Getting Started/Grade 4/Nanuet,
NY
Anna Sexton
Highview Elementary School,
Nanuet, NY
What
suggestions would you give to new teachers for "getting
started" with Journey North for the first time?
"I would suggest to new teachers to first decide if they
want to tightly structure the learning or make it looser and more independent.
One of my teacher friends chose a tighter environment and paired kids
to work on one mystery class location and then did manatee as a whole
class. I went for the group choice way. When I first started it, we
did just two migrations - manatee and bald eagle. I have to say I prefer
the migrations of the radio-tagged animals. It incorporates tracking
the latitude and longitude on maps for them which is a great skill.
"I
would suggest to new teachers to definitely set up the binders. It
helps the kids stay organized. The first year
I would only do two
migrations at most. And finally, the teacher must read all the updates
as well. There is so much information available now to read so you
have to pick and choose what works best."
How do you manage the small groups?
"I print out full reports for each group and we keep
them in a binder. This way they have the questions and text to look
at without tieing up a computer. I highlight the questions because
they can be easy to miss. If there are web links, then they go on the
computer to read them."
If you have tips you'd like to share,
please write to Journey North: jnorth@learner.org