Adventures in After School Learning Blog

-By Mike DeBritz on Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Scribd is an amazing service for publishing and connecting with readers. We just uploaded a new set of curriculum samples and are amazed by their entire ecosystem.

It's a snap to upload any PDF, Word doc or PowerPoint there. To connect with your audience you can share links through Facebook or email.  If you want to keep a document right on your website you can also embed their code, like I did below.  Their system is super easy to use and also gives the publisher the option to let readers download any document.

Take a look at our "Screenwriting for Short Video" and the "Cookie Jar Mystery" samples below.

I'm certain many after school directors have valuable information on upcoming events or happenings they'd love to share.  It's free...so go get your Scribd account started today! 

 

Screenwriting for Video Sample

 

Cookie Jar Mystery Sample

-By Mike DeBritz on Wednesday, November 23, 2011

I'm certain many people have heard of Sir Ken Robinson and his famous TED talks.

I'm less certain about how many people have seen his ideas detailed on a whiteboard.  His talks are interesting and thought provoking to begin with but after watching this video a couple times I started to "see" his ideas differently and understand his thesis on an entirely different level. 

I think many after school providers know exactly what he means when he talks about where kids are today. 

Take a look and tell me what you think.

Happy Thanksgiving!

-By Mike DeBritz on Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Many after school directors understand the importance of getting the word out and promoting what they do with kids everyday.  With social media kicking into high gear and a large percentage of parents participating in one form or another, new media seems like a logical place to build a presence.

As much as Facebook has moved into the forefront, many organizations maintain a presence on the web or with a dedicated section on their partner’s website.  Sometimes this can be problematic depending on the partner, because changes may need to go through channels.  If you’re trying to get the word out for a timely event, you may miss the window.

Stay Close to Home

Many internet consultants advise that even with all these forms of new media, a website should still be maintained as your home base.  The site may have more static items like your mission, what schools you serve, contact information and such.  

If your website can accommodate a blog, a blog is one of the easiest ways to put out timely updates, post pictures of recent events and build a following.  Through easy tools like RSS (Real Simple Syndication), parents can subscribe to your updates and not have to visit your site to get the latest news.  

I’ve written in the past about simply using a blog platform as an after school website.  This can be as easy as typing in word and a great activity for high school students.  Having students run a blog provides practical work experience in seeing how many parents they can reach through this medium.  

Free and Easy

As with all things technological there’s always something new on the scene. With the amount of investment in better internet access and greater bandwidth, many Web 2.0 companies are addressing the unique needs of educators by making web-building tools easier to access for non-technical users.  

Enter Weebly, a relatively new player that is gaining some ground and targeting educators with free tools, a simple user interface and a growth plan.  You can start out with a free site by just logging in with your email and a password.  To help you get started, they’ve broken the process of building a website into 8 easy steps, after you’ve worked out the details.

Their standard package includes a free account that provides access to the majority of the features. The Pro account include the free features, plus a video player, audio player, protected pages and embedded documents (great for signups and permissions). Take a look at this brief video for more details.

No Ads Here

One big difference of this service for educators is the absence of ads on their free service. I remember a couple years back when Wiki’s first hit the scene.  One service let educators opt out of the ad piece until they couldn’t afford that anymore. It wasn't pretty.

Weebly actually has a place for you to ad your own Google ad sense window, if you’re so inclined. A better option may be to find a local sponsor that would take a banner ad to help you defer some costs.  The only advertising you have to agree for free pages is in their footer, not a bad trade-off.

Either way, if your main objective is to get the word out, Weebly can be a great way to go!

-By Mike DeBritz on Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Blogging has really exploded over the last couple years with a number of specific tools for educators that are both easy to use and free.

I’ve been following the development of Edublogs for some time now and see this as a very unique offering for school blogs. The simplicity of blogs really lends itself to after school programs, making it easy for site leaders to deliver frequent updates and news directly to their community.

The Edublog team focuses solely on educational content, so the likelihood of your hosted blog being blocked on a school network is lower. And because it's targeted to educators they've built a large number of step-by-step tutorials related to teaching that make getting started close to painless.

Their “Curriculum Corner” offers a wealth of resources from getting started tips to advice on setting guidelines for students. Take a look at this fun video "10 Great Ways to Use your Edublog" to get ideas on how to put this technology to use with your program.

 

Now wouldn't this make a great project for your older students? Assign a small group of students the job of posting articles, interviews and events to your blog. This way they gain valuable work experience and you get to broadcast all the great things happening in your program...that sounds like a true win-win!
 
I’d be interested in what you think of blogging in and for after school programs, please leave your comment below!

-By Mike DeBritz on Wednesday, June 01, 2011

Not many things are universal these days, with so many ways to express your individual tastes, opinions, likes and dislikes.  We have so many communities, friend groups, forums… it seems like there’s a niche for everyone.  

I thought until recently that the challenge for 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21stCCLC’s) programs to meet the parent involvement requirement was a universal difficulty.   

Parents Required

The original legislation, from the US Department of Education’s website, states:

“Each eligible entity that receives an award under this part may use the award funds to carry out a broad array of before and after school activities (including during summer recess periods) that advance student academic achievement, including — (Number 10) programs that promote parental involvement and family literacy.”

From my travels, I have heard that establishing a relationship with the parents is the huge challenge that 21st CCLC site leaders encounter after becoming operational (i.e. after getting funded, hiring staff and recruiting kids of course!) There simply aren’t as many built-in mechanisms available to a “voluntary” after school programs.    

Well we all have our assumptions and maybe my thinking parental involvement was a universal obstacle was just a neat way to look at the world.  

Forensics Showcase

Enter Kim Colman from Onalaska, Washington  who was returning my call regarding staff training for the “Cookie Jar Case.” Her kids had just completed the “Cookie Jar Mystery” and were gearing up for the trial next. I had casually asked “How’s it going?”  She remarked how much “We just love the Cookie Jar”’ and added that they just finished up a parent night, which was a huge success!

The kids were really excited to share their new knowledge about forensics, so Kim created a mini-science fair around the “Cookie Jar Mystery”, where students broke down various evidence types into stations like fingerprinting or blood typing.  At each station, students created displays from the crime scene evidence and set up demonstrations. Parents visited each station to hear about each clue and how it was analyzed so parents got the full picture of how this crime went down.

Kim also served a meal as they all discussed their findings and solved the case together.  She said it was a huge success and looks forward to doing something very similar with the “Cookie Jar Case” when they get through that.

Channel the Enthusiasm

So my assumption of the difficulty of the after school parent involvement was shattered; this doesn’t sound that challenging.  If you have a fun activity that gets your kids excited after school like the “Cookie Jar Mystery” you figure out a way to summarize the key points and let your kids’ enthusiasm carry the show!

Take Kim’s idea and apply it to something you’re doing today…then happily cross off one more requirements on your list as an after school leader.

-By Mike DeBritz on Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Brian Melick, a musician and performer who we collaborated with on our “Playing with Percussion” Course Kit, is a man following his talents and almost any kind of percussion instrument he finds. 

We worked together demonstrating some of the basics behind percussion, where kids make and play instruments out of everyday objects (he's also the the star of the DVD in the kit).  In addition to performing, I've seen him work his magic leading professional development sessions and assemblies.

Brian has been making instruments out of found objects for a long time and we'll be highlighting some of his latest creations real soon. 

In the meantime, here are a couple fun clips of Brian doing his thing on a Cajinto and Cajon. Enjoy!

-By Mike DeBritz on Wednesday, January 26, 2011

As the after school initiative matures so does the average age of children served, so high school After School is the new frontier and where many program leaders find themselves today.  But programming that worked for younger kids won’t always translate to the high school level.

 

When looking around at what interests high school kids today you see social media taking up a big chunk of their mindshare and time. 

 

Tap that Energy

 

So how do you harness the power of all this media and technology into a worthwhile activity that will supplant what high school kids currently do after school?  Well the one forum or media that reinforces writing and communication skills is the one you’re reading – a blog.  High school kids have a lot to say…so why not start a blogging club for your high school after school students?

 

Specialized Services

 

Blogs give kids a voice and a central space to house their videos, pictures, art work or voice opinions about issues that concern them.  They’re a number of free services available, but one service worth looking at for instructional purposes is EduBlogs. 

 

Edublogs is free and designed for educators.  It was created on top of the easy to use Word Press blogging platform, with built in tools to help you manage a classroom full of blogs. In addition, it includes a series of tutorials with step-by-step instructions on everything from setting up an account to creating your first post.

 

The Win-Win

 

Now for the big payoff...why not form an editorial team of high school students to create and manage a blog about your after school program!  This would be cheaper and easier than building a web site and would allow you to add articles or updates weekly.  There could be features about interesting activities, science programs, upcoming events and special guests.     

 

Your high school students will be engaged when you empower them to own the project.  They’ll learn valuable skills by writing articles, working as a team, gaining hands-on experience with the platform, incorporating photography and video perhaps and reaching out to community members. 

 

Best of all they’ll have a whole lot of fun!

-By Mike DeBritz on Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Community involvement is a broad term that’s open to several interruptions for after school programs.  A simple definition can be used by stating any involvement from the community that helps an after school program meet their goals, ok that about narrows it down.

Look for a Natural Fit

Let’s look at an example. We had an enterprising customer in Opelika, Alabama who recruited the school D.A.R.E (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) officers to teach the “Cookie Jar Mystery: An Introduction to Forensic Science” for their summer program. 

A big part of D.A.R.E’s mission is about police officers building positive relationships with the youth in their communities through edcuation.  One officer stated, "It’s all about putting the pieces of the puzzle together and working as a team."  Students really enjoyed the class because officers were able to tie in all their real world experience with what was being taught in the classroom. That really brought the topics and experiments to life.

This was a natural fit that allowed the students and police officers to work on a intersting project, solving a forensic mystery, and build relationships simultaneously.  You have to believe when the D.A.R.E. officers went back to school the next year they had made some new friends!

Branching Out

If you take this example and branch off programming you currently provide, I’m certain you can find a couple other naturals to involve your community.

Here’s is a quick list of possible links between activities in after school and community partners:
 
Cooking Class – Think “Cake Boss” find a local caterer or restaurateur that would benefit from the good public relations.

Jewelry Making – Find a local jewelry store owner and have them come in and talk about their business and how they find unique designers.

Video Production – See if you have a local independent filmmaker group to tap up and coming directors. They could do a movie screening and talk about how they got started.

Arts and Crafts – Scan any galleries or local museums to find visiting artists that will be in your area.  Now some that are well established like to get paid for speaking gigs.  Again, look for someone that can benefit from the exposure.

Mock Trial – Another easy one, contact the local youth court Judge’s office or your District Attorney.  This is a lay-up much like involving the police with forensics.

Don’t Pass on the Press

Any of these partnerships will offer great real world and practical applications for what’s taught in school everyday.  Involving community partners will enrich your students through these new relationships and exposure to career possibilities. 

So now call your local media contacts or use it as an opportunity to meet a couple. These kinds of partnerships usually make very nice human interest stories and photo opportunities for everyone involved.

And after you’re all done, congratulate yourself by checking off a whole bunch of your program goals successfully completed!