GC Newport Fall Term 2011!

Welcome all Global Campuses to read about our Global Campus Newport updates and what we’ve done in the past. We have been a Global Campus for nine years. With Jim and Sherry’s help all the campuses got started.

This year we did a Global Campus 50/50 raffle. Half the money went to a woman and half we donated to the Vermont Foodbank. We raised $205 for the Foodbank.

This year we purchased one video camera from Newport and one for St. Johnsbury so we could film our meetings. First, before we use it, we have to ask people if they want to be filmed. We got the money for the camera from the Green Mounatin Fund grant, which we wrote.

For the last day of the term we had a Christmas Party and made Christmas wreathes and getting our certificate awards. We will get awards for doing classes. Steve taught a class on Island Pond. Donna and Buddy studied Lowell, Vermont. We also did Interactive TV with St. Johsnbury.

Next term, we have decided to do a refresher term. We want to have calendars, team meetings, and more organized registration. We also want to be prepared to teach with binders and pens. We will go over new teaching methods and have class accountability for what we are teaching and what we sign up for.

- Global Campus Newport Participants

GC Newport and St. Johnsbury Pilot Virtual Interactive Classes!

Global Campus Newport and Global Campus St. Johnsbury connected through interactive TV for two course offerings this spring term.

About twenty-five people from Newport and fifteen from St. Johnsbury gathered in front of the interactive TVs to experience the new phenomenon of teleconferenced classes. The groups cheered as we got connected, waving at each other and reconnecting with old friends. It was really exciting to see everyone and be able to hear what they were saying. The first few minutes of the class was devoted to smoothing out the technology. St. J had a bit of trouble moving their camera, and Newport was hard to hear, but eventually we smoothed out these bumps and began teaching.

Edna was ready to teach her class Dogs and Cats. This was Edna’s first time teaching, and she was really prepared. We put the microphone right up next to Edna to make sure St. Johnsbury could hear her class and zoomed in the camera so they could see her posters and visuals. Edna had two stacks of note cards – one about cats, one about dogs. She also had two different posters as well as drawings she had made. Her class had a great mix of interactive questions and facts. She asked the group to list some of the things their cats or dogs do that are pesky. People said their pets scratch, chew things, smell, and shed. She then told the group how to care for animals and the appropriate ways to keep a pet. Raymond commented from St. J that he had recently taught an animal class. He is teaching a second class at the Fairbanks museum, for which he has made a scavenger hunt for people to find different types of animals in the museum. There were many questions back and forth, from both campuses.

Next up, Allycia began handing out copies of her PowerPoint presentation for the group in Newport to read through. We made note that, next time, we will email class materials such as these to St. Johnsbury ahead of time so they can see the handout. Also a first time teacher, Allycia taught us the Ins and Outs of High School. Alycia had great poise. She told us some of the good times at Lake Region, and also some of the times that have been less fun. She told us about nice friends she has made and fun classes she has taken. People were pretty interested in high school stories. Sharilyn from St. J told us about her experiences and asked specific questions about what it’s like in Special Ed these days.

After feedback and questions, we spent about half an hour in discussion between the campuses. People asked questions about family connections, summer plans, classes and updated each other on their campus happenings. It was really neat to hear the exchanges and to see how excited people were to be talking to another campus. The group gave general feedback that the process of the interactive TV had been very smooth. St. J commented that they would love to offer some of their classes on interactive TV next term.

GC Newport Celebrate Fall Term!

Global Campus Newport has enjoyed an tremendously successful Fall Semester 2010! Fall Term began with some logistical changes at Staff Meeting and Campus Seminar. The Staff have begun to take more responsibility for their meetings and seminars, keeping a campus binder and writing new agendas each week during Staff Meeting. This change was an adjustment for the group, but the staff seems to like the added responsibility. The Staff usually spend their hour-long meeting planning for Campus Seminar and discussing what topics are important to be brought up to the group. This term they worked on a grant to the Green Mountain Fund, made arrangements for a trip to the corn maze (which was cancelled due to rain), planned Registration and Orientation Days, discussed the campus layout and planned a Community Service Project donating canned goods to the NEKCA Food Shelf.

During the Teaching and Learning Class this Fall Term Global Campus Newport focused on the Academic Year Theme: Our Stories. People shared personal histories and answered prompt questions such as, “what is one of your favorite childhood memories,” or “talk about a person in your life who you admire.” People worked in small groups to answer these questions, then wrote or drew storyboards depicting the stories. We had inspiring discussions in front of the class and learned a lot about people’s lives. Some of the stories people told were difficult to hear or tell. We discussed the campus as a safe place to share personal histories, but that people should not feel obligated to tell stories if they do not feel comfortable. We heard a lot of interesting stories and learned a lot.

The Our Stories theme will continue throughout the year, and people are encouraged to bring in stories that they create at home. During the term, people brought in various Our Story creations that they had worked on at home. Chris D. shared a laminated book with pictures of him, his family and his trip to see Sesame Street The Musical in Burlington. The book has space for him to write in dry-erase marker stories about his life. Tim shared photos of his summer and reconnecting with his father, whom Tim had not seen in many years. A few participants recorded their stories on a digital recorder so we can listen to them at a later time.

As always, Global Campus Newport’s course preparation and teaching was inspiring and new this term. The campus designed a unique catalog cover that incorporated images from many of the course offerings. On Registration Day, the campus welcomed many new members, including three high school students participating through the Global Campus Academy. These students added a unique voice to the campus, and veteran participants seemed to enjoy the role of mentoring and assisting new students as they become accustomed to the campus.

Global Campus Newport enjoyed many new course offerings this term and also continued with some old favorites, such as Bowling Club, Walking Club and Math Class. A few class highlights: In Yoga with Brandi, Brandi walked the group through some basic yoga stretches. She moved the tables back and encouraged everyone to join her on the floor in the center of the classroom. People tried new things and laughed with each other during the more difficult stretches. In Raymond’s Goats Class, Raymond brought in samples of goat milk, goat cheese and goat milk hand lotion. He showed pictures of his goats and shared stories about what it’s like to live on a goat farm. In Jewelry Factory, Bernie got many compliments that her class was fun and interactive. People went home with bracelets and necklaces.

Looking ahead to Winter Interim, the group will study a Where in the World theme that incorporates stories from around the world. The campus will look at stories, myths and fables, as well as pictures and cultural facts from different countries. There will be an air of mystery to this term as the groups try to guess Where in the World these stories are from!

GC Newport Spring Update

Global Campus Newport finished a stellar spring semester with a certificate celebration on May 27, 2010. Global Campus Newport began their Spring Term with the implementation of a few new campus seminar techniques. The participants rotated through the role of campus facilitator and took responsibility for editing the campus agenda and ensuring that the announcements were appropriate for the campus. The group also implemented an interactive activity in between Campus Seminar and Teaching and Learning Class. The activity was utilized to get people up and moving, with clear heads, ready to learn. Activities ranged from movement exercises to group games and activities.

Global Campus Newport used the Campus Seminar time this term to promote community awareness for Global Campus and the band Flame, which came to Newport in early April. The group made posters and participated in community outreach activities to raise awareness about the campus and disability rights. Their efforts were rewarded with an article in the Newport Daily Express, which highlighted two classes and the successes of the campus.

This spring term, Global Campus Newport Staff focused on brainstorming new projects and events for the Northeast Kingdom Campuses. The campus came up with a long list of trips, events and experiences that they would like to participate in. The group then spent time researching the cost of the events and brainstorming ways to fund the experiences. Together, the staff developed a grant proposal that they intend to send to local foundations, banks and business people. The proposal describes the Newport campus and invites foundations to support the educational endeavors of the three NEK campuses.

Global Campus Newport worked hard this term to develop a total of twenty-five course offerings. Courses ranged from old favorites, such as Bernie’s Walking Class and Photography with Tim and Jim, to new courses on the History of Malaysia, Ice Cream Making and UFOs. The group also had a visit from the local radio station, MOO 92. As always, the classes proved to be very rich and full of new learning opportunities. Campus participants pushed each other to attend more classes and participate in as many events as possible.

Global Campus Newport began a new program this spring, The Global Campus Academy. The group welcomed the addition of two high school students to their campus, one from Lake Region High, one from North Country High. These students were given a brief orientation to the campus and then invited to participate in course offerings and campus events. The Academy is growing and has become a great opportunity for the current participants to serve as mentors to younger students.

Congratulations to all Global Campus Newport participants for completing their seventh academic year!

GC Newport: Ice Cream Making Class

Homemade Ice Cream class is fun for all! To begin, Kasey setup milk, sugar, vanilla, mixing bowls, blueberries, ice and rock salt in the front of the room and then walked the class through the process of making ice cream. She invited people up one-by-one to help mix the ingredients, and explained the process as she went. People contributed their knowledge – some recipes use eggs, some don't. Some people use electric ice-cream makers, some don't. After the batter was mixed, Kasey poured the milk into small zip-lock bags and placed the bags inside coffee cans. Next, she filled the coffee can with ice and rock salt and taped the lid closed. She demonstrated how to roll the can on the floor, back and forth, to help the ice cream freeze. Bernie volunteered to roll the can, and she got down on the floor, putting all her effort into the can rolling. Kasey also showed how the zip lock bag could be placed inside a larger bag, also filled with ice and rock salt, and the bags could be shaken to freeze the ice cream. We had two methods going at once.

There was so much ice cream batter that almost everyone in the class of thirty was given a bag or tin can to shake. The room came alive, people got down on the floor and walked around shaking bags and laughing – everyone had a lot of energy. We had a few adventures of leaking bags and salty clothes and soon learned that condensation forms quickly on the cold ice cream makers. After about twenty minutes our first batch was ready to taste. People commented that the consistency was similar to a creamy or a milk shake. The ice cream tasted great – there’s nothing like homemade ice cream!