One Room School House, sharing a Skyped experience!
Do you know where this?
In case you don’t, it is Frenchboro, Maine!
Here is my Skype experience with somone I have NEVER met:
Sometimes when we are forced to do a particular activity in life, we meet it with apprehension and fear. But in the end, it can be the best experience to have ever happened! This week there was an assignment presented in the educational technology class that I have been taking. We were to choose from a list of 30 or so, teachers in various locations, with various educational experiences, and carry on Skype conversation with whom ever we chose. Talk about pushing our comfort levels…we had never met these people and how awkward to carrying on a conversation with someone in this forum. Well, my thought was that if there is no one from Maine, I am just not going to do this project. Guess what? There was one from Maine, only one! Now, I don’t know if I believe in signs or not…but someone or something was looking out for me and wanted me to do this. And I am very grateful that I did and I want to share what it is I learned from a very AMAZING teacher.
Ashley McCaslin was the name I picked and again it was solely based on the fact that she was in Maine and in area that I hold so dearly in my heart. Ashley teaches in a one-room schoolhouse in Frenchboro, Maine (http://www.frenchboromaine.com). And yes, I was shocked to know that one-room schoolhouses still exist here in the United States! However, when you are on an island that is 8 miles from a larger island called Mount Desert Island, which hosts Acadia National Park (http://www.nps.gov/acad/index.htm), it makes sense that there is a school for the residents of that island. On average, 45 people reside on this island year round and Ashley teaches 7 of their school aged children. The grade levels of her classroom are kindergarten; first, second, fourth, fifth (one in each grade), and 2 are in 7th. (Talk about having to differentiate her instruction!)
For me, the amazing part was listening to how much technology is available, in such a remote location and how much Ashley implements technology into her instruction. Each student has his or her own laptop (which is a statewide program); there are two iPads available for the schoolhouse, and iPod touch. Ashley uses teleconferencing two days a week for reading in “book groups” with other island schools. Students read and discuss books through teleconferencing, which enables them to work on the literacy skills and keep social interactions with other students that are NOT on their island. The students also carry on their Student Council via telecom with other schools on various islands. For math, Ashley uses a program call ALEKS (http://www.aleks.com), which allows for individualizing the instruction for each of her students and generates assessments and homework based on that individualization. Wait, it gets better…each student has their own email account via Google and Ashley monitors their accounts and uses Google forms for various assignments. She also has a YouTube account where her students can post their movies that were made in iMovie (even her student in Kindergarten does this!) As Ashley put it, the education in her district is “Mass individualization of education.” Awesome!! Can I teach in Maine???
Now, Ashley did express that it is not always easy, that sometimes it is very difficult however; you could see even in her frustrations that she loves this experience and is grateful for the experience. I asked Ashley, how she designed her classroom management given that the dynamics of the ages. She admitted that is has been work in progress but it boils down to three rules: Respect yourself, Respect other people, and Respect materials used in school. She said the students are very respectful of her and that each student’s disciplinary action is a case-by-case situation. Ashley does employ the use of restorative justice, which is building empathy, using effective communication and she creates trust-building exercises.
This project of Skype-ing with an unknown person was an awesome experience and has opened the door to gaining a new friend, especially in the state that I love so much!! Ashley and I spent two hours talking, we are planning a visit in May, where I can go and experience her island life and see her school. And she has become a valuable connection in my life. Ashley, has also given me an education into teaching under stressful circumstances and doing this all within her 1st year of teaching! Through this Skype project, I learned just how small our world is…Ashley is from Williamson, NY, which is only 15 minutes from Macedon, NY. She graduated from Nazareth College with her Masters in Education and we both have taken the same Educational Technology class, AND we both LOVE the state of Maine!! Indeed, Skype is bringing our large, very populated world, into a smaller, reachable, and educational reality.
- Posted in: Uncategorized
- Tagged: Education, Frenchboro, ME; Schoolhouse, skype, technology
acphelps2013 
Aimee- what a small world indeed! That’s fantastic that you had such a postive experience using skype, and that you were able to develop such a rapport with Ashley. It sounds as if she has a truly unique and exciting, challenging (in a good way!) teaching experience. As I read your account of her classsroom, I began to see that addressing and meeting the unique learning needs of every learner in your classroom through differentiation can be challenging, but if done well, can be so rewarding for all. Especially in a classroom like hers, you do have to challenge yourself to think outside the box- I mean it’s not like she can ignore the age and cognitive differences going on in the classroom! So I guess if she can do it, then it shouldn’t be too hard to implement in a more “traditional” classroom. Your future visit to her classroom should be very inspiring for you- thanks for sharing!
Fantastic! Ashely is demonstrating how important technology can be in breaking down some of the physical isolation and access to expertise and diverse experiences that those in more rural settings often face. In her case, it is indeed to the extreme in terms of her isolation there. How great that you are going to be able to visit there and make a physical connection!
On a related note, this is a perfect example of how developing virtual learning networks offers one so many new and exciting possibilities to learn and connect. Through my network and Ashley’s network you are brought in. This is how it happens every day for so many who are willing to step out of their closed networks, take chances, and connect! Not always does this type of connection happen… and if it does, it can still take some time while one is building one’s PLN, but it is so worth it when it does.