Tech Goal Part 2

Name	Stephanie Cramer - Virtual Field Trips
Goal	My goal was to research, get informed and attend a virtual field trip with my students before school ends in June.
Plan	My plan was to research online, talk with peers, and choose three virtual field trips I could align with the Kindergarten curriculum.
Timeline	At first I thought this would take me about seven weeks to complete. However, I have been so excited to do this that I started researching right away. I was able to talk to two teachers that have done them before and got their perspective on this kind of field trips. I found several resources but the one that completely got my attention was the Skype in the Classroom. I signed up for this and found so many field trips I want to do! I chose three and talked to my students for them to choose but the one they chose had no openings until July! I learned that I need to schedule skype virtual field trips way in advanced. Now we are waiting for confirmation on a date (May 17th) for a field trip to a Zoo (Lisbon Zoo: Who stole the Princess’ crown?) I think my students will LOVE this field trip, if we can do it. And the best part is that it will be in Spanish! Since we are a dual immersion school, this is great!
Progress Monitoring	I marked on my calendar at school all the dates I had chosen for the timeline. So far, I am waiting for confirmation on a virtual field trip and have been able to meet deadlines.
Success Celebration	Once we complete the virtual field trip, I want my students to sign a thank you card and mail it to the guest speaker. Right after the activity, I want to discuss with my students what they learned and hear their feedback. I want to create a poster with them about our activity to celebrate and share with the school community.
Brief Reflection	I thought it would be easy to do a virtual field trip as I was assuming you would follow a link and a video would start playing (like a recording). And some are like this, but I was having trouble finding an appropriate one for Kindergarten and one that align with the curriculum I still need to teach. I have a couple of field trips I signed up for, but need confirmation. I really want the Lisbon Zoo one. I think it would be amazing for the students!
Self-Assessment	Since I created a To Do List, I have been able to follow the deadlines. I was able to stay organized and found several options for a virtual field trip meaningful to my students.
New Goal and Plan or Continuation of Current Plan	I will wait until Monday for confirmation of the field trip. If by then, I have yet not received it, I will have to sign up for two different ones right away. I hope to be able to attend one with my current students. However, if I cannot, this will be a must do activity for next school year… and now I know, I need to sign up for them right when the school year starts! I will continue to search for virtual field trips during the summer so I can do them with my next students.