Guatemala Art Exchange Test Call Pictures

Posted on June 10, 2011 | Leave a comment

→ Leave a comment

Tagged , ,

Math: Batter Up

Posted on May 31, 2011 | Leave a comment

Karen Mena’s Grade 7 Math periods 7 and 8 participated in another round of Batter’s Up with the Baseball Hall of Fame. Today, our knowledgeable and very entertaining presenter was Tom Rhodes.  Our morning classes were unable to connect due to a unscheduled IP address change by our provider. That problem was resolved and we are now back on track. Chalk it up to another videoconferencing troubleshooting experience under the belt. We will attempt to reschedule the morning classes. June can be a tough month to reschedule, but BHF’s Katie Morris always goes the extra mile to accommodate our sometimes complicated scheduling needs!

OBJECTIVES – in completing this lesson, students will:
A. Examine how everyday mathematical concepts, such as addition, subtraction, fractions, decimals, etc., apply to baseball and the real world.

B. Analyze baseball statistics and interpret data in terms of fundamental mathematic operations.

C. Understand the application of baseball statistics and how they are calculated using basic mathematical principles.

→ Leave a comment

Tagged ,

Math: Batter Up

Posted on May 24, 2011 | Leave a comment

Pat Boswell’s Grade 7 Math periods 2 and 7 classes combined for a lively session of Batter’s Up with Baseball Hall of Fame’s Julie Wilson. The students were well prepared and made Ms. Boswell proud with their quick calculations!

OBJECTIVES – in completing this lesson, students will:
A. Examine how everyday mathematical concepts, such as addition, subtraction, fractions, decimals, etc., apply to baseball and the real world.

B. Analyze baseball statistics and interpret data in terms of fundamental mathematic operations.

C. Understand the application of baseball statistics and how they are calculated using basic mathematical principles.

→ Leave a comment

Tagged ,

The Bronx Zoo

Posted on May 24, 2011 | Leave a comment

May 10, 2011. Lisa Passudetti’s grade 8 Life Science

Leaping Lemurs! Conservation on the Edge

Grades 6-8, Approx. 50 minutes
Take your students to the heart of Madagascar. Visit diverse habitats and explore the relationships between lemurs and their environments. Live cameras will transport your class to the Bronx Zoo’s new Madagascar! exhibit, where students will observe lemurs, fossas, and a ring-tailed mongoose, and make decisions on how to best protect them and their native habitats.

Madagascar, Conserving Biodiversity

Grades 9-12, Approx. 50 minutes
How do scientists protect the future of a species? Students will answer this question as they explore the diverse world of lemurs at the Bronx Zoo’s new Madagascar! exhibit. Live cameras will transport your class to our lemur exhibits, where students will explore the world of biodiversity. Through observation and classroom activities, students will learn what it takes to ensure a future for lemurs. This program has a strong focus on the role of genetics and geography in wildlife conservation, and includes visiting our fossa and ring-tailed mongoose exhibits.

Many thanks to Ami Dobelle, Distance Learning Coordinator for The Bronx Zoo

→ Leave a comment

Tagged ,

Video Conferencing in Education

Posted on April 24, 2011 | Leave a comment

http://edu.glogster.com/glog.php?glog_id=18829876&scale=100

→ Leave a comment

Math: Batter Up!

Posted on April 15, 2011 | Leave a comment

Pat Boswell’s grade 7 Team Sigma periods 2 & 8 math students participated in The Baseball Hall of Fame’s Batter Up program. See previous Batter Up programs for description. Thank you Bruce Markusen for another great session.

→ Leave a comment

Tagged ,

Ghana, Africa with O’ia-da International

Posted on April 13, 2011 | Leave a comment

Barbara Biddy’s morning and afternoon classes talked to students at Mate Masie, a school in Ghana.  This program was found through CILC and facilitated by  O’ia-da International Akoma Ntoso Cultural Center (ANCC) in Newark, which is connecting students in the U.S. and Africa in order to break down barriers of stereo-typing that contribute to cultural misunderstandings. The topic was Stop Bullying through Appreciation Not Tolerance.

Eric Jones, our facilitator from O’ia-da,  explained the meaning of the school’s name, Mate Masie. It is an adinkra symbol. The symbol of wisdom, knowledge and prudence. It means “I have kept what I have learned”. More information and pictures of our sessions may be found on the O’ia-da website: http://www.oiadaintl.org/events.htm

Our students watched a skit about stereotyping performed by the students in Ghana. This performance was followed by a presentation on daily life and culture in Ghana. We also had time to ask questions about how they handle the problem of bullying. We learned that bullying is not a major concern because of their strong sense of community and disapproval of this kind of behavior. A major theme in the discussion centered around the importance of respect.
Both sessions ended with singing and dancing by all to “Express Yourself,” led by Ghana. We send our deepest appreciation to Ghana for sharing their music, culture, and the discussion from which we took away new knowledge and understanding. Many thanks to Eric Jones for organizing and facilitating the video conference.

The goal of O’ai-da and the ANCC is  “to teach students to look at similarities first. This will build an appreciation for that person. When a person recognizes an attractive value of the other person, they will focus on that and then the differences will not matter. They may even see what certain differences can benefit them…. Our experiences support the belief that bullying, harassment, aggression and other misbehaviours are much less likely to occur when students are learning to appreciate their culture and cultures around the world as a central part of their curriculum.”  http://www.oiadaintl.org/index.htm

→ Leave a comment

Tagged , ,

Civil Rights: Before You Could Say “Jackie Robinson”

Posted on April 12, 2011 | Leave a comment

Baseball Hall of Fame Thematic Units. Joan Weiner’s grade 8 classes learned about Jackie Robinson’s life and critical role in breaking the color barrier existing in the Major Leagues.

“For almost 100 years, African-American players were prevented from playing Major League Baseball simply because of their skin color. In order to play the game, they formed their own teams – known collectively as the Negro Leagues. The heyday of the Negro Leagues was from the 1920s through the late 1940s when Jackie Robinson broke the modern-day color barrier by joining the Brooklyn Dodgers. The Negro leagues continued until 1960 when Baseball became completely integrated. Negro league players endured what some considered adverse conditions in order to play the game they loved.” Baseball Hall of Fame Unit Description

Excellent program. Many thanks to Tom Rhodes for braving the early morning first period and to Bruce Markusen for talking to our students about the relationship of baseball and civil rights in American History.

→ Leave a comment

Tagged ,

Character Education: Lou Gehrig: The Iron Horse

Posted on April 6, 2011 | Leave a comment

Baseball Hall of Fame Thematic Units: Jackie Perich’s grade 7 class learned about Lou Gehrig and the characteristics that earned him a place in The Baseball Hall of Fame. They also had fun playing roles in a variety of skits about Lou Gehrig’s life. The class read Lou Gehrig: The Luckiest Man Alive by David Adler and watched a video of his final speech.

“In this thematic unit focused on character education, attributes such as perseverance, courage, humility, grace, selflessness, respect, self-discipline, leadership, sportsmanship, honesty, loyalty and citizenship are highlighted by Gehrig’s life and the careers of many other Hall of Famers.” <http://education.baseballhalloffame.org/experience/thematic_units/char_edu.html>

The Baseball Hall of Fame continues to deliver relevant content in a well organized entertaining format. Many thanks to Anna Wade for a very personable and informative session. Fantastic!

→ Leave a comment

Tagged ,

Careers in Game Design

Posted on April 4, 2011 | Leave a comment

Teacher, Marissa Cassese: Grade 6 Digital Literacy.  Program Description: “Every wonder what goes into making videogames and interactive media? Learn more about this emerging field. Learn about development, game art, team dynamics, game art and design, and the production pipeline. Professors from the Cleveland Institute of Art will share their experiences about the game design industry and about producing video games.” University Interactive, Cleveland. Creative Careers Series

Kristen Baumlier,  Associate Professor at The Cleveland Institute of Art (bio below), presented the program.  She spoke about game design as a rapidly growing field,  especially in the areas of education, medical and scientific communities. The ability to create a good storyline is of paramount importance, along with artistic skills and knowledge of photo and movie editing software.

Kristen emphasized that game developers also need a well rounded foundation in math, science, art, and literature. Teams  include a directors, producers, character artists, story writers, special effects designers, game testers, as well as research and concept designers.

Many questions focused on how to get games published. Kristen recommended Game Maker http://www.yoyogames.com/gamemaker as a good site for game testing where young designers can get feedback on what they have developed. she also explained the importance of building a portfolio of your own creations that can be submitted to schools and companies. Conferences such as GDC – Game Developers Conference are great resources for learning more about the field.

The session was extremely informative and opened a new world to future game designers.

Many thanks to Sandy Kreisman, Manager – Education Initiatives at University, Circle for organizing the session.

The Presenter: Kristen Baumliér’s work spans the full spectrum of mixed media practice, often incorporating performance, video, installation, sculptural objects, and audio. Her work has shown throughout the U.S, in Serbia and in New Zealand.  She was the recipient of an Ohio Arts Council Fellowship in performance and interdisciplinary art in 2004, and an ArtsLink project grant in 2005.

Education: M.F.A., California College of Arts and Crafts http://www.kristenbaumlier.com/

→ Leave a comment