C-SPAN takes Stow Teacher to Nation’s Capital

This summer Stow-Munroe Falls High School teacher Trina Poole spent three days in Washington, D.C., courtesy C-SPAN as part of a national teacher conference sponsored by the cable TV public affairs network.

Poole attended the C-SPAN Classroom’s 2013 Educators’ Conference to learn about how social studies teachers can use C-SPAN’s websites as teaching aids in the classroom.

“Our goal is that after the conference, teachers will return to their communities armed with solid teaching tips, tools and strategies for using C-SPAN’s primary source programming to engage their students in a better understanding of how government works, as well as how to become informed citizens,” said Joanne Wheeler, CSPAN Vice President of Education.

Poole, a 12-year Stow teaching veteran, shared five things about her trip in July to the Nation’s Capital with Stow Patch:

Stow Patch: What did you learn about at the conference?

Trina Poole: “They exposed us to all of the different ways we can use the C-SPAN websites, and they actually have a lot. I didn’t know they have as many as they actually do. They have a complete video library, a Congressional chronicle and a Supreme Court link to use. They really sat us down and showed us how developed their teacher resources are for us to use in the classrooms. They really got us working on the websites and gave us a lot of different ideas on how to incorporate C-SPAN into our classroom.”

Patch: Have you been to D.C. before?

Poole: I take a group of students to D.C. in the spring each year for the Close-Up Program.

Patch: Did you have time to site-see in the Nation’s Capital?

Poole: “I spent most of my time … at the Baltimore Harbor because I had not been there before.”

Patch: What was your favorite part of the trip?

Poole: “It’s good to interact with other teachers to see what they’re doing in their classrooms.”

Patch:  Tell me one of the new teaching methods you hope to use in your classroom this year that you learned at the conference?  

Poole: “They have a video contest that gets students to think about, last year the topic was ‘What’s the No. 1 issue you feel the president needs to address?’ And what the students do is they work with the C-SPAN website to create a video of their own. This year I think the topic is ‘What’s the No. 1 issue Congress needs to address?’ I think I’m going to incorporate that into my classroom.”