I can honestly say I have never been more excited about something that's going on in my classroom! In the past week, I have shed tears of joy and pride and excitement. I have shed happy tears for my friend Amy Vinglish - of whom I am so proud for being chosen for Teacher Under the Sea and for whom I am so excited because she will be living out one of her dreams in the Florida Keys this week. I also have shed happy tears as I have gotten to see my students interact with her via Schoology this week - asking her great questions, bringing out her sense of humor, and genuinely getting excited to go on this journey to Aquarius Reef Base with her.
Last week, students spent some time working out of our Teacher Under the Sea folder on Schoology. In Module 1, they got to "Meet Ms. Vinglish" by watching an introductory video I made, reading her application essay for Teacher Under the Sea, and watching a video about this year's Teacher Under the Sea mission. In Module 2, they got to learn "About Aquarius," the world's only underwater science lab, where Ms. Vinglish, the other Teachers Under the Sea, and a team of scientists from Florida International University will spend this week studying how sharks affect coral reef ecosystems. After completing those two introductory modules, students were asked to join the "Teacher Under the Sea" Group on Schoology, where Ms. Vinglish has been posting updates to her blog and responding to their Intros and Questions on a discussion board. Tonight (Sunday 11/8) by midnight, all students should have completed Modules 1 and 2 and joined the Teacher Under the Sea Group.
Friday during class, students worked in groups to synthesize information from four separate Time magazine articles about why coral reefs are in danger of extinction, why coral reefs are important, and why coral reefs are important to Aquarius. We also previewed Pressure & Diving - looking at how pressure impacts divers, why decompression schedules are important for divers, and how Aquarius allows saturation diving to occur.
This week, we will talk about ecology - ecosystem roles, food chains and food webs, biodiversity, and more. We will read some of the scientific journal articles (gasp!) that the Teacher Under the Sea teachers and scientists have used to prepare for this mission.
In addition, students will be checking live webcams and reading daily blog posts to see what's happening in and around Aquarius Reef Base. We'll also "meet" the Teacher Under the Sea team and have the opportunity to "tour" Aquarius via Skype on a Virtual Field Trip, scheduled for Wednesday from 11:00 to 11:30 a.m. in the EHS Auditorium.
I will be providing students with passes and more information about our Virtual Field Trip schedule on Monday and Tuesday. No student will miss a full class (or lunch!) as a result of the Virtual Field Trip, but students not in my 4th period class may be leaving 4th period early or arriving to 4th or 5th period late. I will be communicating all of the schedule adjustments with the students as well as with the EHS faculty. In the mean time, your child should use Monday and Tuesday to find out from his or her teacher(s) what he or she will miss during the 11-11:30 time frame on Wednesday.
I truly hope that your child is as excited about this experience as I am. I hope that your kids are talking about "Scuba Ving" at home. I hope that some of Ms. Vinglish's passion for the ocean and conservation wears off on all of us. I hope that your child gets to see that the skills and concepts we learn about in class have real-world applications. I hope that we all take a moment to appreciate the amazing things that technology can allow us to do - like transport us to the Florida Keys to live vicariously through Ms. Vinglish for a week! I also hope that maybe, just maybe, your kids continue to follow Ving's journey on Thursday and Friday when they're home from school but she's still finishing her Teacher Under the Sea mission.
If you would like to follow along with us, here is a link to Ms. Vinglish's "In Pursuit of Paradise" blog.
Last week, students spent some time working out of our Teacher Under the Sea folder on Schoology. In Module 1, they got to "Meet Ms. Vinglish" by watching an introductory video I made, reading her application essay for Teacher Under the Sea, and watching a video about this year's Teacher Under the Sea mission. In Module 2, they got to learn "About Aquarius," the world's only underwater science lab, where Ms. Vinglish, the other Teachers Under the Sea, and a team of scientists from Florida International University will spend this week studying how sharks affect coral reef ecosystems. After completing those two introductory modules, students were asked to join the "Teacher Under the Sea" Group on Schoology, where Ms. Vinglish has been posting updates to her blog and responding to their Intros and Questions on a discussion board. Tonight (Sunday 11/8) by midnight, all students should have completed Modules 1 and 2 and joined the Teacher Under the Sea Group.
Friday during class, students worked in groups to synthesize information from four separate Time magazine articles about why coral reefs are in danger of extinction, why coral reefs are important, and why coral reefs are important to Aquarius. We also previewed Pressure & Diving - looking at how pressure impacts divers, why decompression schedules are important for divers, and how Aquarius allows saturation diving to occur.
This week, we will talk about ecology - ecosystem roles, food chains and food webs, biodiversity, and more. We will read some of the scientific journal articles (gasp!) that the Teacher Under the Sea teachers and scientists have used to prepare for this mission.
In addition, students will be checking live webcams and reading daily blog posts to see what's happening in and around Aquarius Reef Base. We'll also "meet" the Teacher Under the Sea team and have the opportunity to "tour" Aquarius via Skype on a Virtual Field Trip, scheduled for Wednesday from 11:00 to 11:30 a.m. in the EHS Auditorium.
I will be providing students with passes and more information about our Virtual Field Trip schedule on Monday and Tuesday. No student will miss a full class (or lunch!) as a result of the Virtual Field Trip, but students not in my 4th period class may be leaving 4th period early or arriving to 4th or 5th period late. I will be communicating all of the schedule adjustments with the students as well as with the EHS faculty. In the mean time, your child should use Monday and Tuesday to find out from his or her teacher(s) what he or she will miss during the 11-11:30 time frame on Wednesday.
I truly hope that your child is as excited about this experience as I am. I hope that your kids are talking about "Scuba Ving" at home. I hope that some of Ms. Vinglish's passion for the ocean and conservation wears off on all of us. I hope that your child gets to see that the skills and concepts we learn about in class have real-world applications. I hope that we all take a moment to appreciate the amazing things that technology can allow us to do - like transport us to the Florida Keys to live vicariously through Ms. Vinglish for a week! I also hope that maybe, just maybe, your kids continue to follow Ving's journey on Thursday and Friday when they're home from school but she's still finishing her Teacher Under the Sea mission.
If you would like to follow along with us, here is a link to Ms. Vinglish's "In Pursuit of Paradise" blog.