For Teachers
What to Expect
Our live lessons are roughly 45 minutes long and focus on visual storytelling, through formats of guest speaker presentations and virtual field trips. Speakers introduce themselves, share the work they are doing and why it’s important. Along the way, they share their stories, inspirations, research, expeditions, successes, failures, and more. Each live lesson has interactive Kahoot! quizzes and lots of time for some student Q&A action.
Live lessons are announced each month and regularly updated through our Weekly Explorers Brief, released each Sunday evening. Our website and various social media channels (@ebtsoyp), are great ways to stay up to date with the latest Exploring by the Seat of Your Pants action.
We use Streamyard to broadcast our live lessons. There is no need to download any programs to join our live lessons. Classrooms can join us in camera or audio spots, via YouTube live streams, and through recordings of each lesson afterwards. Registration for the lessons is available on the lesson pages on our website.
We specialize in lessons for elementary school students, generally designating our lessons K-3, 4-8, or all All Ages. High school classrooms are always welcome to join live lessons, the visual storytelling employed by the speakers make them accessible to a wide range of students.
If you haven’t already, take a moment and register for our Weekly Explorers Brief and follow us on your favourite social media channels.
We Now Have 4 Ways Your Classroom Can Join the Adventure
Grab a Camera Spot
Your class will appear live on camera and will be able to interact directly with the speaker during the Q&A portion of the lesson. We usually have space for up to 6 classrooms to join in a camera spot for each lesson.
We’ll contact you within 24 hours to confirm your spot, your camera spot isn’t confirmed until you’ve responded to our message. There’s no program to download, although Google Chrome is the best browser to use. Shortly before the lesson, we’ll send you a special link, and all you have to do is follow it to join the live lesson.
Grab an Audio Spot
Your class can join the lesson with your camera turned off, but microphone activated. This is a great option for classrooms that might not have permission to appear on camera.
We’ll contact you within 24 hours to confirm your spot, your audio spot isn’t confirmed until you’ve responded to our message. There’s no program to download, although Google Chrome is the best browser to use. Shortly before the lesson, we’ll send you a special link, and all you have to do is follow it to join the live lesson.
YouTube Live Stream
Join us live on our YouTube channel, there is no limit to the number of classrooms that can join a live lesson this way. Your students can take part in the live Kahoot! quizzes and send in questions using the live chat. We’ll email you the YouTube link for the lesson after you have registered.
YouTube Recordings
Every lesson is recorded to our YouTube channel and available immediately following the live stream. We have a growing library of past lessons that can be used by educators and students at any time.
Visit our: YouTube Channel
FAQ
Our lessons have and always will be free for classrooms everywhere.
All events are listed in Eastern time (Toronto/New York).
Lessons are generally 45 minutes in length. The speaker shares a lesson for the first 15-20 minutes and then the remaining time is a moderated Q&A with the live classrooms. We also have live Kahoot! quizzes during most of the lessons.
We focus on elementary school (K-8), but high school classes are always welcome. Our speakers focus on visual storytelling, using images and video clips to share the story of the work they are doing.
A laptop, Chromebook, or iPad that you can connect to a projector or smartboard will do the trick. You can use a desktop computer as well, but you will need an external camera and microphone.
We use Streamyard, there is nothing classrooms need to download. If you’re joining in a camera or audio spot, you’ll want to use Google Chrome as your browser. If you’re tuning into the live stream or the recording afterwards, it’s through our YouTube channel.
Yes, we’ll send you the link you need to join and you’ll be kept up to date if there are any changes with the lesson.
We’ll reach out to you within 24 hours to confirm your camera or audio spot. If the spots are filled, we’ll add you to a waiting list. We’ll also send the details for joining via the YouTube live stream if a spot doesn’t open up.
Nope, any number of classrooms can tune in live and interact.
Immediately after the live event finishes. You can even join part way through a live lesson and rewind the event back to the beginning.
We email a special link the day before the event. Follow it with Google Chrome 5-10 minutes early and you’ll be brought right into your spot.
Absolutely, reach out to us via eb*****@***il.com and ask for one!
That depends on the policy of your school board/district. Most schools have a blanket media release form that goes home at the beginning of the school year. You may choose to do one at the classroom level as well. For audio spot and tuning in live via YouTube, this doesn’t apply.
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Exploring by the Seat of Your Pants is and always will be free for classroom everywhere.
