GIS Day and the Scavanger Hunt

We were asked to participate in a scavanger hunt for GIS day - We had to provide questions for the kids to find the answers to - My questions were - Find Ma America. Who is she? What does she do? The kids had to find my table and then ask the questions and interact with me or read my signage to get who I am and what I do sort of - Author wasn't all it was - they had to tell what kind of books I wrote as well. Anyway - to reward them for finding me, I gave them all a bookmark (my printed series bookmarks) and their choice of an Idaho pin (the little potato pins I received when I first started the series) or a Minnesota bookmark. Most chose the Idaho pin, but a few did select the bookmark.

I must have talked to 100 kids and teachers throughout the day; they ranged in groups from 3rd grade to high school seniors. Plus, I had a few adults just come to my table and show a serious interest in my books. The biggest problem I have with sales right now is that I have a Square (to take credit cards) but no device to use the Square with (need an ipod touch, ipad, iphone, smartphone, or any other device that can download the app for the Square, which I can't afford right now). I'm guess if I had had the ability to take credit cards today I would have probably sold several copies of books. I do hope that the folks who showed an interest will place their orders tonight or tomorrow morning so I can put their books in the mail before heading to Savannah tomorrow. I really need some book sales tonight to help fund the trip to Savannah - what with taking a $31.70 loss today (had to pay for parking - $16, had to purchase some snacks - $2.75; had to purchase a late lunch/early dinner on my way home - $6.55; and had to put some gas in the van before getting home - $20; and only selling 13 bookworms - $10.50) - hurts big time.

I'm glad for the opportunity to get my name out there and hope in the future that things work out like they should so I'm not stressed out about upcoming events and how to pay for them. I hope to do GIS day again next year - we shall see - Ma America & the JGDS - :)

Geography Awareness Week - GIS Day 2011

Today, I'm in Charlotte doing presentations to teachers and students to help bring the JGDS series and geography awareness together. If you are in the Charlotte, NC area stop by and say hello. For more information, check out the GIS Day page.

Geography Awareness Week

Today is the official start of GAweek - the theme this year is "adventure in your community." What are you doing around your community to become more aware of the geography around you? Are you exploring? Taking any of the challenges I've posted? Joined any geography type groups?

This week, Ma America & the JGDS will be exploring the geography of other areas, outside of the immediate community. Wednesday, they will be traveling to Charlotte, NC, for GIS day (posting to follow on GIS day on Wednesday). The word is that there will be about 200 to 300 students participating in the activities for GIS Day; we can only hope to have a few of those teachers buy a couple of books and bookworms throughout the day. Thursday, we are heading to Savannah for the Children's Book Festival and there are several other authors Ms. Elysabeth had recommended who will be there, some old acquaintances and some new ones. Ma America will make an appearance at Largo-Tibet Elementary School and will do a reading of her book, Train of Clues, to seven, yes you read the correctly, seven 3rd grade classes. The group will be split into two groups so as not to be overwhelming all at once. If regular work isn't too overwhelming after the school visit, Ma America is hoping to be able to explore Savannah a bit as this will be her third year there and she has yet to do any sightseeing.

So, what adventure is going on in your community for GAweek? How about telling us about some of them here - see you all in the postings - Ma America & the JGDS :)

Geography Awareness Week press release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JGDS BOOKS TO CELEBRATE GEOGRAPHY AWARENESS WEEK
BY DIVING INTO ‘COMMUNITY ADVENTURES’ WITH NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

HONEA PATH (October 13, 2011)—(SC) will participate in several community activities as well as online activities as part of Geography Awareness Week, Nov. 13-19. “Geography: The Adventure in Your Community” is the theme of Geography Awareness Week 2011, which is supported by National Geographic and partner organizations. This year’s sponsor is the Geo-literacy Coalition Founding Council, composed of the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation, CH2M HILL, Esri and the National Geographic Society.

Established by presidential proclamation in 1987, Geography Awareness Week is an annual public awareness program organized by National Geographic Education Programs that encourages citizens young and old to engage in fun, educational experiences that draw attention to geo-literacy, the interconnectedness of our world and the importance of geography education.

“This year’s theme explores the idea of community geography and promotes geo-literacy by showing one can discover a nearly unlimited amount of new and amazing things, right in one’s own backyard, just by using geographic skills and perspectives,” said Danny Edelson, National Geographic’s vice president for education.

The Geography Awareness Week Web page hosted on National Geographic Education Programs’ new award-winning website offers access to activities, lesson plans, games and more, relating to community geography. The site features contributions from National Geographic and partner organizations such as Newspapers in Education, World Savvy and National Council for Geographic Education. Educators and parents will find valuable lists of recommended books, videos, geographer profiles and family-friendly games. The website also features opportunities to join nearly 100,000 geography supporters in promoting geo-literacy. Resources are provided on how to host a local Geography Awareness Week event, such as a community festival or a Geography Trivia Night.

Site visitors also can read and contribute to a Geography Awareness Week Blog-a-Thon, updated multiple times daily with commentary and multimedia features.

A link to National Geographic’s Global Action Atlas offers connections to people and organizations that are improving their local areas through community-based projects. Another link, to Speak Up for Geography, invites visitors to write to their senators and representatives to request federal funding for geography education.

To celebrate Geography Awareness Week, National Geographic is partnering with the U.K.-based nonprofit organization The Geography Collective, a group of geography teachers, academics and activists who are encouraging young people to see the world in new ways. Through the group’s customized Geography Awareness Week website, kids of all ages will find home- or community-based activities to explore how photography, storytelling, mapping and taking action can open new worlds. By completing a series of “missions,” individuals or teams can earn badges in each of these categories. Earning all four badges will show they are able to see their community and the rest of the world with deeper understanding.

Additionally, during Geography Awareness Week, grassroots organizers around the country will host events, workshops and contests at local schools and community centers.

The National Geographic Society is one of the world’s largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations. Founded in 1888 to “increase and diffuse geographic knowledge,” the Society works to inspire people to care about the planet. It reaches more than 400 million people worldwide each month through its official journal, National Geographic, and other magazines; National Geographic Channel; television documentaries; music; radio; films; books; DVDs; maps; exhibitions; live events; school publishing programs; interactive media; and merchandise. National Geographic has funded more than 9,600 scientific research, conservation and exploration projects and supports an education program promoting geographic literacy. For more information, visit National Geographic.

Love to Learn conference and NC Technology Expo GIS day

The Love to Learn conference was held yesterday at CPCC's Overcash Building as it had been for the previous two years. This was my third year participating, and the crowd seemed a bit bigger this year. It also seemed we had fewer vendors this year than last and more informational type exhibitors than folks selling curriculum related items (just how it seemed to me). Even though the attendee numbers seemed to be a bit more than last year, the feeling was that there were many first time homeschoolers, about to embark on the homeschooling adventure and those kind of thinking about homeschooling. I was a bit disappointed in my workshop attendance as there were plenty of kids there but I had only two kids show up for my drawing workshop and one for my writing workshop. This was in part due to a little miscommunication in the wording from the online description of my workshop and the printed schedule where there was no description - just the workshop title. I had a couple of parents thinking the workshop was geared to giving them direction on how to get their boys interested in writing. So I'm thinking for my workshops to be effective, I need to go back to doing games at the table and offering prizes there and doing workshops for the parents. Now that I'm developing a workshop for teachers and librarians, it shouldn't be a problem to do a workshop for parents on writing and getting the kids interested in writing. If I do any homeschool conferences next year, this will be what my workshops will be geared towards, instead of the kids, since this type of workshop is not netting me sales. It was a long day but I did make some good connections.

I know you are thinking "What does the NC Technology Expo GIS Day have to do with a homeschool conference?", and it's simple. Thursday afternoon while I was registering my youngest son for school, I received an email from a Mr. Paul Martin from the Meckelenburg County government offices. He stated he came across my books and was trying to think of a way to bring me up to participate in their Geography Awareness activity on November 16th (GIS Day). I invited him to come observe my workshop and he showed up. We chatted a good bit, he checked out the books and feels that I can offer something to the teachers and parents and students who attend GIS Day. Geography Awareness week falls November 13th through the 19th this year, that Wednesday falls right before I would leave for the Savannah Children's Book Festival but it should be a doable and relatively lucrative day. The only problem I have at this moment for being able to get to Charlotte on the 16th of November is transportation. With my daughter starting college on the 24th of this month and her class schedule being on campus Monday through Thursday, I'm pretty much carless during the day (from the time I drop my son off at school and return home for her to head out until she returns right before school is out for Benjamin), but he did say that there was the possibility of them offering me a stipend to get a rental car for the event. So looks like one more event has been added to my busy calendar, but I'm very excited for this new adventure. Stay tuned for more information as the time draws closer. - Ma America & The JGDS :)