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Using
the Videos and Website
Teaching
Geography is specifically designed to
advance the education and instructional development of seventh-
through 12th-grade teachers through a curriculum that emphasizes
knowledge of content, critical thinking, and the practical applications
of highly effective teaching methodologies.
Watching
Teaching Geography Videos
See the schedule
for the broadcasts on the Annenberg Channel or find out how
to purchase a videocassette here.
Broadcast
Schedule.
To get the
most out of Teaching Geography:
- Watch the
programs in their entirety.
- If you have
limited time, go to Programs and Activities for each workshop
for ideas for watching the videos in short segments.
- While watching,
reflect on the objectives posed in the Program Overview of each
workshop.
- Use the programs
to spark group discussion or personal reflection.
- Identify
topics or activities you can use in your classroom.
Structuring
Workshops
Each Teaching
Geography workshop consists of five sections. Use the following
list to help you structure your workshops.
1. Before
You Watch
This section
lists homework that should be completed prior to each workshop.
It includes readings, program overviews, learning objectives, and
questions to consider. You should also review the Key Maps, Interactive
Activities, and Glossary Terms found on each workshop's main page.
2. Workshop
Session (Video Programs and Activities)
This section
describes the workshop activities and discussion topics that participants
will do in conjunction with viewing the Teaching Geography videos.
Structure your session using the grid provided, based on the length
of your session and whether you are watching a real-time broadcast
or videotape. You can also access the transcript for each workshop
in this section.
Workshop activities
consist of the following elements:
Getting Ready
In preparation for watching each part of the video program, you
will engage in approximately 15 minutes of discussion and activity.
Watch the
Workshop Video
Each video program is divided into two half-hour parts.
Going Further
Wrap up with an additional 15 minutes of discussion and activity
for each part of the video program.
3. Homework
Assignment
Refer to the
Before You Watch section of the next workshop you will be doing
to access the materials that should be reviewed prior to that workshop.
4. Featured
Lesson Plans
This section
provides the lesson plans featured in the video classroom segments.
Use these lesson plans as starting points, either to design your
own lessons or to start a general discussion about using particular
content or methodology in middle and high school classrooms.
5. Resources
This section
lists additional resources for furthering research and understanding
or exploring the selected geography content with students. The resource
lists, which can be accessed from the About the Workshops section
or through each individual workshop section, include print, Web,
and curriculum resources.
 My background was in history and I went to the Colorado
Geographic Alliance Summer Geography Institute and came away, not
only excited about geography, but also really interested in an inquiry-based
approach to teaching. And I found that I wasn't satisfied with my
old teaching methods anymore. When the opportunity came for me to
teach geography was very excited. I tried, in the meantime, to incorporate
geography into my other classes. And I have to say that the opportunity
to do something new at the point in my career made all the difference
because it gave me new energy and it helped me continue to be, I
hope, an exciting and interesting teacher…
-- Craig Cogswell, Westminster High School, Colorado
Using
the Teaching Geography Web Site
To get the most
out of your workshop experience, you should explore the Teaching
Geography Web site. The site provides content beyond the materials
found in your print guide. Each workshop features Key Maps of the
region being explored, as well as Interactives geared to one or
more of the case studies or classrooms. These clickable maps, timelines,
slide shows, and brainteasers are available only on the Web site
and function to provide more detailed treatment of program content.
Reviewing these materials will greatly facilitate your participation
in the workshop activities.
The Web site
also provides access to Featured Lesson Plans in easy to download
.pdf and Word .doc formats. This can save you time scanning or keying
in lessons that you may wish to use, modify, or share with other
teachers.
The Resources
section of the Teaching Geography Web site offers direct
links to numerous other Web sites that provide rich supplemental
content for lesson preparation, in-class activities, or homework
assignments.
Subscribe to
the workshop email discussion list and communicate with other participants
online. To subscribe to Channel-Talkgeography, visit: http://www.learner.org/mailman/listinfo/channel-talkgeography
Helpful
Hints for Participants
You may want
to keep a journal, including thoughts, questions, and discoveries
from the workshop itself and learning experiences that take place
in your classroom.
If you are
working on your own:
- Identify
your goals.
- Use the objectives
to generate self-reflection.
- Write responses
to questions in a journal.
- Review the
journal at a later date.
If you are
working with colleagues:
- Review the
homework for each week and think about the objectives before meeting
with the group.
- Compare your
observations with those of your colleagues. How are they the same?
How are they different?
- During the
role-play activities, try to take a postion that is different
from your own beliefs.
Helpful
Hints for Site Leaders
Successful
Workshop Sessions
These guidelines will help you conduct successful workshop sessions,
particularly the Getting Ready and Going Further segments. These
pre- and post-video group discussions will help participants better
understand the video programs and enhance the workshop experience.
Getting Ready prepares participants for what to focus on during
the video programs and Going Further provides the opportunity to
analyze and reflect on what they saw.
Designate
Responsibilities
Each week, someone should be responsible for facilitating the workshop
sessions. This may be a professional facilitator or a volunteer
from among the participants, or you may choose to divide and rotate
duties among several participants.
Prepare for
the Session and Bring the Necessary Materials
The site leader should review the entire session in this guide prior
to arriving for the session, as well as reviewing any materials
needed for that session. The site leader will be responsible for
bringing materials such as flip charts, markers, etc. If you are
viewing the video programs on videocassette, the site leader may
want to preview the programs.
Before the
First Session
You may want to photocopy the Teaching Geography print guide
for all participants so they may follow along, refer back to ideas
covered in the session, or have their homework assignments handy.
Or, you may direct them to this Web site to print the guide themselves
(direct them to Support Materials).
Either way, you will want participants to have the guide prior to
the first session, so they will come prepared. Be sure participants
know:
- they should
bring paper and a writing instrument to each session and
- there are
reading assignments prior to the first session.
Keep an Eye
on the Time
We have suggested the amount of time you should spend on each question
or activity. While these times are merely guidelines, you should
keep an eye on the clock, particularly if you are watching a live
broadcast. You may want to set a kitchen timer before you begin
Getting Ready to ensure that you won't miss the beginning of the
video. If you are watching the workshops on videotape, you will
have more flexibility if your discussions run longer.
Record Your
Discussions
We recommend that someone take notes during each discussion, or
even better, that you tape-record the discussions. The notes or
audiotapes can serve as make-up materials in case anyone misses
a workshop.
Share Your
Discussions on the Web
The workshop sessions serve as a starting point to share and think
about the workshop ideas. Encourage participants to continue their
discussions with participants from other sites on Channel-Talk.
More
Tips
Structure the
workshop sessions based on your group's interests, experience, size,
and time allowance. Use the Site Leader
notes throughout the print guide and Web site to help you.
Also:
- Print and
duplicate documents ahead of time, or send participants to the
workshop Web site to download and print a .pdf of the guide.
- Have participants
read materials prior to meeting.
- Identify
participants' skill levels and build from there.
- Begin with
the suggested issues raised by the objectives and continue with
other questions that interest you and your colleagues.
- Follow up
a response with another question.
- Allow enough
"wait time" for responses.
- Foster interaction
among participants, as well as between facilitator and participants.
- Organize
participants into different groups for different activities to
give everyone a chance to work with everyone else.
Weekly workshop
sessions may be scheduled around real-time broadcasts, in which
case you will want to begin at least 30 minutes before the scheduled
broadcast. You may prefer to tape the programs off the Annenberg
Channel, and schedule the sessions at a time that is more convenient
for all participants. Sessions should be scheduled for a minimum
of two hours.
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