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Paterson, NJ Teacher Uses Skype to
Challenge and Engage Inner-City Students
 Carlene Anderson, language arts and social studies teacher at Paterson, New Jersey's PS #12, has been an advocate
of engaging her 3rd grade students in real life experiences, including social action projects and interaction with other students through the Chatting Across the USA 
project.
Carlene and Cherrie MacInnes, 3rd grade teacher at Washington Street
School in Brewer, Maine, have worked closely to extend the impact and reach of
the Chatting Across the USA project. A recent professional development trip
brought them to South Dakota , where they were amazed at the lessons to be learned. During an interview with Gary Clanton , Carlene's students were treated to a few footnotes about the Homestead Act of 1862, The Dust Bowl, and The Great Depression of the 1930's.
(These lessons correlated well with two stories being read in the Harcourt Trophies 3rd Grade Reading series, "Leah's Pony" and "Yippee Yay!")
 The social action project entitled "Violence Awareness in Our Own Words" was the focal point of a meeting of the Paterson Public Safety
Coalition that convened at the Mayor's office in Paterson, NJ on January 25, 2011. Carlene was successful in organizing the Mayor, Municipal Council Members,
Paterson Public School Superintendent and School Board President, County Sheriff, Police and Fire Chief, Congressman Pascrell's office, local clergy, Curtis Sliwa and members of the Guardian Angels,
as well as her students -- who attended via Skype! Her students' stories resonated in the hearts of all who were present at the meeting.
 Despite cost savings measures that resulted in the loss of key teaching staff (art, music and world language) as well as the school librarian, Carlene has been able to address these critical needs through a partnership
with William Paterson University (WPU). WPU students have served as tutors to her 3rd graders, creating a
variety of lessons, including: music, archeology, art, world languages, and social action .
Using Skype, these learning opportunities have been shared with
colleagues across America, who are deriving much greater insights into the lives of inner-city
students.
The Top 12 Reasons Why First Lady
Michelle Obama Should Skype With Us!
The students featured in this video are part of a project called "Chatting Across the USA."
The project was created by Cherrie MacInnes a third-grade teacher in Brewer, Maine,
who wanted her students to connect with children in all 50 states.
Mrs. Carlene Anderson (New Jersey),
Mrs. Carmen Stack (Hawaiʻi), Mrs. Sue Ann Clanton (South Dakota), Mrs. Ellen Trzaskowski (Arizona),
and Mrs. Dee Bryant (Maine) have been involved in the project from it's beginning over a year ago.
Their students have video conferenced with each other, with students from other places, and with
important local and national figures such as former First Lady Mrs. Barbara Bush.
Throughout the process of teaching others about their unique
communities the students have experienced a pride in who they are, a joy in learning about others,
and an excitement in using technology to collaborate with students from other states.
The students' current goal is to Skype with First Lady Michelle Obama. Please support us by watching our video and sharing it with your friends!
Chatting Across the USA Goes to Buffalo, SD
Sue Ann Clanton's third-grade class in Buffalo, South Dakota has been using Skype
technology to talk to other third-graders throughout the country,
and, in the process, has talked to former first lady Barbara Bush.
The Skype project started two years ago with Cherrie MacInnes,
a third-grade teacher in Brewer, Maine, who wanted her students to connect with children in all 50 states.
That led to an email message to Sue Ann Clanton, who teaches the 14
third-graders at Harding County Schools in the northwestern corner of South Dakota.
The Harding County students first Skyped with the Maine children
and later with classes in New Jersey, Florida, Idaho and
Hawaii.
Clanton's students, for example, learned from the New
Jersey students that the Underground Railroad was not an actual
rail line but a system used to hide and transport slaves who were
fleeing the South before and during the Civil War.
The urban students have been equally fascinated with the rural
experience of the Harding County children. Of Clanton's 14
third-graders, all but one either live on ranches or have a
connection to area ranches.
On Friday, April 15 Cherrie MacInnes, and her Patterson,
New Jersey counterpart, Carlene Anderson, arrived in Harding
County. They stayed at the Clanton ranch over the weekend, and on
Monday, visited the Buffalo school, the rural school at Ludlow and an
area ranch.
Chatting with Former First Lady, Mrs. Barbara Bush
In a videoconference with the 8- and 9-year-old students in Cherrie MacInnes’ class, Mrs. Barbara Bush
talks about her life in the White House with George H.W. Bush, the 41st president, about the importance of reading, and about her work as a literacy advocate.
The video link-up with the former first la dy is nothing new for MacInnes’ 3rd
grade students at Washington Street School, in Brewer, Maine
. Last year she took her class on a web-based
field trip to Minnesota to “visit” a Brewer student who moved to the Land of 10,000 Lakes. That visit blossomed into
"Chatting Across the USA," a program connecting classrooms all over the nation and world over the Internet.
Last year’s class visited all 50 states
online and included a teleconference with Maine's former Governor, John Baldacci, and his wife Karen. This year’s class has visited 13 states, chatted with U.S. Senator
Susan Collins
in Washington, D.C., and contacted pen pals in Arizona and Belarus, among other online “field trips.”
“You are so great,” Mrs. Bush said after hearing all about the program from the students, each of whom spoke with her while standing in front of a webcam attached to MacInnes’ laptop.
After the 20-minute video meeting was over, her assistant sent the Brewer teacher a note saying, “Mrs. Bush just walked around the office telling everyone about her Skype experience. She loves that you created this whole program and are still actively engaging new realms of the project.”
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This web site is supported by the Perloff Family Foundation.
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