Why yes... those are wild animals in my classroom!

Hey all!  Now that I have been in my new job for a bit, I have sooooooo much to share with you.  My job is super fantastic!  I spend my days traveling to schools teaching teachers and students how to use Google Classroom, Green Screen videos, iMovie, podcasting and more!  

My favorite part of the job is bringing kiddos from my fabulous district all around the world with virtual field trips.

I have taken the DEEP dive into virtual field trips.  Some may even call it an obsession but I adore the fact that I can introduce my students to experts and places all over the world.  My favorite experience right now is Wild Safari Live!

OMG!  This is amazing!  Wild Safari Live is a game changer.  It is a live feed of an actual safari from the Djuma Game Reserve in South Africa.  You can watch the live feed every day from 9:30 - 12:30 and 12:00 to 3 am eastern.  You can watch the live feed at http://www.wildsafarilive.com/ or Youtube Live.  On the safari, you have 3 rangers traveling throughout the reserve looking for amazing animals and answering questions from Twitter using #safarilive.

But the excitement does not stop there!  Thanks to an AMAZING educator, Erik Moore who is an Instructional Technology Specialist for Landstown High School in Virginia Beach, Wild Safari Live is a teacher's dream!  Erik worked with Wild Safari Live to save the first hour of the sunset broadcast (the morning broadcast here in North America) for student questions only.  Three schools can sign up daily (Click here if you would like to sign yourself up!) and get to monopolize the questions for the first hour. Teachers submit their questions through the message option in Skype and the absolutely best part about it is they speak directly to the students and post their question and name on the screen!




The kids absolutely freak when they see their names on the screen and love it when the rangers personally talk to them!
I have conducted about 15 safaris so far, from grades 1 - 8, and it has been amazing.  I have seen giraffes, impala, rhinos, elephants, tortoises, lions, cheetahs, hyenas, eagles, and more!  If you are interested in exploring this, check out the following resources!
1) Read a great blog about what Erik Moore has done for us right here!
2) Email Erik at exmooore@vbschools.com for materials and ideas.
3)  Follow Erik on Google Plus at Erik Moore and on Twitter @ITS_LHS_Erik
3) Click here for resources I have put together for the experience!
4)  Here is a great video that describes the safari experience:

Watch this clips to see one of my kiddo's questions being answered.  How cool is this?

Lastly, click here to check out my experiences with Wild Safari and other virtual field trips I'll be discussing in the coming weeks!  As always feel free to contact me at twitter @kwilkinstchr!