December visit to LEARN

Students assembled at LEARN on December 12 for the 3rd session of Mousecalls. The day began with an activity for students to learn about others, understanding similarities and appreciating differences. Groups of 6 students received a packet with one flower center and 6 petals. Students brainstormed all things that they have in common and wrote those items on the flower center. Then, each student wrote something about himself/herself on a petal. The petals were glued to the center and displayed on a whiteboard. The students showed creativity and enjoyed sharing with others. Here are some examples of student petals: I am a swimmer. I do karate. I can put my foot behind my head. I have 5 fish! I have a pet turtle. I'm 6'0" tall. I have a twin sister. I have 8 siblings. I am the only one in my group who has long hair! Obsessed with videogames. I like to do sports. Some flower centers, showing commonality, read as follows: We all like pizza. We all have our Xmas trees up. We all like chocolate. We all like science. We were all born in 1998. We all think rollerblading is awesome. We all have last names that start with different letters. The list goes on...
The highlight of the session was the American Sign Language (ASL) lesson. Mrs. Bell, from Montville High School, discussed hearing loss and how individuals with hearing loss are able to communicate. She gave an introduction to ASL and then her ASL students from the high school, who serve as student mentors, worked with groups of students to teach them ASL. Students learned how to use and understand sign language and fingerspelling, played SINGO (sign language bingo) and other related activities.

November Visit to LEARN

Today we did a couple of "getting to know you" activities in your defined groups. Students are assigned to 3 different groups (Cobalt, Denim and Navy), and the groups are comprised of students from all our participating schools (Clark Lane/Waterford, Dual Language Academy/New London, Montville High School/Montville, Preston Plains Middle School/Preston, Regional Multicultural Magnet School/LEARN, and Teachers Memorial Middle School/Norwich). We discussed how appearances and points of view can affect our preconceived notions. Oftentimes what may appear and seem obvious is, in fact, something completely different. Take the case of the wolf in Little Red Riding Hood. Listening to the story from the perspective of the wolf makes you consider that he's not so bad after all. In the case of the gift box, how many times have you judged someone or something by appearances? First impressions often do not take into consideration all factors. The moral here...to give people a chance and not jump to conclusions by their appearance, their culture, or what you may think about them without getting to know them. Sometimes we have to put ourselves in another person's situation and consider what he or she is thinking or feeling. We learned about podcasts and blogs and some of their uses. One important to thing to remember about blogs is to be cautious about what is posted. Some important rules include the following:

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  First names only...no last names, school names or addresses.
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  Do not link to a personal blog/journal from your school blog; you might reveal information on there that you don't want to reveal on your school blog.
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  Your opinions should not be offensive. Don't disrespect anyone or anything, whether a person, organization or just a general idea.
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  No profanity
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  Keep your posting/commenting education oriented.
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  Don't write about other people in a negative way. Again, first names only.
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  Use facts in your writing.
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  Always make sure you check over your post for spelling errors, grammar errors, and your use of words.

We will be developing blogs and podcasts during the course of this program.

Links used on 11/20/08

Here are some websites/blogs/podcasts that we viewed during the 11/20/08 Mousecall session.

Are You Blogging This?

Blogs in Plain English

Podcasting in Plain English

BetchuBlogs (Education + Technology + Ideas)

Pottercastings - The Harry Potter Podcast

Miss Baker's Biology Class - Extreme Biology

The Write Weblog

Coolcat Teacher Blog

The Secret Life of Bees

Mousecalls Website Created

The We Make Mouse Calls website has been created. Check it out! If you find any broken links let me know. The URL is http://wemakemousecalls.org.

Mousecalls Begins 2008-2009 Program

The We Make Mousecalls kickoff event was held on October 15 at Connecticut College Crozier-Williams Student Center. We welcomed Judy Buch, a Connecticut artist and speaker. Judy is a ventriloquist who shared with us a message about getting along and being caring and compassionate individuals. Judy's performance was absolutely entertaining and the perfect opening to the grant program. After the performance, students participated in 4 teambuilding activities: Photo Scavenger Hunt, Math Addition Box, Spin a Unique Web, and Personality Bingo. Students worked together as groups comprised from different schools, meeting new people and sharing ideas. Check out the slideshow for some photo highlights.

Grant Kickoff is October 15, 2008

The Kickoff event for the We Make Mouse Calls 2008-2009 Academic Year program will take place on Wednesday, October 15, 2008. This year we have an exciting program to be held at Connecticut College Crozier-Williams Student Center. The event will be highlighted by a performance by Connecticut Speaker and Artist Judy Buch. Teambuilding activities will take place after her presentation. Stay tuned for an exciting recap of the event. Hope you can join us for the kickoff on 10/15/08, 9:30AM-1:00PM in Room 108 of the Student Center at Connecticut College.

Grant Abstract

"I’m a little boy with glasses, the one they call a geek,” begins the Peter Yarrow song, Don’t Laugh at Me. This song is part of a school-based character education program established by the singer in an effort to help teachers bring respect and compassion to children in all schools. We Make Mouse Calls, a successful interdistrict grant program, adapts segments from this social and emotional learning program as it focuses on reducing racial isolation and enhancing educational experiences. Once a summer program, this grant brings new and meaningful activities to the students during the entire school year as it added new districts and more than doubled the number of students. This program partners schools in urban-suburban/rural teams. Partnered classes from Grades 5 and 6 meet face-to-face during the academic year and participate in a variety of activities that emphasize celebrating diversity; caring, cooperation, and compassion; and resolving conflict creatively. Teams of students collaborate to create digital videos, as they role-play strategies they developed to overcome a real-life problem. A strong component of this program is the infusion of technology into the lessons, from blogging, Wiki spaces (online community encyclopedias) video production and podcasting. High school students act as mentors as they teach the students the sign language component of the program and assist in other activities. This important element enriches the program by increasing the students’ exposure to respectful, diverse young adults as high schools students develop rapport and trust with the younger students. While the focus of the program is to reduce racial isolation and enhance educational experiences, We Make Mouse Calls addresses these concepts through a multidisciplinary, differentiated instructional approach. Language arts skills improve as a result of narrative, expository or persuasive writing activities as student teams outline solutions to solve real-life problems, develop a script for a video production and collaborate throughout the year on a monitored blog and online community encyclopedia space devoted to this project. Character education is addressed on a continuous basis throughout the numerous teambuilding, cooperative learning, and problem-solving activities. Students also improve technology skills through the use of computers and related equipment that provide the vehicle for communicating their strategies. Parents are invited to attend any or all of the sessions and a celebratory event showcasing the students’ projects is scheduled for the end of the year.