Skyping for Real World Connections

On Friday, I facilitated a conversation between our 6th grade and Dr. Ellen Prager, a marine scientist. Dr. Prager is in Miami and of course we could never bring her here to speak with our students. But who needs to do that when you have Skype? It was truly an amazing experience for all of us.

The girls learned a few things from this experience. The obvious is that they learned more about the ocean and taking care of it. They also learned how to prepare for a meeting with a professional. They prepared questions that were relevant by researching Dr. Prager and her work.  They learned how to present themselves to a remote audience. Most girls had an opportunity to either ask or answer a question and I was so pleased with how they presented themselves. They learned that women have successful careers in science. Finally, they once again learned that there is more to learning than textbooks.

Here is a very brief clip of Dr. Prager speaking with our students.

One of my goals for this school year is to expand our classroom walls by connecting with experts as well as other classrooms. If we want to move away from textbooks as a basis of learning and towards a model where they are one of many resources used to teach a topic, bringing in real world voices and experts is essential. Learning from and interacting with experts not only allows a deeper understanding of a topic, but it's quite a motivator as well!