Cameron Park Elementary, Orange County

Teachers Connect Staff

Cameron Park: Could I have an introduction, Caroline who are you? I will have a group of teachers in the lab this afternoon.
Caroline: Great! I have made presentations throughout the country on the topic of assessment, and I'm most interested in hearing about any creative methods that work for you.
Cameron Park: My teacher group is just beginning to explore the internet.
Caroline: I like to start with the standard in mind. Then progress to the activities that will require the kids to demonstrate the standard. How have you used the Internet at Cameron Park, Shirley?
Cameron Park: That sounds like a good place to start. I have done demonstration lessons to explain what the internet is to the students.Since I have no classroom, I have not done a lot with specific classes using the internet.
Caroline: What kinds of activities have they completed? Do you have many computers on-line? Ahhh...I see...well, you can help the others :-)
Cameron Park: We have 15 on-line in the computer lab and one in each classroom. We also have Britannica On-line and Electric library available. The media specialist is using Electric Library and Britannica on-line with some of her media classes.

Caroline: One of the neatest ways to assess the progress of students is to use a multimedia program, such as HyperStudio or PowerPoint, and have them create a "report" and share with the group. That kind of assessment is pretty authentic. How do you like Britannica On-Line?....and the Electric Library? I've seen Britannica, but never really used it.
Cameron Park: The children are able to pull up information they can use for reports. Some of the vocabulary is too difficult for younger children.
Caroline: Great! They really get up-to-date information that way, don't they?
Cameron Park: Yes the info is up to date. Electric Library is probably better for middle school up.
Caroline: Well, I wondered about that. The text version of Britannica is difficult, too. That's great information, Shirley. Who publishes Electric Library?
Cameron Park: We have other companies wanting us to try them, like Grolier's. I don't know but I will try to get you that info by 3:00

Cameron Park: We have a county wide access.
Caroline: Are you on a LAN?
Cameron Park: yes
Caroline: Lucky!! Wake County, where I taught, is just getting their LAN up now. Sometimes it works...and sometimes it doesn't :-)
Cameron Park: We passed a bond in Orange County and all our schools are wired.
Caroline: Wow! You really *are* lucky!
Cameron Park: We use Capital Improvement Moneys to purchase additional machines. I am struggling with staff development to get these teachers to use the network to it's fullest potential.
Caroline: What do the kids do with the information they find in the Electric Library?
Cameron Park: They incorporate it into reports. The students are not proficient with HyperStudio yet, but we are working on it.
Caroline: One thing that may help is to start with the very, very simplest project...say a word processing file they can share by e-mail...Do they have e-mail?
Cameron Park: Yes, the teachers use e-mail religiously. I have had classes to teach the teachers HyperStudio also. I plan to have a computer club after school starting next month to reach those 4th and 5th grade students that can stay and learn HyperStudio.
Caroline: HyperStudio has finally come out with the Windows plug-in that allows you to play stacks live on the web. Macs have been able to do this for years, but now Win people can join the fun, too. Are you Mac or Win at your school?
Cameron Park: Mac. I have never used that component of HyperStudio.
Caroline: E-mail was the "hook" that caught the most at our school. Those teachers are out of the box now, and there's no stopping any teacher who has discovered she can e-mail her son or daughter at college, right?
Cameron Park: exactly. We just got the capability to do outside e-mail this year. Some people are doing that a lot and some just e-mail within the school.
Caroline: Well, if you'd like to see the stacks on the web, you can go to MidLink Magazine http://longwood.cs.ucf.edu/~MidLink and check them out. They're in several places now. The easiest to find are the ones in the "Book Link".
Cameron Park: Thank you! I will try it.
Caroline: That is a great way to assess, also...letting kids see who gets their message they tried to convey in a HS stack. Many people can see it on the web, and the kids even get fan mail!
Cameron Park: The children would love that
Caroline: We'd love to have some stacks from your students, Shirley. When they finish a project that you'd like to share, please let me know and we'll get it into Midlink. David Kafitz, from Buncombe County is now posting HS stacks also. You'll have lots of good help if you need it.
Cameron Park: I will have a web server next year, so I may need some help getting that set up with the Hyper Studio.
Caroline: No problem. We have had to get lots of help from Dr. Molly Munro at NCSU. It takes a little doing, but I think it is well worth it.
Caroline: The idea I keep coming back to is to get the kids to construct something in multimedia and make meaning of what they've just learned. Then they not only remember it, but they show me how well they've learned. Gets away from the "bean counting" attitude of always looking at which objective you're teaching. We can use rubrics to measure the project

Cameron Park: Yes, I have a set of rubrics from teacher academy. We are getting ready to do a TV station at CP soon. The students will drive the production with adults on the side.
Caroline: TV station??? Now, I'm really impressed!
Cameron Park: I am a little scared about the TV station, but it will be great.
Caroline: Grace is telling me we have only a few more minutes...gotta go to a meeting...but will you be on here this afternoon?
Cameron Park: Yes, with teachers too.
Caroline: We're hoping to be on from the exhibit hall where lots of people can see this conference. Great!!! Bring lots of teachers :-)
Cameron Park: ok
Caroline: I know the TV station will be a great learning experience for the kids, too. What an ego boost!
Cameron Park: They are very excited. I had an application process for them.
Caroline: OK, See you this afternoon, Shirley. I've enjoyed meeting you and C-ing you finally :-)
Cameron Park: Thank you Bye for now.
Caroline: Bye!!