z+Facilitator+Emails

Confirmation Letter
Subject: [event name] Confirmation:

Greetings ##PARTICIPANTNAME##,

This confirmation is for the following session:
 * 1) EVENTTITLE##
 * 2) EVENTTIME##
 * 3) EVENTLOCALTIME##

Please read below for technical and teacher information. Technical Contacts (#EQUIPMENTCONTACT##): According to our records, you will be participating with this equipment:

If this is incorrect, please let me know.
 * 1) EQUIPMENTNAME## with IP ##EQUIPMENTIP##

Test Call The test call window for MysteryQuest World Geography is February 5 between 11:00 and 12:00 EST. Your dial in number for the event and test call is: 198.109.240.180##4376 If you have problems during the connection or test call, please call me at (269) 471-7725x1101.

Assist Your Teacher If possible, please help your teacher understand the distance learning room setup and the options available for presentation (document camera, computer hook up, mic locations, etc.). Find out if they need/want computer access during the research portion of the event. Note that it is highly unlikely that People Plus Content / H.239 / DuoVideo will work for this conference.

Connection Day The connection will be open for you to dial in 30 minutes before the start of the program. Please dial in as soon as possible. We aim to have every site connected by 10 minutes before the start of the program.

Teacher Information (##PARTICIPANTNAME##): CRITICAL: If you haven't already done so, please email me with the country your class will present. One way to do this is to have students vote for top choices and submit the top three to me without telling the students the top votes. Then after checking with me, give them the selected country.

Detailed information about this project can be found at: http://mysteryquest.wikispaces.com/ Note especially the Required Clues your students should answer in their presentation as well as the How To guides for preparing visuals.

Video Taped Presentations Please do NOT prepare a taped presentation. Taped presentations are very difficult to understand when sent over compressed video. Please present LIVE!

Video Releases The event may be recorded by Berrien RESA for improvement of the project, as well as illustrations to post on the web for next year's project. In addition, many schools tape the program they participate in. Because of this, please make sure the students who appear on camera have permission from their parents/guardian. (Some schools have a video/photograph release form built into their registration process. Here's a Word file sample you can use. http://www.remc11.k12.mi.us/dl/MysteryQuest/releaseform.doc Please leave the credit at the bottom of the form.)

If you have any questions, you may call me at (269) 471-7725x1101 or email me. Thank you.

Janine Instructional Technology Consultant Berrien RESA (269) 471-7725x1101 janine.lim@berrienresa.org

MysteryQuest Presentation and Test Call Reminders
**MysteryQuest Teachers and Contacts:** A few reminders and items I want to emphasize as you're preparing your presentations!

 **Test Calls**  The test call windows are this week: [date & times here]  The IP is [IP here]. If you can’t do the extension, try just the IP.  I’ll be taking only 3 sites at a time for testing, so if you get a busy signal, try again in a few minutes.  IMPORTANT: If you plan to present with the computer, please be ready to test the computer connection.  If you have trouble during the test or the program, call 269-471-7725x1101.

 **Countries**  If you haven't yet sent me the country you are presenting, please do so as soon as possible. And yes, the city should be in the country! One way to choose is to have students vote for top choices & submit the top three to me without telling the students the top votes. Then after checking with me, give them the selected country. We do this to make sure there are no duplicate presentations.

 **Selecting Your City**  The city should not be the capital city, as one of the required clues is to indicate the direction from the capital of the country to the mystery city.

 **Clearly Present Clues**  Remember that the goal of your presentation is to clearly communicate the clues to the other classes, not to confuse them so they can't guess. Here are some ways we highly recommend:

 *Avoid taped presentations, as the quality of the tape gets degraded when sent over videoconferencing. Plus students will be better prepared to answer questions if their presentation is fresh in their mind.

 *Prepare visuals to reinforce proper names and figures that are important to locating your city & country. Visuals for clues can be a "life saver" if we have technical difficulties or audio problems. Use this worksheet to assist your students in making clear posters or PPT slides: <span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> http://mysteryquest.wikispaces.com/file/view/PosterHandout.pdf

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> *If you are presenting the clues out of order, be sure to identify the sections the clues are coming from so that note takers can easily write down the information in the right place. Keep the country & city clues together as those are two different side of the note taking sheet.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> *Have students practice speaking slowly, loudly, and clearly! Practice those communication skills!

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> *Have students read clues off notecards instead of paper so that we don't have the noise of paper rustling.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> **Double Check your Clues** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> Check to make sure you are presenting all the required clues and the correct number from each section: <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> __[|http://mysteryquest.wikispaces.com/Required+Clues]__

Double check your visuals and make sure what the other class should write down is the LARGEST.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> **Revealing the Answer** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> Please prepare a visual for revealing the city & country you presented. This will make it easier to understand unfamiliar names of cities and students will know easily whether or not they were correct.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> **Relax!** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> I know it can be crazy getting prepared and ready for this event, but relax! Enjoy the process. It should be fun for everyone involved and a great learning experience too!

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> As always, you can email me or call (269) 471-7725x1101 if you have any questions or want to discuss your presentation or the event.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 12px;">Janine

MysteryQuest Countdown (sent Friday before event)
Subject: MsyteryQuest [area of world] [date & time] <span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 12px;">Greetings MysteryQuest Teachers & Contacts!

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 12px;">Just a few more days til our MysteryQuest event! In anticipation of that, here are a few notes for: <span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> [date]: [start & end time in all represented time zones]

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> **Number of Groups** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> We have [xxx] classes participating, so you should divide your <span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> students into [xxx] groups for researching the other presentations.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> **Connections** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> Please connect at least 15 minutes early so we can start on time. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> IP: [connection info here] <span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> If you have trouble, call me at 269-471-7725x1101.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> **Order of Presentations** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> Classes are assigned a number by when they sign up. The assigned <span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> order is: <span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> Classroom 1 Teacher: <span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> Classroom 2 Teacher: <span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> Classroom 3 Teacher: <span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> Classroom 4 Teacher:

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> **Things to Bring** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> *All materials needed for your presentation. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> *Research notes from the presentation in case another school has specific questions about your country or city. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> *Any print materials for students to use in their research (books, maps, globes, etc.). <span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> *If desired, arrange for the use of computers/Internet connection during the 30-40 min. research portion of the event. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> *Copies of the note taking form. <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> __http://mysteryquest.wikispaces.com/file/view/MysteryQuesthandout.doc__

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> **Note Taking** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> You may want to make enough copies of the note taking form so that all kids take notes on all presentations. This will help keep them involved, give them practice taking notes, and groups could help each other during in the research process if needed.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> **Computers** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> If you are using computers for this event, please do the following: <span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> 1. Do not allow students to use them during the note-taking. They should be practicing taking notes and being a good listening audience. Remember it's possible you are the school the presenting school is looking at when they present. So be an attentive audience!

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> 2. During the research portion, only use computers as a last resort. This event is about map skills, group skills, research skills. Some clues could give the answer quickly in Google and we'd rather have students really work to use maps etc. to <span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> discover the answer.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> I'm excited about this wonderful learning opportunity for our students and look forward to a great event!

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 12px;"> Janine

Post Project / Evaluation Reminder
Greetings,

Thank you for participating in the MysteryQuest World videoconference.

Please take a moment to fill out this evaluation form so we can continue to improve the program: http://mysteryquest.wikispaces.com/VC+Evaluation

Thank you! Hope you can participate again next year!

Janine Lim janine.lim@berrienresa.org