Thursday, June 14, 2012

Today's theme is about the urban landscape. The city of Florence is a historical city of 39,000 people. (See more demographic information at: census.gov) We studied the ways to analyze a city using your geographic eye, not just what exists above ground level, but also below.

A neat tool that I will continue to use in my classroom is GoogleEarth. You can type in a coordinate, such as 34 48 34.62N, 87 40 54.61W into the program, and click the historical imagery button to view the landscape change. This coordinate is the university, and it's awesome to see the changes that have happened (even since 1997).

We went on a field walk of the city to analyze it. So far our experiences downtown have really just included dinner, so it's awesome to get out and look at Florence through a geographic-lens. The town has many signs of the past that are unique to Florence, such as Trowbridges (an old diner with excellent ice cream)...

...and the lions Leo III and Una that are the mascots right on campus.

It was really neat to identify buildings of the CBD of Florence that have been repurposed, revitalized, or even currently not in use. So many clues can be gathered if you look closely at the buildings to determine its past story. I would love to do this with students in Lancaster, PA because it is also a historical city (settled in the 1700s) and can be studied and plotted with GPS units in the same fashion.

Then we looked at Climate Change from the AAG. Their resources are excellent that I want to use in my Global Perspectives class (Energy and Environment unit). I was able to do a global footprint calculator, and even though I am embarrassed by my results, I'm going to post them below:

I wonder what my students' results will be, and if this simple-to-use resource can be an eye-opener to educate them before its too late to change their habits.

Unfortunately, a family emergency has popped up and I'll be leaving the conference this afternoon for North Carolina. I've learned a lot and will do some contemplation of incorporating into my class as soon as I return home. I will post my final project in the days to come :-)

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

What new geographic tools can be used in the classroom?
 
We started working today in watersheds and studying the Chatahoochee and Tennessee Rivers.  Alan Jackson currently is singing in my head... I never knew how much that muddy water meant to me.  We spent a great deal of time today working on our independent projects (more details to come on mine). But we also worked on a project in GIS that allowed us to walk along the Tennessee River and plot points that we tracked using GPS units. GISetc has offered to lend us GPS units to use in our classrooms, and the fee will be paid by the Alabama Geographic Alliance. (THANK YOU!!!)

Our Summer Institute has a website that contains our schedule and some of the cool things that my peers are doing. We've been doing a lot of work this week! Check it out in the link below:
Summer Technology Institute: Alabama Geographic Alliance

But the highlight of the day was using the GPS units to collect points at McFarland Park along the Tennessee River. It was a beautiful afternoon to walk along (and in) the river finding examples of physical and human geography.  Indeed, I even saw an alligator!  And we saw a Native American settlement that was set up.

I walked into the river with the GPS in the middle of swimmers. Samantha and I thought that since people are swimming on the beach, it would count as one of our human geography examples. So I waded out in the river and called out the coordinates to her on the bank. The swimmers looked at me so confused, wondering what in the world I was measuring. I should have said, "These levels aren't too dangerous, but maybe we should still call the CDC anyways."  Would people have fled the river's beach?!

Lisa Keys-Matthews offered for us to use the GPS units from GISetc (run by Roger and Anita Palmer) that can be sent to you on loan for a week. The fee will be covered by the Alabama Geographic Alliance.  I think I want to try it with my kids in the Fall or late Spring. We could even do some GeoCaching around the school campus.

Highlights of the day:

1. Being outside in the beautiful Alabama summer. The weather was sunny, in the 80s, and not even all that humid (for the South).
2. Seeing the wildlife of herons and alligators ;-)  
3. Creating a GoogleEarth tour based on the coordinates that we collected this afternoon. 
4. We are headed to Dr. Bill Strong's house for a cookout tonight---that will likely be a highlight too!

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

"How can I connect the processes and/or content from today in my classroom?"

Another day in "The Castle" (Wesleyan Hall)!  Today I learned a lot of ideas that can be used in the classroom. My future students don't have a clue what's in store for them, but I can guarantee that it will include a great deal of geography infused with technology. Because it doesn't take long for maps to become out of date, and it's difficult to create a map for every use that we want in our classroom, technology is awesome because it's up to date. GIS makes it's relevant for a myriad of uses, whether it be physical or human.

On human geography, we looked at how humans impact their environment. I feel this would be GREAT for my classroom and ties in well with my history courses.  Humans have to use their surroundings to survive and meet their basic needs. This ties in well with ancient history as humans first developed civilizations and learned to irrigate to grow larger amounts of crops to sustain a city.

Likewise, I thought that water usage would be excellent in my Global Perspectives course in the Environment unit. It's such a precious commodity, and evidence using satellite imagery in ESRI's GIS Mapviewer shows many examples of rivers or lakes that are being depleted. It bridges the gap that sometimes exists between human and physical geography, and would allow students to manipulate the satellite imagery (and learn the skill simultaneously).

What was helpful to me was collaborating with educators that also teach in high schools here in the Heart of Dixie. Though we all face budget cuts, inadequacies within the availability of technology, and full plates of requirements in our schools, we can also work together to share ideas and experiences in the classroom.  As we develop our final projects (which will use technology to teach students as well as utilize technology for students to learn independently) it is great to share ideas that can be helpful to others. Starting the IB: History of the Americas program next year is a daunting task and I feel overwhelmed already of the magnitude of requirements and restrictions, but the time to develop an extensive lesson that incorporates technology, history, geography, primary sources (of differing perspectives) is my goal. Am I crazy? Aren't all teachers who take a creative approach at least a little crazy?

My husband would agree.



Highlights of the day:

1. Really digging in deep with other high school teachers. I am not alone.
2. Playing around with the giant traveling map of Asia. Who knew I would have to travel to Alabama to go to Asia! (Likewise, I enjoyed the lunchtime presentation on China and learned a bit of new information about a country I feel I know moderately well.) PLUS, the red team (mine!) won the latitude and longitude challenge. GEO-HEROS!

       3.   Exploring the earth in satellite images and determining the interaction of humans on their environment. It was cool to identify things from above, and hypothesize what in the world we were looking at (blue fields, smoke, salt sinks?)

       4.  Walking around campus and seeing all of the beautiful buildings and fountains. Pictures of the lions to come!

Monday, June 11, 2012

 

"Reflect on the day, your professional development, and the theme "Thinking Spatially through Technology". What has changed in your learning, thinking, skills, and understanding?"

Today was full of learning and consisted of six pages of notes that I recorded in my notebook. A mixture of resources was given to us, including video and spatial mapping through ESRI's GIS Explorer and Map Viewer. Being mostly self-paced, it was convenient to accomplish the task at hand and enrich our experiences with extra time that existed.

I have obtained by GIS certificate from Shippensburg University (oh my--- 8 years ago!) and so a refresher in GIS and the software that has changed was very necessary. Thinking spatially is something that comes naturally to me, and many of my high-school students. For others, it's a challenge! And giving new tools, such as the Map Viewer that doesn't require any fees or downloaded programs, is a convenient way to integrate technology into the classroom. I could see myself using the various levels in my curriculum, especially levels 1-3 that provide a question to explore and differentiated levels of teacher involvement depending on the ability of the student.

Though technology is ever-changing, it is a useful tool to utilize in the classroom. Students become engaged with the interactive approach to learning, and ESRI's programs seem to minimize the troubles that sometimes accompany the use of technology. Displaying layers of map data in endless possibilities in a spatial way on a customizable map is truly invavluable for any class (not just geography). I plan to use the Map Viewer feature in my history classes from providing a location for a current event that is being studied, to viewing the terrain of a battle in ancient history.

I came to Alabama with a solid background of geography, but thus far have been truly enriched by the advancement of my skill set. I am refreshed in GIS from the old ArcView 4.0 that I used in my college days; but more importantly, I am able to share these experiences with my students in hopes of broadening their skill set in geography.

Highlights of the day:

1. Completing the "Teaching with GIS: Introduction to Using GIS in the Classroom"
2. Talking with other group members and sharing our teaching experiences