T3G Alums: How are you doing?

[CharlieFitzpatrick]

Friends, we don't all get to share what's happening in our situations as much as we used to, and this social distancing is a historic event. Please share a little here (or in the StoryMap attached to Fun with GIS 264) about your situation at school. Are you and students able to do GIS-based instruction? Do you find any silver linings in the current configuration? Is there any clarity about what will happen for current students, or for next fall? Please share anything of note.

[MikeHerries]

As with most, I am working with my students remotely however I am physically working in my school as 1 or 2 people in the school (the other is the maint staff).  I have responsibilities for the school network, etc so it is easier for me to be here (plus I only live a 10-minute walkway).

I have used a few Geoinquires with my middle school science students remotely and my PLTW medical detective students have been tracking the virus since early January and access esri maps to help them now.

Thanks for all you are doing keep us all in "the science of where"!

Mike Herries

St Louis, MO

[MarcelDuhaime1]

We have all 290+ students finally home, last three left for China yesterday, and we have been doing all of our instruction online since March 23rd.  Lots of students wishing they were back here on campus.  The silver lining, they now know how much they have when they are here!  We are hoping and planning to open our doors to the "new normal" on August 20th.  I'm still working to make GIS instruction for high school students a priority in every class I teach!

[DeniseLam]

Our students have been at home since March 13th, and we are only allowed to  give them work that will improve their grades.  We started with review materials and added new material after "Spring Break."  For core classes we have a county created set of 8 modules that can be modified for students requiring print assignments for lack of Internet access or to meet learning needs. For the first time I had a few students willing to create StoryMaps for the competition, but without meeting we are not able to complete them.  The students were freshmen, so I am looking forward to future work in this area.  Our county science coordinator is also interested in using more GIS instruction in the classroom, so when we return I hope to collaborate with her. 

[EmilyHaines]

In Hawaii we went on Spring Break March 14th and then didn't return. All work being assigned is "enrichment" and is not allowed to be graded due to equity issues with technology access. When high school students see optional not many will do it. I'm posting work, but not much is being done. On January 31st they created a map of the spread after downloading the data from the John Hopkins Dashboard. From then on we watched it grow daily, asked lots of questions and speculated on what would happen if someone at school got it, would school be cancelled? Little did they know everything would be cancelled. School ends May 28 and we will not return for the year. We are hoping and assuming we will be back in the fall, but no clarity there. Love the Coronavirus GIS Hub and have continued to share content with them as well as my staff. If nothing else they have an appreciation of why GIS really matters!

[MarcEpstein]

Except for a couple sites, school in California have been pretty much shut down since March 13 when Governor Newsom signed an Executive Order authorizing schools to be paid for average daily attendance even if they are closed for COVID.  In fact I was at the Capitol the day he signed it.  Once word went out that he was going to issue that my iPhone was blowing up with notifications of school districts closing.  Most schools in California have already announced they will be closed for the rest of the year.

I did manage to contact one of the Story Map team members from Rutter Middle School in Sacramento who got one of the other students to help in out to continue with his project.  I submitted that project on Sunday.  It looks really good.  In my judgement it is the best submission from Rutter yet.  There was another good project completed as the final in the Web Mapping Mini Course that we decided to build on it for the competition.  She got as far as transferring her web maps from the public account to the school organizational account before schools closed, but she did not get in contact with me with sufficient time before the submission deadline to put something together.  I hope she will be willing to pick it up when we come back in the fall.  Hers is also a winner.  

I also sat in on a couple of the Google Meets sessions with the Environmental Science class at Channel Islands High School.  We did have a couple students there interested in a Story Map competition, but that did not move forward.  David Haynes, the teacher there I work with was thinking about having them do a story map project on an environmental topic.  I do not know if that is moving forward.  Since the kids grades can not be lowered from when school was closed, the students are not very motivated to do anything.  

I am looking at what can be done for next year.  This situation has exposed the deficiencies of California K12 when it comes to digital and technology literacy by both students and teachers.  I have had some email strings with a couple of my legislative contacts to revisit some of my previous reform proposal that got push back from the establishment.  Those ideas are getting a bit more traction than in the past. It is going to be a major challenge for schools to open with the criteria being set by Governor Newsom.  A couple of District Superintendents have already stated in media that they can not reopen under those circumstances.  

One of the things I am looking at is if the students I have trained in WebGIS and have excellent skills could be an asset to the County Health Department in Contact Tracing.  

Marc Epstein

Sacramento    

[JimHanson]

If you are interested in more of a fun GIS activity, here is one based on where people would like to go after the Covid-19 pandemic ends. I borrowed heavily from the "My Favorite Color" story map. I also borrowed from Dr. Seuss.  Feel to use and share.

Here are the link and description: 

Link: Oh, The Places You Will Go

• Survey123 is embedded where students can identify the place they want to visit. Note: have them follow the instructions for the map marker to place it as accurately as possible.
• Web App - The mapped responses are displayed. It may take a few minutes for a  response to pop up on the map. The web app includes the following tools:
  • Bookmarks to zoom to specific areas
  • A places filter tool: This allows only the selected type of place to be displayed.
  • A state filter tool: This allows places to be displayed by the state of respondents.
  • Map legend
• Dashboard displaying the following analytics:
  • Map of responses
  • Respondent tally. The tally adjusts for the area displayed on the map.
  • A list of the 500 most recent responses with a map zoom-to feature. Click on the response to zoom to the location on the map.
  • Place type pie chart. Unfortunately, the pie chart colors don’t correspond to the map legend. Move the cursor over the pie chart to see statistics. The pie chart also adjusts to the area displayed on the map.

[PatriciaDugan-Henriksen]

We had one week to plan our On-the-Go-Learning (OGL). We implemented OGL with nearly 100% of the students on line on March 23 and will continue through May 18.  At that point, students who are passing for the year will be finished.  Students who are not, will have extended learning until June 11. I am wondering if the students will participate in the extended learning.

It's been a challenge, especially given the wide range of students' abilities in my classes. Many of the students have risen to the challenge and have really made an effort to learn content but also new technology skills  (so have I) AND take care of themselves socially and emotionally. Other students have done little or no work. The students' numerical average will be based on quarters 1, 2 and 3. Quarter 4 is pass/fail.

I was able to work with a small group of Middle School students who were unfamiliar with online mapping. We had a six session mini-intro to ArcGIS, using the Ecosystems and Biomes Geoinquiry since that tied into what they were already doing in Science class as well as looking at their homes on the map and other simple activities.

I have a lot of questions about what the next school year will bring--will it be in person or remote? What will students social and emotional situations be like? Will students have large learning gaps from this year and the summer break? Will my classroom be large enough to accommodate students if we need to follow social distancing? Will all or most of our staff return?