Becca

What is the Maine Community Heritage Project?

The Maine Community Heritage Project is a year-long process that quickly bonds several generations within certain Maine towns. After the acquisition of the $10,000 MCHP grant (given currently to Bath, Farmington, Hampden, Islesboro, Lubec, New Portland, Presque Isle, and Thomaston) the process that runs from June 08- June 09 can begin. This program brings students and teachers together with other community members in order to log items of historical value, upload artifacts on the MMN, write a blurb about the town’s history, make exhibits online to feature important historical pieces, design a webpage for the MMN specifically for the town, and end the program with a celebration of hard work.

Hannah

• Why should it be used in the classroom
• Why should it NOT be used in the classroom [pedagogical reasons, as well those of administrators and parents]
• What's already in the classroom that can do the same or a similar thing
• What can it do that can't be done with any other tools

The Maine Memory Network (MMN) is a wonderful resource to be used in the classroom because students can freely access it and find actual primary resources for papers and projects. Students can search back in history and retrieve pictures, read and interpret letters, newspaper articles, headstones, Maine maritime history, places of worship, famous Maine people, and so much more.

In a math classroom the MMN is useful for categorizing dates and eras. In physical science, students could look at physical features back in history and then compare it to how that feature looks today. English classrooms can research Maine authors and their works. And finally, history classrooms can just go nuts!

The Maine Memory Network does not necessarily need to be a tool used in math classrooms all the time because not all classrooms have computers with internet capabilities and more math classes are taught with a blackboard, not a computer. A fun Maine history math project would be nice once in a while, though!

The only technology that could start to compare with the MMN would be online museums, but with the Maine Memory Network, students can access so much more information.

Maine Memory Network

Maine Memory

Network

The Maine Memory Network is a statewide digital museum that provides unprecedented access
to over 13,000 historical items from over 180 museums, historical societies, libraries, and other organizations from every corner of Maine.
( http://www.mainememory.net/ )