Process, Programming and Participation: A Formula for Success
Nancy Kochert, Media Specialist and Videoconferencing Site Coordinators at New Market Elementary School in Crawfordsville, Indiana, humbly declares that she “simply sends on new programming opportunities to her teachers as they come to her from CILC and the teachers let her know when they are interested.”
But there is much more going on here than meets the eye.
The Process
When Nancy called to set a date with Adora Svitak’s mother,
she learned this was to be a three (3) part series. Since all agreed
there was a need to expose the students to better writing techniques,
they jumped in. Murphy’s Law decided to test their
perseverance: they had to schedule the program twice more; first, due
to a conflict with the IP gateway and again due a county–wide
program for students scheduled at the same time as the first session.
The Programming
Recently, the New Market 5th grade teachers, Miss Brown, Mrs. Deck and
Mrs. Ramsey, decided to participate in Adora Svitak’s IVC
session “Personal Narrative Writing: Acing your State Writing
Assessment & Beyond.” Knowing that writing was a weak
point for their students, their goal was to find help to prepare them
for the 6th grade and to improve their scores on the writing section of
ISTEP, Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress-Plus.
Students left the session very excited and chatting about Adora’s age and abilities.
Since this particular session had not yet been rated on www.cilc.org,
Nancy visited each of the three classrooms to learn how the students
responded to being taught by another student. The response
was overwhelming. Every class was in awe of Adora and thought
she had given them “good tips.”
The Participation
From the students’ viewpoint
- She gave us the idea of using conflict (internal and external) when writing a personal narrative. I didn’t know that.
- Writing isn’t as hard as you think when you use your ordinary, day-to-day experiences—things you know.
- She used the conflict idea of stage fright while singing in front of a big audience to make her point. This hit home as some of the students had just encountered this conflict in their Spring Fling.
- She taught us to use examples.
- She encouraged us to do more writing.
- She showed us that adjectives and adverbs improve interest in a story.
- Adora encouraged us to be original.
- Adora encouraged me to express my ideas using details.
From the Teachers’ perspective
- One teacher has already taken her students outside to write, giving them more options to find writing material.
- Another teacher realized that she had never suggested that students ask questions in their writing. According to Adora, this adds space to the written piece and makes it longer and more interesting.
- The three teachers all agreed that they will be encouraging more writing and the use of descriptive adjectives and adverbs.
- All the teachers plan to use more examples from student work and books to stimulate student creativity.
Lessons Learned
Since our students have been exposed to videoconferencing since 2000,
they truly were focused on Adora’s presentation, not the
technology. They were impressed with Adora as a person and
are striving to become better writers as a result of her teaching.
Next Steps
For teachers & students
At the time of this writing, students are completing their last two
sessions with Adora. Teachers are working hard to integrate
what they learned about motivating their students to write and write
better. Both are hoping that their efforts will be reflected in the
next ISTEP writing scores.
For Nancy
Nancy is currently busy communicating the value of videoconferencing! She has invited both local newspapers and two school board members to either or both of the next two sessions with Adora. She has already purchased and place Adora’s book, Flying Fingers, in the school library and plans to do the same with her latest book, Dancing Fingers.
Writer’s Commentary
New Market Elementary School is an awesome example of how the Four
Vital Aspects of Site Management work together to sustain
videoconferencing. There is a logistical system in place to share
available resources. In addition, the term resources has been expanded
to include books added to the library collection which support the
learning from the videoconferencing session.
The teachers involved at New Market need not be concerned with the technology, as Nancy has incorporated it into her job responsibilities, making it easy for them to focus on the curriculum; choosing the sessions that support and expand their students’ learning.
This writer hopes that you didn’t miss Nancy’s example of ‘communicating the value’ of videoconferencing. Often I’m asked, “How do we fund these kinds of programs?” Providing opportunities for your stakeholders to experience the value that videoconferencing can bring to student and teacher learning is a sure fire plan to win them to the cause.
CILC thanks Nancy Kochert and all the other Nancy’s out there who work smart to bring great curriculum resources that expand student and teacher learning through videoconferencing.
Note: CILC offers a free webinar for those who want to know more about the Four Vital Aspects of Site Management.
Thank You
Many thanks to Nancy for sharing this inspiring story.
Nancy Kochert
New Market Elementary School
410 North Third Street
Box 128
New Market, IN 47965
(765) 866-0740