February was quite a full month for us in the area of videoconferencing. We did three different types of connections in celebration of African-American History Month.

African-American Fact or Fiction
I got the Fact or Fiction idea from a classroom teacher and then adapted it to the Mystery Quest model. Each class researched a famous African-American. They then came up with 7 statements about that person. The statements could be true or false. Those statements were then presented to the remote class, who was then given time to research the statements to determine if they were Fact or Fiction. Answers were then revealed. The agenda we used is below.

Videoconferencing agenda (60 minutes):

  • 5 minutes: Class introductions – This can be a class cheer, a school song, or a simple “hello”.
  • 10 minutes: Class A presents their famous person and their 7 statements.
  • 10 minutes: Class B presents their person and their 7 statements.
  • 20 minutes: Classes research the statements given to them to determine if the statements are Fact or Fiction.
  • 10 minutes: Reveal – Class A asks Class B “Fact or Fiction?” for each statement. Repeat with Class B.
  • 5 minutes: Goodbyes

This was the first year for this project. We had 8 district schools and 2 out of state schools participate in 5 conferences over two days. We all had a great time and I hope to continue this project next year.

African-American History Exchange
This project is a simple exchange project where classes can share anything they are doing to celebrate African-American History Month. Projects ranged from presenting famous African-Americans and having the other class guess to sharing of poetry and African-American Jazz artists.

This was the second year for this project. We had 7 district classes and 3 out of state classes participate in 5 conferences throughout the day. A little smaller than last year, but I think it is due to the number of choices they had this year.

I’m not sure I will continue this one next year. It is easier for the teachers to prepare, but I think the African-American Fact or Fiction has more curriculum rigor. But I guess if people are willing to participate, I shouldn’t knock it, right?

A New View of Black History
This videoconferencing  was presented by the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. It focused on the art of William H. Johnson and “explored the lifestyles, struggles, and spirituality of African-Americans in the United States during the early twentieth century.” (taken from the Amon Carter program description.)

We connected three schools at a time for the conference for a total of 12 schools participating throughout the day. The conferences were apapted for K-2 and 3-6 audiences. Nancy Strickland, the presenter, did an awesome job of facilitation a multi-site conference and kept all the schools engaged. They also sent out awesome support materials. The teachers loved this conference.