This past week was the first Colonial Williamsburg Electronic Field Trip of the season, "Emissaries of Peace."  The award winning EFTs are made affordable for homeschoolers through Homeschool Buyer's Co-op. For this EFT, my kids were offered a wonderful opportunity to use Skype to be on the air with the live broadcast.

     Monday we read the background history for "Emissaries of Peace."  Set during the French and Indian War, we learned about the British emissary, Lt. Henry Timberlake to the Cherokee Indians.  Timberlake wrote memoirs of his work as an emissary. Today this primary source document is a window to the past of Cherokee life.  After reading and discussing the history,  we watched the video segments, bringing the pages of history to life. 

     Tuesday we went over the activities together, comparing various aspects of Cherokee life and British colonial life in the 18th century. Then the kids played the two activities on their computers. One was about the peace treaty process.  First there was a cool interactive map which showed how Cherokee land dwindled over the years with each successive treaty. Then they went through a sort of timeline of peace treaties, where they got to see Cherokee opinions of the peace treaty.  Next they got to select the terms they would offer for the peace treaty, which would be presented to the King.  If the wrong choices were made, as in not enough concessions, the kids had to renogotiate the treaty. The second activity was an interactive timeline.  The kids got to choose events that they thought caused the Trail of Tears to take place. That was a great higher level thinking activity.

     During these lessons, I told the kids to think of the question they'd like to e-mail to Henry Timberlake. They also did the on-line vote, the results of which are discussed during the live broadcast on Thursdays.  During the live broadcasts, students get to call in questions to ask the actor/interpreters and historians.  Video questions can also be sent ahead of time. Additionally, e-mail questions are sometimes selected. Several of my kids' e-mail questions made the live broadcast last year.

     Late Tuesday afternoon, I received a surprise e-mail from one of the producers of Colonial Williamsburg's EFTs!  She had read my blog entries about how my kids have enjoyed and done activities using the EFTs. Along with the various types of questions answered during the live broadcast, CW wanted to add a new dimension to the program. They wanted to allow schools to do a sort of visual show and tell over the internet for the live broadcast, using Skype.  They had two schools lined up for each broadcast, one for the morning and one for the afternoon. The school for the morning broadcast had canceled. Would we be interested in filling in? The kids could read a poem, share one of the graphic organizers or share anything related to the EFT.  To participate, we would need to download Skype (which is free) and have a webcam and microphone.

     Wow! What an opportunity! I ran out to tell my husband who was planting my mums.  He was talking to our next door neighbors and they could tell I was about to burst with news! I finally exploded with the news as I told my husband we needed a webcam and microphone. He said he'd go out and buy it after dinner as long as I came with him.  So I ran back inside to tell the kids.  

     I called the kids' to hear the e-mail.  They were dubious. "Mom, we don't have time to put something together!  We have less than two days! We haven't even started any activities." I explained that unlike the unit celebrations we usually do for history, they don't have to carry the entire program.  In fact, they probably had only about a two minute slot for their presentation. The producers know this is short notice and would not expect a masterpiece, although we do want to present a good project. They were increasingly nervous. "But Mom, everyone will see us. The EFT airs on PBS. Everyone will see us."  I laughed and said, "Who reads my blog?  I've gotten e-mails from homeschoolers around the world, right?" They admitted I had a good point.

     Then they said they had no idea what to do. No problem. We looked through my binder of the EFT teacher packet. Flipping through the pages, we looked for inspiration. They wanted to do something interesting. After flipping through the packet, I asked them, "What inspired you or interested you the most about this EFT?" My daughter said she thought it interesting that the Cherokee women in the 18th century had political power, when British women did not. Perfect! Then my son said he wanted to do a skit and open it by mentioning that he had seen Cherokee Indians walking down the street.  During the EFT, we learned that some of the Cherokee came to Williamsburg. When we were at Colonial Williamsburg last weekend, for the first time ever we saw Shawnee Indians walking down the street so my son could relate to that part of the EFT.     

     Now we had a plan!  I had to get dinner and then run out to the store to get the webcam with my husband. I told the kids to write up the skit, starting with a key word outline of the main points, while I prepared dinner. At the dinner table, I asked them to bring what they had written. Hmmmm, not much.  "But Mom, we did it exactly how you taught us."  Last year one of the EFTs was "Making History Live," where the kids learned how to put together a first person interpretation, using a worksheet to write down notes from research. They had been using that worksheet and so far had only established their setting and characters for the skit.  I got a pen and told them I'd be their secretary.  Since my son had previously mentioned opening the skit with the Cherokee who were in town, I asked him what he would specifically say for that.  He was stuck for ideas. I had interrupted his sequential flow of thoughts in character development.  My husband suggested, "Did you see the Cherokee Indians walking through town?" That got the ball rolling. I had the kids suggest lines for their parts, I jotted them down and we were done in about five minutes.  My son replied, "Mom, the language is all wrong. You wrote everything in 21st century language when it needs to be in 18th century language." I explained that this is a rough draft.  While Dad and I were at the store shopping for the webcam, he and his sister could edit the skit and put in the 18th century language. Again they used a sheet that came from the EFT "Making History Live" that lists common phrases in the 18th century.

        My husband and I found a webcam with a microphone built in.  Then we went back home, downloaded Skype, and installed the software for the webcam. After everyone went to bed, I typed out the skit, which now had proper 18th century language. The next morning I printed out 3 copies for each of us and highlighted the parts. Then I had the kids practice their parts, while I suggested ideas for voice inflection. I told the kids not to develop any movements, because they would need to sit down for the skit.  After analyzing all the possible locations to set up the Skype, I decided to set the kids at the  dining room table. That was the only table long enough to give them room to sit side by side and for all of our notes to be spread out.

    At 8:30am, the producer called and we traded usernames for Skype.  We set 2pm for rehearsal.  Also she e-mailed release forms for the kids, which I printed and filled out. Then I drove it to a nearby shop who handle faxes. By the time I had returned, CW had listed me as a contact in Skype, which I approved in Skype. (I think, this was all new! My son says I'm not a gadget girl.  I trusted I would figure things out with help during the rehearsal.) 

     At 2pm, CW EFT called us on Skype. I clicked "Answer with video."  We saw the student hosts! They saw us! We heard the crew! They could not hear us! Oh no!  They assured me that is what rehearsal is for. They tried to talk me through what to do and told me to use the chat.  I saw the chat feature before the video phone call, but now that the video of the student hosts was working, I couldn't see the chat.   The crew was extremely nice and patient. They seem to do a good job reading lips, as I talked out the problems that they couldn't hear.  My son started writing notes to show the camera which made them laugh. I clicked all the little tabs at the top but couldn't find chat. Finally I noticed some icons underneath the video in the same color as the background.  I clicked on the one my son thought was a chat, and there was the chat. I typed, "Help!" and they laughed!  Now we could communicate. They had been telling me that our microphone must be set to mute. I typed in that we had a microphone built into the camera and in the settings, it was not set to mute. They told me to open "Preferences." I could not find that anywhere.  I clicked on everything but it was not to be found. I did find "Options" so I clicked on that.  All of the audio settings looked good so I typed that to them. Then I noticed a device that looked unfamiliar. I clicked the little arrow to the right and underneath was listed the device (webcam) my husband and I had purchased the night before.  I selected the one we had purchased and I lost the video and audio of CW. I typed that into the chat, so they called us back.  I answered the call with the video. We saw the student hosts! They saw us! We heard the crew! They heard us!  "Yea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!," my daughter and I cheered. (We should have yelled "Huzzah!")  Everyone laughed. My son told me to calm down.  Oh, it was such a relief to conquer the audio!

     I got up so the kids to take their places.  They were told to wave after their skit. Then they were asked what inspired them to do this topic. That took them by surprise, but my daughter gave an excellent answer. The director told the kids to add that in before the skit. That sort of confused them, so the director suggested that the student hosts could ask after the skit. That became the plan.  The live broadcast would be the next morning at 10am Eastern time.  CW EFT would call us on Skype ten minutes before.  Here they are acting like they did during the rehearsal after CW EFT hung up...

     Later I got an e-mail, suggesting we trim the skit to allot for the question on how the kids were inspired and keep everything to two minutes. We were asked to trim the part my son had wanted to do about Cherokee justice, and keep the focus on Cherokee women's involvement in government. Although I had tried to talk my son into doing this very thing the night before, he insisted on keeping it. When he heard what the producer and director had asked, he was in complete agreement. He had to admit it was difficult to cram so much information into a few sentences. Now the skit flowed much better!

     The next morning the kids put on their costumes. My daughter had been getting increasingly nervous about answering the question about what inspired her, so her answer got more dragged out and confused. I told her to write down her answer and that took care of the nervousness. She kept her answer next to the script to refer to when needed.  

     At ten minutes to ten, CW EFT called us on Skype.  This time all was good except we couldn't see the student hosts.  They hung up and called us again. Now we could see them. Then they put the kids on pause during the beginning of the program. 

     Meanwhile, I had the television on, yet on mute, so it wouldn't interfere with anything.  I stood between the family room and dining room and told the kids what part of the broadcast was playing.  I knew they were going nuts not knowing what was going on.  

      A few minutes before they went on, the crew activated things, except now we couldn't see the hosts anymore.  So they hung up again and called us back. Everything was good now.       

      During the question and answer segment, the new Skype feature was announced and my kids were introduced. They waved as they had been directed. Then the camera went back to the hosts and the actor/interpreters and historian answering a few questions from students phone called, e-mailed or sent via video tape from across the country. Then my kids were introduced to present their skit. After they read their skit about Cherokee women's involvement in government within their tribes in the 18th century, they waved, as they had been directed. Then one of the hosts asked them what inspired them to present this topic.  My kids gave their answer and they were done! As the show moved on to other questions, the crew told my kids good job and reminded us that they were the first ever CW EFT Skypers! That didn't really sink in until he told us.  That was truely an honor!

     After CW EFT hung up, I took their picture...

     Then they watched the rest of the program on television. At the end of the broadcast, the hosts explained that information at the EFT website is available for other EFT subscribers to be future Skypers.  It's a great experience! 

     After the show, I asked the kids if they had any questions to e-mail Henry Timberlake. We had forgotten all about this in all the excitement! They sent the e-mails and got some terrific answers. 

     My kids had an incredible experience being the first ever CW EFT Skypers. They learned a lot about what goes on behind the scenes, working with time constraints and being part of a team. On top of that, it was a thrill to have this opportunity with Colonial Williamsburg, of which we are huge fans! This will be a memory my kids will always carry with them! Thank you for asking us to do this CW EFT!