Using Skype to connect!
This blog post was written by Bonny Eagle High School Music teacher Jake Sturtevant.
I took this on my computer while skyping with music educators Jake Sturtevant, Susan Knight, Paul Schnell, Peg McAdam, Karina Babcock
On October 28th, our District allowed a group of the Visual and Performing Arts Educators in our district touse a professional day to develop curriculum for K-12 Music and Elementary Visual Arts. Since I have had the privilege of knowing Argy for a number of years, I knew when I asked her to be part of our meeting to help energize us, and guide us in the right direction towards some resources, that she would be thrilled to help. Sure enough she agreed, but could not be with us in person, so we attempted to have the Virtual Argy join us via Skype. She proved to be just as animated, and resourceful as her human counterpart. Although many of us are not thrilled with the proverbial talking head, but when Argy starts talking about the importance of what we are doing with her woodstove in the background, we knew this was a much more comfortable Argy then one who might have been in the car all day driving from one side of the state to the other.
Argy was able to answer many of our questions about the direction of Maine with Arts assessment and curriculum. She was able to share many wonderful resources immediately via email, which we were able to use throughout our day as we developed and revamped our curriculum. I know my colleagues and I enjoyed Argy’s virtual company and expertise. We were able to accomplish a lot throughout our day, and to have such as great start to the day was an added bonus.
Though I believe we need not replace our relationships with the virtual world of the internet, we can embrace the opportunity to share thoughts and ideas through this medium, especially when we live in such as large state. With the click of a mouse we have a virtual community of educators all striving towards similar goals, all with their own experience, and wonderful stories and resources. Why wait for one State conference a year? Or one state-wide Arts conference every 2 years? I hope many more of you will take the opportunity to engage with Argy, and take advantage of the wonderful advocate and resource we have in her, and know that the virtual Argy is just as fun, and enthusiastic as the one in-person. Furthermore, I hope we will find more creative ways as Arts educators to connect with each other in this digital age.
Just a word from me, Argy… Please contact me if you are interested in meeting via Skype or ichat, I would be glad to arrange this. What ideas do you using virtual opportunities for you or your students? Please share your ideas and thoughts on this topic below.
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