School link-ups

Posted on 24 June 2010

We are not at our best at 6am. An injection of caffeine, a spray of deet and a chance to exorcise hammock induced back spasms are usually required before we engage with the world. However, last week was different.

Our days began with sleepy calls to the UK, where 25 students were ready to pounce with clever questions and thoughtful comments about the expedition and climate change. A double espresso is no match for Hazel’s question, “how do you reconcile the differences between local and global sea level rise?”, in terms of wiping sleep from your eyes.

The first live link-up was with Cartmel Priory School in Cumbria. It was the first time for both of us, and we entered into it with the nervousness associated with such things. Jenny Weir, the excellent Head of Humanities, had arranged the link and we were suddenly back in the classroom at Cartmel, albeit with a slightly crackly line. Pairs of students had prepared questions and took turns at the mic, whilst we babbled answers back at them. After half an hour we were exhausted and the school bus form Cartmel was beeping its horn outside the classroom. Thank you Jenny, Colin (the IT expert) and everybody at Cartmel. We hope to do it again soon.

The next day we were back on the phone again, but this time with back up from students at The School of Nations in Georgetown, our target was once again Cartmel Priory. Tim had been working incredibly hard with each school, getting them to prepare a presentation about their local area and the perceived threats climate change posed to them. A dodgy skype link at The School of Nations prevented the video from working, but this was compensated for by a lot of shouting, cheering and presenting by both groups. The exchange was a success, and whilst we might need to be more prescriptive about what schools prepare, it was a great blueprint for future inter-school link-ups.

On Thursday, skype was burning red hot. Graham Goldup, from Cardinal Newman School in Hove, kicked off with a 6.15am alarm call, linking us to a Humanities Conference in Durham. Instead of eager students, we were now talking to caffeine-infused teachers, who had been cooped up in the Marriot Hotel for too long. It was a slightly un-nerving experience as our faces were being projected onto a big screen. At 6.15am, I was wearing my smartest shirt, but I still had my pyjama bottoms on underneath.

As soon as we finished in Durham, we had a slot with David Rogers in Portsmouth. David is a very pro-active teacher who had found us on the internet. His students had not been involved in the early stages, so we had to cover a bit more of the project’s background, but their questions were sharp and lively and we finished off with a very pompous speech about achieving your dreams, whatever they might be. David gave a wry smile and ended the call. His blog with thoughts from his end can be read here.

So now we have a few weeks to recover and gather our thoughts before we reach Venezuela. If other schools do want to link, please email us at [email protected].






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