom? I would love to hear!