The interactive version of the program broadcasted from Africa has now ended...Please continue to use the Kids & Teachers website resources: lesson plans, photos, videos and stories, etc....

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How to use the program, the Tire Tracks websites, and useful tips and tricks

Overview of the timeline and the planned route

background reading, lessons and ideas on African countries
background reading, lessons and ideas on a variety of Africa related topics
background reading, lessons and ideas on the expedition preparation and expedition related topics
Lesson plans, activities, quizes, background reading, and more
Forum
Contribute a lesson plan
various resources you can use in the classroom
read more about the Tire Tracks program

Meet the team

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HOW TO - HOW TO USE THIS WEBSITE

How to use the Teachers website
  Getting oriented – 4 major areas of website
  Features & Availability
How to use the Kids Website
  Getting oriented
  Features & Availability
Teacher Forums
  How to use the Teachers forums
  How to Sign up for the Forum
Contribute & Share lessons
Using the program
Help
Feedback

HOW TO USE THE TEACHER WEBSITE

Getting oriented
The Teachers website is a website specially-designed to help teachers integrate Tire Tracks content into current classroom practice. The content on the Teachers site will also focus mostly on text so teachers can move through the information quickly. To get started on the Teachers site, understanding 4 key areas will help you navigate around the website and find the tools that you need. Here is a brief description:

1 - Planning & Help tools
• How to guides – How to use the site; How to ? (helpful information other teachers would like to share with you)
• Plan & Route - Access to a calendar and team route to help you plan your class lessons
• Help – Questions and answers to frequently asked teacher questions
•Alerts to what is new – On the Home page, we will keep you posted on what new content is available on the Kids site

2 – Content Available
• Background content – You have access to a wealth of detailed, background information on African Countries, Special Africa topics, Expedition Prep and the Tire Tracks expedition & team. (Note: Teachers toolkit is also available directly in this section for Expedition prep.)
• Live content from the field – Multi-media content (stories, photos, video clips, sound clips) as well as vocabulary that is sent by the Tire Tracks team from the field is available on the Kids site only
• Resources – Web links, books, other valuable resources (maps, blank maps). Many recommended by teachers

3 - Teachers toolkit – Find teaching materials quickly and easily!
 The place to find teacher recommended/created materials (lessons, activities, handouts, tests), resources (web links, books) and ideas (tips & tricks, advice). You can find information that relates to Journey elements (expedition-related themes), African countries, Classroom Subjects, Special Africa topics, Curriculum connections, available Kids website content and Expedition prep topics. (Note: Teachers toolkit for Expedition prep is only available within the page Background content- Expedition prep)

4 - Teacher community
• Participating teachers - Learn about other teachers participating in the program.
• Participating Schools – Learn about other schools participating in the program. This is available on the Kids site, but teachers can submit the class description and photo via a form on the Teachers site, home page, right-hand side bar.
• Teachers Forum – Trade ideas, report on how you used Tire Tracks, ask other teachers for their advice, discuss teaching challenges, and ask the expedition team questions.
• Contribute – An easy way to share and contribute your materials (lessons, activities, quiz, tests), resources (web links, books) and ideas (tips & tricks, advice, discussion topics, how-to guides) that you have specifically developed for the program, or submit what you already have that may be useful for other teachers around the world.

Teachers Website Features & Availability

Planning & Help tools

Features

Explanation

How to Guides

Series of useful How-To-Guides, including:

•  How to use the program and website

•  How to ? – Variety of helpful information that teachers would like to share with others, e.g. How to introduce computer courses, How to create a Tire Tracks club

Schedule, Plan & Route

•  Calendar and planning guide to help you prepare and plan for lessons, e.g. timing of bi-weekly reports, upgrades, etc.

•  Detailed plan, map and route of expedition, e.g. country/city travel schedule, planned events/visits, interviews, etc.

Help

Questions and answers to frequently asked teacher questions.

Alerts to what is new

On the Home page, we will keep you posted on what new content is available on the Kids site.


Content available

Features

Explanation

Background content

Access to a wealth of detailed, background information on African Countries, Special Africa topics, Expedition Prep and the Tire Tracks expedition & team. For more detailed information, go directly below.

Live content from the field

Multi-media content (stories, photos, video clips, sound clips) as well as vocabulary that is sent from by the Tire Tracks team from the field is available on the Kids site only.

Resources

Web links, books, other valuable resources (maps, blank maps). Many recommended by teachers.


Detailed explanations- Background content

Content Available

Explanation

Countries

African country background information.

Special Africa topics (Monthly & Semester-end)

Detailed background information on Africa-related topics. When the team is on the road, certain topics will be featured monthly. There will also be a related semester end project.

Expedition Prep

Detailed background information on expedition preparation and planning topics, and related Teachers Toolkit. Note: Teachers toolkit is available directly in this section.

From Sept-Dec 2005, the Expedition Prep program was active, meaning live content (facts of the day, bi-weekly reports, photos, videos, etc.) were available on the team's preparations and packing. This content is always be available on the Kids site and can be used as teachers see fit.

About Tire Tracks & Team  

Information on the expedition and its team members.

Curriculum connections

Connecting topics in the program to your textbooks and standards. (NOTE: Functionality will be available in later releases.)


Teachers toolkit – How to find teaching materials
The place to find teacher recommended/created materials (lessons, activities, handouts, tests), ideas (tips & tricks, advice), and related content on the Kids site. You can find information that relates to these specified categories:

•  Journey element (expedition-related themes as Nature & Wildlife; Life & Society; Trade, Travel & Economy). See definition of Journey element directly below.
•  African Country
•  Classroom Subject (e.g. geography, math) and sub-subject (e.g. land forms, coordinates).
•  Special Africa topic (e.g. music, dance, HIV/AIDS, etc.)
•  Curriculum connections (not yet active)
•  Expedition prep topics

How to Find Info in the Teacher Tool Kit
For each category, you can find the tools (lessons, handouts, etc.) available on each topic. For example, I want to see what lessons are available to teach geography. I click on Teachers Toolkit- Subjects. I the find the topic Geography and look at the list of lessons, activities, etc. that are available. OR alternatively, I want a lesson related to the Journey element, Nature & Wildlife. I click on Teachers Toolkit-Journey element. I locate the Nature & Wildlife area and scan the lessons available for that topic.

Journey elements
Journey Elements are themes that relate to the Tire Tracks African expedition. We selected to use these as a way to group information into easily digestible, logical chunks, based on the journey. In each country we visit, we want to address each Journey element and as many sub-topics as we can. (e.g. In Travel & Trade, we want to give examples of Communication, economy, transport, etc.)
Another reason to classify information in this way was because we wanted to provide teachers with another way in the Teachers toolkit for teacher to find relevant information. Essentially, it gives teachers another way to view/use the information available.

Teacher community

Features

Explanation

Participating Teachers

Learn about other teachers participating in the program. (See the Forum, Members list)

Participating Schools

Learn about classrooms participating in the program. (on the Kids site)

Teacher's Forum

Trade ideas, report on how you used Tire Tracks, ask other teachers for their advice, discuss teaching challenges, and ask the expedition team questions. More detailed information on what is included in the forums is below.

Contribute

An easy way to share and contribute your materials (lessons, activities, quiz, tests), resources (web links, books) and ideas (tips & tricks, advice, discussion topics, how-to guides) that you have specifically developed for the program, or submit what you already have that may be useful for other teachers. More information on how to do this is below
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HOW YO USE THE KIDS WEBSITE

Getting oriented
The Kids website is a dedicated student website where the exciting, live, multi-media content will be accessible, as well as brief background information. This is a safe website where Kids are free to browse the website at their own pace. The site is primarily targeted at 8-15 year olds. The main purpose of the Kids site is to provide students with information that helps them to:

•  Track the daily adventures of the expedition team by accessing live, multi-media content (stories, photos, videos, sound)
•  Easily gain a brief overview of African Countries, Special Africa topics (e.g. music, dance, HIV/AIDS, etc.), expedition prep topics, participating classrooms, and the Tire Tracks expedition team
•  Find answers to questions and use as Homework help
•  Provide topics that prompt research and investigation by a class or individual
•  To spark debate, discussion and role play activities

Kids Website Features & Availability

Features

Explanation

Facts of the Day

Short daily updates/facts so students can follow the team from day-to-day. Focuses on the team's location and daily experiences (e.g. GPS coordinates, mileage, food, etc.), and exciting facts for the Kids. Delivered daily. Previous Facts of the Day are archived and easily accessible.

Bi-weekly logs

(Prep & planning topics; On the Road Journey themes)

Stories/reports and photos that focus on events occurring in the last 2 weeks. Content addresses at least one topic included in each journey element (expedition themes): Nature & Wildlife; Life & Society; Trade, Travel & Economy. Delivered bi-weekly.

Special Africa topics - Monthly special projects

Africa-related themes, relevant to the location of the team, with special coverage. Relevant multi-media content will be available that helps explain the theme in more detail (music, dance, development, HIV/AIDS, etc. Also may include special encounters, destinations, or current events.)

Special Africa topics - Semester end projects

Specially-selected semester end projects that can be used in the classroom at the end of each 4-month session, related to Africa topics. Selected with help of teachers and students, and encourage sharing information with participating schools.

Photo Journal, Video & Sound Clips

Pictures, videos & sound clips allow students to experience sights, sounds and movement. Delivered bi-weekly.

Participating Schools

Learn about classrooms participating in the program. Each teacher can submit class photos and description of their class via a form on Teachers website, home page, right-side bar.

Vocabulary

Highlights new vocabulary & translations, we learn on our journey. Added as found.

Current Events

Continuous, up-to-date news on what's happening in Africa.

Interactive Student Forums

Safe, moderated bulletin boards on topics related to the program. Over the term, forums will evolve from Team Q&A to bulletin boards available for students to interact with each other.

Country pages

African country background information.

Expedition Prep

Route, team bios, prep info (car, health).

Homework Help

Extensive list of links & resources.
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TEACHER FORUMS

How to use the Teachers forums
The best way to start is to jump right in! Exchanging ideas and thoughts is a key part of this program, helps to forge relationships between each other and improve the quality of the program.

The Teachers forum is a discussion area that allows you to easily interact with other teachers and receive updates on the Tire Tracks program. You can trade ideas, report on how you used Tire Tracks, ask other teachers for their advice, discuss teaching challenges, and ask the expedition team questions. Until the Kids forums open, you can use the Teachers forum to ask the team questions from students. The number of questions to be answered by the team is limited.

To start, sign up for the forum. Once your account is activated, you can browse through the forums and add your thoughts and ideas to any discussion topic. Just jump in! Every comment and question is a good one! Our co-developing teacher team has found the forums very useful and helpful—a good place to go to when you need advice. If you need help, just ask!

How to Sign up for the Forum
1. Select Teacher community, Teachers forum. You will be directed to the forums.
2. In the top, right-hand corner, hit the button REGISTER
3. Fill in the requested information. If you need help, select the FAQ button at the top of the forum. (More help below.)
4. Once your account will be activated by our team, you will be able to enter the forum.

Here are some key areas on the registration page that you may need some help with:

Username: create you own
Password: create your own
Number yrs teachers: Enter the number of years you have been teaching (enter a number)
Student ages: Enter ages of the students you teach
School: Your school's name
Number of students: Enter number of students you teach and/or your typical class size
Website: Your school website
City, State, Country: Enter your location.
Occupation/Role: Enter your teaching role or role at your school
Describe yourself: Introduce yourself to other teachers!
Signature: (Optional) Add a line that always goes under your name when you post something
Notify on new Private Message: Private messages are emails that you receive within the forums.
Always allow BBCode: We recommend YES. This is based on the technical format of your message appears.
Always allow HTML: We recommend YES. This is based on the technical format of your message appears.
Always enable Smilies: These are icons you can use in your messages. If you might want to use these, select Yes.

Need more help? On the forum page, click on the FAQ (on top of the forum page) for more detailed information.

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CONTRIBUTE AND SHARE LESSONS

How to contribute and share your lessons
It is easy! Try submitting one!
We hope you will not only find a program with rich, real and relevant content that helps make subjects come to life, while reinforcing skills taught in the classroom, but also hope that you find a wealth of useful and diverse lessons, helpful tips, and resources on Tire Tracks and other subjects as well. By sharing information, you help to increase the amount of global information available to you. You can either share materials, resources and ideas that you have specifically developed for the program, or submit what you already have, and think would be useful for other teachers.

You can submit information that relates to Journey elements (expedition-related themes as Nature & Wildlife; Life & Society; Trade, Travel & Economy; an African Country or region; Classroom Subject (e.g. geography, math) and sub-subjects (e.g. land forms, coordinates); Special Africa topic (e.g. music, dance, HIV/AIDS, etc.); or Expedition prep topics (vehicle, photography, water, media, etc.). By browsing through the website, you can see what other teachers have contributed.

To share you information, go to the Contribute section. You can submit all kinds of information that will be displayed in the website:

Teaching materials
Contribute lessons, activities, hand-outs, or tests to the program. You can contribute a lesson that is related to any topic in the program. Lessons can be developed for the program but alternatively don't necessarily need to be focused on Africa or Tire Tracks.

Examples of what to contribute: Do you have a lesson on GPS? Navigation? Photography? Solar Power? Water usage/shortages? Map making? Transport in other countries? African art? Desertification? Eco- systems? Climates? Animal habitats? Flags? Apartheid? Poverty?

Resources
Contribute web links, books, maps, specialized content and other resources.

Examples of what to contribute: Do you use a website that you think other teachers in other countries would find useful? Did you read a book to the class that they really enjoyed? Did you write some background information on Africa that your students found useful?

Ideas
Contribute ideas, tips & tricks, advice, related discussion topics and how-to guides.

Examples of what to contribute: Have you ever taught a fun activity (role play, video presentation, that could be used to write another type of lesson)? Do you have a good idea about how introduce Africa into your class, but don’t have time to write the lesson? Do you easily come up with reflective writing topics and want to share a few ideas?

How does it work?
Imagine if every teacher participating in the program contributed one or two of their favorite lessons. If we have 1000 teachers using the program, that would mean you would have access to at least 1000-2000 lessons and great ideas from teachers around the world. So start by sharing 1 lesson, resource or idea that you already have!

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USING THE PROGRAM

As an introduction to the Tire Tracks program, we recommend the following for using the program in your class. Of course, the program is flexible and the information will always be available, so you can select when it fits your class best.

Full detail on this section is included in: Expedition Prep- Introduction Lesson. Below is a brief overview.

1. Teacher pre-program launch (Step-by-step Guide that helps you ensure you are ready for the program)

2. Pre-program launch (or ways to get your students ready for the Introduction lessons)

3. Lesson #1 - Introduction to the Program (activities to use with your students)

In the classroom (no computer access required)

In the computer lab (computer access required)

Suggestions on how to use the Tire Tracks program with your class
Teachers have chosen to use the program in many ways—some for a specific subject for an entire term, others for small groups or clubs. You can follow the program as it unfolds (in its entirety or only for specific lessons relevant to your curriculum) or since the program information is always archived and available, you can choose to use the content when it most relevant for our class.

Teachers have chosen to use the program to enhance a subject currently taught (geography, culture, history, science), use it as a theme for all subjects for one grade, participate in special projects (monthly or term long), use it with a club or group, and/or use the pictures, stories, sounds, videos, etc. in ways they see fit for their students. We also hope that teachers and students can interact on the forums to exchange ideas/lesson plans and ask each other questions.

Have an idea on how to use the program? Tell us about it in the Teachers forums.

Do I need internet access?
Our program is online, although you don't need to have access to the internet each day. Some teachers are going to elect one or two kids that will check the internet on a periodic basis to gather information on the website and then report back to the class (or the teachers check it themselves and report to the class.)

One of the keys of the program is that teachers and students can access the internet at least a few times a month so they can keep posted on what is happening and can view/download pictures, stories, and of course, be able to respond to a few questions on the website. Our current pilot schools range in their accessibility and availability of internet access.

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HELP

How to get help and ask questions
If you have a question, you can do a few things, but it is very important to first check if your question has already been asked:

CHECK FIRST
1. 1st CHECK - On the Teachers website, on the right-hand sidebar, you will see a HELP button. Questions and answers to frequently asked teacher questions are posted here. Check this first.
2. 2nd Check the Teacher forums. Log into the Teacher forums and check the relevant discussion to see if another teacher had the same question.

THEN, ASK
1. Ask a question in the Teachers forums.
2. On the Teachers website, on the right-hand sidebar, you will see a ‘Give us your Feedback button.’ Enter your question on this form.
3. Contact us- If you still have a question, you can email us and we will answer your question.

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FEEDBACK

How your feedback helps us develop the program
We have developed the program to continuously include your feedback and are very open to all kinds of suggestions. Please let us know -- what works for you, what doesn't, what you would change, what you like, what you would add. With your help, we can make this more useful and relevant for you and your students. This is the power of this kind of online program. If you don’t tell us, we can’t make changes that are fit for you.

We will let you know, periodically what feedback we receive and what we do with it to keep the program exciting, relevant and lively.

Where to give us your feedback

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