Learning:
Journey North

300,000 children bond while tracking nature's ultimate survivor story.

Some of Cathie Plaehn's fifth graders have never seen the Atlantic Ocean, the Appalachian Moun-tains, or Mexico. They've lived their whole lives in Boyceville, Wisconsin, population 900.

But through the Web-based science education project Journey North, these Tiffany Creek Elementary School children have traveled the world, trekking thousands of miles with butterflies, sea turtles, and other migratory animals.

And along the way, they've met other students from Mexico to Canada.

More than 300,000 students and their teachers use Journey North to supplement their textbooks with real life, following animals, chatting with scientists, and comparing notes across the continent as the changing seasons sweep south in autumn and north in the spring.

One important feature of Journey North is that it's not all-or-nothing. "I've adjusted my involvement each year," says Plaehn. "That's the beauty of the program. You choose as much or as little as you want."
While most of the activities are in the spring, teachers say the smaller Journey South program in the fall is a good time to get involved.

The project, funded by Annenberg/CPB, was started in 1994 by Elizabeth Howard, a former Nature Conservancy scientist. "It's the ultimate survivor story," says Howard. "Changing weather and lack of food face migratory species as they travel the globe or pass through our backyards. What better way to engage students in science?"

The first time Cathie Plaehn used Journey North in her rural Wisconsin classroom, she recalls, "We were watching satellite transmissions from sea turtles, and saw that one of them was floating out into the Atlantic.

"We spent days hypothesizing what was wrong and finally figured out that a turtle's transmitter had broken loose. It was incredibly exciting to watch these students turn into scientists. They wouldn't give up without an answer."

At York Middle School in Nebraska, Gayle Kloewer and her seventh graders raise and tag monarch butterflies, and use Journey North to track them as they fly to Mexico for the winter.

The Journey North Web site-named 1999 Best Education Site by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences-links Kloewer's students with scientists. Together, they gather migration data to see how wind and weather affect the monarchs' amazing voyage.

The students also connect with schoolchildren in Mexico, who report when the butterflies arrive at their mountain sanctuaries.

"When one of the monarchs made it to Mexico recently, it was like winning the Super Bowl," says Kloewer.
In Vero Beach, Florida, Allison Bai-ley's third graders at Citrus Elementary School make paper butterflies to send to children in Mexico for safe keeping over the winter.

In March, when the real monarchs head north, the Mexican children return the symbolic butterflies with messages for their American friends.

Journey North also sends students weekly Challenge Questions. "As my students answer the questions, they come up with more questions about why and how," says Bailey.

Holly Cerullo's seventh grade students at the Joyce Middle School in Woburn, Massachusetts are tracking tulips, not butterflies. They plant bulbs in October to investigate the relationship between geography and the arrival of spring.
They also answer their own questions about tulips, such as: Will it grow if I plant it sideways? What if I take off the bulb's skin?

The students report their observations on the Journey North Web site. When the tulips bloom, they announce to the world that spring has arrived in Woburn.

Students across North America use these announcements to follow the green wave of spring sweeping north.
In Mystery Class, another popular Journey North activity, students get weekly clues to the locations of 10 mystery classes-sunrise and sunset times and facts about history, geography, and culture.

"You can't bottle the excitement of Mystery Class," says Wisconsin's Cathie Plaehn.

"You start with nothing more than a sunrise and sunset, and you end up with an exact location. When the students discover where it is, it's as if they are the first explorers there."

"Before, my students learned different science concepts in isolation from each other," says Allison Bailey in Florida. "Now, a unit on how the Earth moves through space prepares us for how the seasons change and why animals migrate."
Nebraska's Gayle Kloewer says Journey North makes science real. "Why wasn't I paying attention to what was happening right outside my window?" she wonders. "Instead of opening the book to this chapter and this topic, I now link it to what's happening outside." 4
-Dina S. Gómez

For more: Explore Journey North at www.learner.org/jnorth.

Dilemma
How do you help a student who has
poor hygiene?

At the beginning of school and in the spring, I make a hygiene speech. I mention the importance of bathing and wearing clean clothes. I say, if anyone has a problem, see me privately. I offer to bring soap and deodorant if a lack of toiletries is an issue, and assure students that anything shared with me is confidential.

Anjanette M. Clark
High school communication arts teacher
St. Louis, Missouri

I attempt to gain the confidence of the student, and then ask if he or she minds if I talk with a parent. If the answer is no, I pursue it tactfully with the student. I let the student know they have a friend in me. That hasn't failed. Attitudes have improved and, in some instances, grades as well.

Jeanne Franklin
Middle school administrative assistant
Richmond, Virginia

I work with elementary special education students and we do a hygiene unit. A dental hygienist visits to discuss brushing habits. We've used trade books on hygiene topics in our reading groups. I also use a workbook on life skills for students with special needs.

Lindy Beckman
Elementary special education teacher
Corunna, Michigan

I used to refer students to the school nurse, who would contact the parents. She occasionally would give that child a bath and a change of clothes. Years ago when I first taught, I helped students by providing clothing from my nieces and nephews. When I see a child wearing a school uniform that needs a wash, I mention it to the classroom teacher.

Jacqueline Shak
Elementary ESL teacher
Honolulu, Hawaii

Before each school year, I go to a discount drug store and raid bins of sample-size deodorant, shampoo, and toothbrushes. Every year, I give a hygiene speech and explain that it's students' responsibility to make being close to others as pleasant as possible. I tell them personal hygiene items aren't inexpensive. If they need these items, I have some. If there's still someone who offends others, I tell that person a better effort is needed. I provide a bag of hygiene items, and tell him or her that more are available if needed.

Nancy J. Compton
Vocal music teacher
Wolcott, New York

Our school nurse talks with individuals or the en-tire class and gives out personal hygiene packets.
When I taught Behavior Disabilities, a committee that included parents put hygiene goals in students' Individual Education Plans. Now, when I deal with hygiene issues in class, I remind students to take baths. They earn play money for completing assignments, which they use to buy prizes. These include toothbrush kits and soap. The children buy these up quickly! I let them pick out another prize if they choose a personal hygiene item.

Tammy Tankersley
Special needs teacher
Hopkinsville, Kentucky

First, I find out if there's a financial issue or abuse that might hinder a child's efforts to be clean. If so, I find a way to provide the child with hygiene items, and we have a private talk.

I use humor, discussing how hot it is and what it would be like with lots of stinky bodies. I say I'm only a teacher and can't afford millions of dollars for air freshener and gas masks. That may sound crude, but the kids laugh and get the point.

Susan Titus
Seventh grade math and science teacher
Jacksonville, North Carolina

For elementary students:
o Read personal hygiene books about children of the same ages, emphasizing social rejection.
o Role play games and songs such as "This is the way I brush my teeth."
o If the problem is really bad, talk to the parent.
For middle and high school:
o Show videos on personal hygiene.
o Hold panel discussions on hygiene and stopping the spread of illnesses. Stress the pain of rejection due to poor hygiene.
o Invite a public health department speaker.

Amy Frost
Education student and substitute teacher
Decatur, Alabama

Got an Answer?
How do you get your students back to work after a holiday?

E-mail your answer to dilemma2@ neatoday.nea.org. Or send by regular mail, or fax to 202/822-7206. Please include your name, city, state, and job title. Published respondents will receive an NEA Today mug!

How I Did It

Bret Baird
Kennedy Middle School
Physical education teacher
Redwood City, California

A school hall of fame gives students role models for their own lives.

Three years ago, I polled my 170 students and asked who their role models were. The winners? Jerry Springer and Dennis Rodman.

This perplexed me. I view these two as entertainers at best, and not the sort of people students should emulate. During this same time, my district passed its first bond measure in 50 years, and my school was to receive a new gymnasium. I suggested naming the gym after our most famous athlete, 1967 Heisman Trophy winner Gary Beban.
When I contacted Beban, now president of a real estate firm, he was flattered but didn't want to be the only one honored. He gave me names of two classmates who he thought should get some recognition. That gave me the idea of starting a school hall of fame.

At first, the hall was to be about athletes, but that discriminated against women, who didn't get the same opportunities as men until the1970s with the passage of Title IX. So our hall of fame vision became:

• Provide models for students.
• Honor all walks of life.
  
• Invite inductees to visit our school and share their life experiences.
  

The inaugural class has 11 role models: a fisherman, bank executive, pilot, coach, singer, software CEO, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame drummer, shoe inventor, professional sports team executive, architect, and Beban. At the gym's opening last March, nine of the 11 came to share their experiences with our students.
Over the past 50 years, Kennedy Middle School has produced 15,000 graduates. They are our greatest achievement. Now, when students enter our gym, walk by the duplicate Heisman Trophy, and see the hall of fame plaques, maybe they too will be inspired to develop their gifts and pursue their dreams.

Experimenting With Success

A gifted and talented program in Maryland launches girls' interest in science.

Space Mission EX-4 sounds like a 1950s sci-fi movie. But for fourth graders in Waugh Chapel Elementary's gifted and talented program, it's a real-life mission exploring the effects of space and future careers in science.
And for two all-girl teams-whose projects were selected for integration on NASA's space shuttle Discovery, March 8, 2001-it was an experiment in success.

Over 14 months, these all-girl teams conducted research, developed protocols, formed hypotheses, and observed the results of two original experiments: one involving sugar, the other, textiles.

"The project was a fantastic opportunity for the girls to witness science curriculum in action and connect its application to the real world," says project sponsor Linda Stoll, language arts and science teacher at Waugh Chapel Elementary in Odenton, Maryland.

"The girls took ownership of their experiments," says co-sponsor Jennifer Unger, a fourth grade science teacher who collaborated with media specialist Mitsn Mitchell on the technology component. "It was as motivating for the teachers and parents as it was for the students."

Developed as a joint venture between the Anne Arundel County Public Schools Gifted and Talented Office, the county's science office, and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Space Mission EX-4 is a Maryland-initiated, interdisciplinary program that begins as general exploratory science activities for all county fourth graders. But midway through the unit, classes are broken down into smaller investigative groups, and those students showing advanced aptitude for science are selected for the enrichment program.

"Students self-selected groups by interest, such as botany, physics, medicine, or earth and space science," explains Unger. "Some groups were all boys, some all girls, some mixed gender."

Students worked independently and in small groups to create and conduct scientific trials. They wrote up theories and tracked data in journals. They used a digital camera, scanner, and presentation software to report their findings. And at year's end, some opted to exhibit at a county-wide Space Expo.

Four months later, Stoll and Unger learned that NASA had selected two experiments for inclusion in the space shuttle Discovery mission in March 2001, and that those chosen were created by two different all-girl teams, both from Waugh Elementary. Further, the teams were invited to Wallops Island, Virginia to integrate their experiments into vials and to Florida to witness the Kennedy Space Center launch.

What did the eager young women want to know? Will fibers change shape and size in zero gravity? Will different types of sugar dissolve in the same amount of time after being in space?

Stoll was particularly excited about continuing to help a new generation of young girls develop a love for science.
"I met John Glenn early in my teaching career," says Stoll, "and I remember that in his speech, he gave credit to the women behind the men. The space program has come so far since then. Now we have role models like Barbara Morgan and Christa McAuliffe, and women are giving credit to women."

Funded through a state Department of Education grant, Space Mission EX-4 connects to Maryland's state science curriculum and performance assessment outcomes. Over three years, NASA and county gifted and talented resource teachers have trained teachers in all 78 Anne Arundel County elementary schools in the curriculum.

"Writing in the content area is a big focus," says Stoll. "Students have to record their progress, justify why their experiment should be chosen, and constantly revise for improvement."

And Stoll is quick to point out other skills the girls developed, such as self-confidence, cooperative problem-solving, and achieving success through a long-term commitment.

With the launch date set for Spring 2001, there were plenty of mission-critical tasks to complete. Job One was coordination, especially since half of the girls began attending the new Piney Orchard Elementary in September 2000.
"It was quite a lesson in coordination and collaboration," says Unger, who continued with the project despite her own move to Manor View Elementary. "It took the hard work of everybody working together: students, principals, teachers, GT teachers, parents, and businesses."

Girls met periodically during evening meetings at Waugh Chapel. Teachers started a phone and E-mail tree with NASA. Parents produced a newsletter, initiated fundraisers with area businesses, made flyers, carpooled students to the State House for an awards recognition ceremony, chaperoned the trip, even planned a celebration banquet in Florida.
"Never before have I seen such a level of enthusiasm maintained over such a long time," says Stoll. "It reaffirmed the fact that there's no 'I' in the word 'Teamwork!'"

In May 2001, students, teachers, administrators, and parents assembled to open the test tubes that housed the experiments in space. Student Rachel Pietkiewicz summed it up in scientific fashion: "It was like the whole monarch migration was in my stomach."

Linda Stoll's observation: "It just goes to show that there's no distinction between genders in space." 4
-Michelle Y. Green

For more: Visit www.wff.nasa.gov/~sspp/sem/sem.html.

Dilemma
How do you handle chronic tardiness?

Last year I had a seventh grader who was chronically tardy. Detention didn't work. I started having him call his mom at work every time he was tardy. I figured that if he was going to interrupt my class, he could interrupt his mom at work. She wasn't too happy, but at least she knew how often this was happening. His tardiness didn't end, but it did improve.

Cathie Fenger
Seventh grade language arts
Marshall, Minnesota

At the beginning of each quarter, students in my computer classes create a time card for themselves. Each day, they record their attendance, just as one would at a job. Each class period counts four hours. On Fridays, the information is transferred to a spreadsheet representing a payroll register. Formulas are put into the register to calculate total hours for the week, gross pay, deductions, and net pay. Since part-time workers rarely receive benefits, there's no pay for snow days, vacations, sick days, doctor's appointments.

There's also a deduction of one to four hours for tardiness. At the end of the quarter, students who have earned the most pay receive valuable bonus points. Students quickly learn that being late or absent doesn't pay.

Wanda Samson
Business teacher
Fremont, Nebraska

I've never had a problem with tardies since instituting the singing rule. If you're tardy, you sing a simple song in front of the class. It's amazing to see how fast students run to class. We've had singers from the captain of the football team to a board of education member. I even had to sing once when I was caught up in the hall with another teacher. If you set the rules, you must live by them.

Crissy Lauterbach
History teacher
Kettering, Ohio

I approach chronic tardiness as a family problem and work with parents and the child in a "partner" approach. I record chronic late arrivals and call a conference where I share the data, express my concern, and ask for their help. Many parents aren't aware of how many times their child is late.

I give "I" messages rather than place blame. I detail what we do in the first 30 minutes of school and how that organizational time is important. If there's evidence that the tardiness is negatively impacting grades or learning, I present this as well. As the situation improves, I send notes home expressing the improvement and appreciation for their efforts.

Jan Formisano
Multi-age class, second/third grades
Mercer Island School District, Washington

A student who is late will find my door locked. This leaves the student in the hall for administrators and hall monitors to pick up. It also forces the student to get a pass from other teachers who may be sending them late.

Zeanah Leasure
Science teacher
Hollywood, Florida

To curb tardies, my high school staff created a system based on a graduated set of consequences:
1st occurrence:Teacher writes referral.
2nd: Lunch detention (served within 24 hours).
3rd: Saturday school (served the following Saturday.
4th:"Community" service (after school/in-building chores).
5th: Student suspended for one or more days.
A student's failure to serve any of these consequences automatically results in an acceleration to the next level.

Sherrie McDowell
English teacher
Cheyenne, Wyoming

Got an Answer?
How do you cut a student from a sports team-or any kind of team?

E-mail your answer to dilemma2@ neatoday.nea.org. Or send by regular mail, or fax to 202/822-7206. Please include your name, city, state, and job title. Published respondents will receive an NEA Today mug!

Spelling Test Bingo
My class plays Spelling Test Bingo. I create a blank Bingo board and make copies. Students number the boxes and pick where to write their spelling words.

We exchange papers and correct them. If a word is misspelled, it's rewritten correctly. Then the papers are returned.
I write the spelling words on small pieces of paper, place them in a hat, and pull them out. When a student gets Bingo, he or she must stand up and spell out all the words correctly in order to win a prize.
The class loves this game, and it's great for test review.

Vickie Hugo
Buttonwillow, California

Military Cheer
Just before the holidays, I had students collect and mail generic "Happy Holiday" cards to soldiers. Students signed and wrote a note in the cards but provided no personal information, and we used the school's return address. We then sent a package of cards to "Any Soldier" for the soldier to share with his or her friends. We found the mailing addresses for the Naval fleet on its Web site (www.navy.mil).
Students also took cards to the local VA hospital. It's a great feeling to pass on good cheer to those who protect our freedom.

Christy Goodney
Vancouver, Washington

Updating History
I bypass the argument that specific historical data isn't needed in the everyday workplace by focusing on writing.
I emphasize to students that the knowledge they gain in American history is not simply factual, but broad to help them understand human nature.

I remind students that we are a communication-oriented society. E-mail and faxes need to be written clearly and concisely.
Students report research by using a Power Point presentation or by building a Web page. Through this they learn the information and valuable technological skills.

Mar Van Over
Phoenix, Arizona