From: Jan Wee <jwee@mail.arc.nasa.gov>
Subject: Response to: I need advice! or *How to GET STARTED with Live
Date: Fri, 11 Jul 1997 09:32:29 -0500
Dear SPoelker and the discuss-lfm members, [ Moderator's note: I thought this file might help more than SPoelker, thus it is shared with the entire forum!] SPoelker wrote.... >I am a fourth year teacher, teaching 4th grade next year for the first time. All of the information I have read here, for the first time, looks great. Any suggestions for starting it in the 1997-1998 school year? Would suggest holding off with a new grade level for me? Any advice would be helpful! I would strongly encourage you to take advantage of the excitement and inspiration of the Mars Missions and get your students involved in Live From Mars right away this fall. Let me first ease your fears about "jumping right in". Many experienced PTK educators know that you can *ease* into the electronic field trip projects. You don't have to do ALL activities or feel pressured to devote hours online, rather begin by acquainting yourself with the concept of electronic field trips and the use of live/taped telecasts, online resources, and the supporting hands-on print materials. You might START by reading over Scott Coletti's very helpful article found online in the Teacher's Lounge under Learning Resources called "Introduction to Electronic Field Trips". Found at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/teachers/eft/index.html NEXT...take note that PTK has a group of experienced MENTOR teachers who are very willing to connect with you and assist you. The link to the mentors is also located in the Learning Resources page in the Teacher's Lounge. NEXT... review the online Live From Mars teacher's guide found at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/teachers/eft/index.html Don't forget that you can order a print copy of the Teacher's Guide Packet (includes guide, LFM poster, blackline masters, info materials on the Mars Missions) or a multi-media kit (includes teacher's guide an all materials just mentioned plus Mars CD-ROM, Mars slides, teacher training video tape, and much more!). Details are available at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/teachers/materials.html Reading over the Introductory Articles will help establish a framework for using Live From Mars in the classroom. NEXT... scan the opening activities. These are excellent lessons to use to introduce your students to their Mars Missions experience! I especially like Activity A.1 assessing what students KNOW.... WANT TO KNOW... LEARNED approach (KWL) as it gives you and the students a tool to help measure their learning growth during the unit. NEXT... select the opening activities you want to do and begin your preparations to integrate these into your classroom. SIMULTANEOUSLY... it would be most helpful for you to access the first three programs in the Live From Mars series. #1 "Countdown" #2 "Cruising Between the Planets" and the just telecast July programs "Touchdown" and "Touchdown + 6!" An overview of all three programs and the content focus is available online at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/video/index.html IF you have a satellite dish in your school district or one available locally, you can record the programs on NASA-TV (GE-2, Transponder 9C -- coordinate information and a schedule for NASA-TV monthly programs is also available at the above URL. There will be a compilation program reviewing the Mars Missions and what has happened since launch that would be an excellent overview airing October 14 at 13:00-14:00 EST. You might simply use this tape to intro students to Live From Mars or you might access the above three programs and use all or segments of each broadcast. Ordering the tapes is also an option -- see... http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/video/index.html once again! NEXT... it would be great fun for your students to get to KNOW the members of the MARS Mission TEAM. If you have access to the web in your classroom or in a computer lab, have the students sit down and (perhaps in pairs) read through the Biographies and Field Journals found online at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/team/index.html which is the Mars Team link on the homepage for LFM. It would be great for your students to take notes on a specific member of the Team and do interviews with one another about their assigned Team member. Another approach is for you to select interesting aspects of their lives and share a *Mars Team Member A Day* highlighting why the individual became a scientist, engineer, support crew member, etc. NEXT... Think about creating a question board display where students can post the questions they have about the Mars Missions. Take a look at the Researcher Q and A service offered by Live From Mars which enables students and educators to send questions to the Mars Team. Found at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/ask/question.html BE SURE to read over the GUIDELINES on preparing meaningful questions. Always check to see if the questions students want to asked have *already been answered* by looking at the archive of Q and A pairs online. NEXT... consider joining the updates-lfm newsletter mail list which provides updated information, late breaking news, details about the upcoming broadcasts, field journals, etc. PTK also has a wonderful support forum for educators called discuss-lfm where educators exchange ideas, collaborate, experts contribute, etc. To join either list... Send a message to: listmanager@quest.arc.nasa.gov Leave the subject blank In the message body, write: subscribe discuss-lfm Can also add in a line below: subscribe updates-lfm Send your message. You will receive confirmation of being added to the list and *important* list management info! Save this. If you prefer to not join the lists, the LFM web site does provide archives of the updates at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/updates/index.html and the discuss-lfm discussion archives are accessible at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/lwgate/DISCUSS-LFM/archives/ NEXT... Don't forget that you and your students are invited to SHARE their LFM work via our Kid's Corner link. You should visit these pages and see what others already have contributed and how you might showcase what your students will do during the year. Found at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/kids/index.html Whew... this file is getting very long and I haven't even mentioned the Featured Events, Background, or Image Gallery resources. When you have time for a breather, (yes, do relax and take this slowly!) do visit these web pages! I hope this helps get you off to a good start. Remember, there are many experienced educators willing to help you integrate Live From Mars into your classroom. Enjoy! Jan Wee, Moderator