[math4] 3. Personal Letter to Educators (Karlie Robinson)

[Eric Grace]

Hello all, I've been reading your posts, but haven't contributed yet so I'll
introduce myself.

My name is Eric M. Grace and I am co-instructing the RIT OLPC XO/Sugar
Development Honors Seminar with Stephen Jacobs.  I have a background in
teaching and I have a Visual Arts K-12 NYS Certification.  I've worked for
several years teaching grades 7-12 and developing alternative/outreach/youth
employment programs that connect RIT with the Rochester City School District
and the City of Rochester.

Thank you Karlie for posting your message, it will be helpful for others to
follow a similar request/format.  I think it is important to start these
school district collaborations as soon as possible, the education community
will surely have their own opinions and desires for development, and we need
their support if XO's are to be used more regularly in the classroom.

I will probably be a good resource for advocating and connecting our efforts
to local school districts and have been developing some of my contacts in
both RCSD, Sodus School District, and local non-profit organizations.

We could strategically plan a regional dissemination of OLPC efforts or just
shotgun requests and see what takes.  Either or both approaches are fine
with me to start.

Each school district's interests and negotiations will differ, but it would
be good to identify our goals, efforts, outcomes, and potential costs
involved.  We can use the XO's as is & test any new developments we want to
get feedback.  I see three different models to pitch each with
specific/individual Policies, Procedures, & Plan/Framework development
needed for:

1. "XO Lab on a Cart" - Facilitator/Teacher/Trainer(s) visit local school
districts to run a one day workshop to raise awareness &
student/teacher/school district interest. (This XO cart could be a shared
resource for the western NY region & signed out?) - Districts may be willing
to fund for a simple one time event.

2. "XO Lab After School Program" - This is an easy format for a
Facilitator/Teacher/Trainer(s) to be housed in a specific school without
curriculum constraints of teaching to a standardized test.  This is a great
environment for student access & feedback/testing ground (Funding is
available for these activities).

3. "XO School Lab" - Similar to any school's computer lab (the XO's could be
housed in the same room or different), the school's technology teacher could
facilitate XO classes for student access and feedback/testing ground and
report back to to the OLPC/Sugar community. (Schools may seek funding to
support this, matching grants may support this, or OLPC donations? -all
depends on specific situation.)


Thoughts & feedback?
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.sugarlabs.org/archive/fourthgrademath/attachments/20090402/a3984a8e/attachment.htm