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Anaheim
Hills News
Orange County Register
Santa Ana, CA
Thursday, September 23, 2004
Rock
Our World
Imperial Elementary School students reaching out to others on six
continents via computer.
By: Story and photos by DIANE REED
Anaheim Hills News
Carol Ann McGuire's
students can see into the future -- and they do so almost every day.
McGuire, who teaches blind and partially sighted children at Imperial
Elementary School in Anaheim Hills, encourages her class to focus on the
future.
"I can't give them sight," she said. "But I can give them
vision."
This year, she has created a global vision for them that challenges the
children to "Rock Our World" with creativity.
McGuire, an Apple Distinguished Teacher, came up with the concept while
attending an Apple summer camp for top teachers.
"It was the most phenomenal experience," she said. "We had
24 hours to come up with our projects. When we presented them, the
international group attending the conference wanted to do something
together."
As a result, 15 Imperial students, six of them visually impaired, are
collaborating with dozens of children in eight other countries to share
personal stories and photos, to compose nine songs, produce two videos per
class and to compile a cookbook.
They have until Nov. 26 to complete their work.
Each song will contain separate instrumental or vocal tracks created by
classes on every continent.
The songs are being produced on Apple computers using Garage Band
software.
The instruments used will be indigenous to the countries in which each
group of children live.
Because McGuire's core students are blind or partially sighted, they will
use their Braille-writers, which make a distinctive thumping sound,
instead of drums on one musical track.
The children's stories, once written, will be illustrated with photos they
have taken.
Finally, their favorite family recipes will be compiled in the cookbook.
Imperial is linked with classes from different parts of the world via an
Apple computer.
The children interact, face-to-face, with the help of iSight cameras.
"I love the idea that the cameras are called iSight," McGuire
said. "It's perfect, because my children are visually impaired."
With the cameras plugged into their computers, the Imperial students can
literally see into the future whether they are sighted or not.
Last Thursday at 2:30 p.m. PDT, McGuire's class was working with students
in Wellington, New Zealand, where it was 9:30 a.m. the next Friday.
"The first time we talked to New Zealand and my kids realized that
they were actually a day ahead of us there," McGuire said. "They
said, 'Wow. We're talking to the future.'"
Sean Landgraf, 11, who is visually impaired, loves that aspect of the
program.
"We get to see the other side of the world in the future and in the
past," he said.
Principal Elena Stoces is equally enthusiastic about the program and the
teacher.
"She is a dynamic educator," Stoces said. "She's very
infectious to the children. She gets them very excited about their work.
She's just one of those kind of teachers that you want your own kids to
have."
Although the project was only launched on Sept. 3, the local children have
already bonded with their foreign friends.
When they heard that there had been an earthquake and tsunami in Japan,
McGuire's students rushed into class, eager to log on to their computer to
see if their Japanese counterparts were safe.
"I didn't have to tell them about the earthquake," McGuire said.
"They told me. That's the essence of this program, to make the world
a little smaller."
Through "Rock Our World," they now have real relationships with
children in Peru, Morocco, Belgium, Japan, Charters Towers, Australia,
Uzbekistan and Wellington.
"I like that we get to meet people from across the world,"
Jessica Schlarbaum, 10, said.
Meeting other children in exotic lands was the most that most of her
children expected from the program until McGuire encouraged them to look
beyond that point.
"I asked my kids what they really wanted from this project," she
said.
After considering the scope of their work, her students looked toward the
future and envisioned the possible results of a project that unites
children around the world.
Then they came up with four goals.
"They want world peace, the Nobel Peace Prize, to meet the President
and to go on Oprah," McGuire said. "I told them that all of
those things are possible. There is really nothing these kids can't do --
now or in the future."
For more on Imperial Elementary School's programs for visually impaired
children, go to http://homepage.mac.com/carolannemcguire/iMovieTheater1.html
or www.apple.com/education/accessibility.
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