Abstract
Fifty Six eleventh graders in San Diego created a 246 page guide book on the biodiversity of their intertidal areas as the central project for their Junior year under the auspice of three teachers (in biology, math and humanities). This guide included color photographs, scientific descriptions, maps by early explorers and GIS maps. The guide was sold to a wide audience and gave the students validation of their work and accomplishment. To help create the book they received community assistance in the form of donations and also research grants from area Universities and Foundations. This project was based on the tenets of John Dewey's educational philosophy that supports Real World application and hands-on learning experiences: the applications the students were making contributed to a multi-disciplinary and intracurricular approach which increased student motivation and professionalism. The project was very student-centered with the students have the ability to make choices about what to include, how to write, organize and publish the guide, and also find community resources and create partnerships with outside businesses and service learning opportunities. One important aspect of the project was that students utilized interpersonal communication to get help from each other and the community. Some other activities that have been done across the country include: A history book of photographs and first person accounts in New York, one school required they interview an expert for their final paper in American Studies, students working in an intern or community service work setting. The major tenet of many of these activities is that they get students out of the classroom and into the society at large.
Reflection
This article proved that we can create powerful learning experiences for our students. Steve especially loved the photo journal and first hand account examples because he saw there to be a lot of different and creative choices for students working on projects such as those; he also was drawn toward interviews in that they make learning more relevant and meaningful and thought that the teacher could even compile a list of people in the community for students to use as a starting point in their search. We believe that it does make sense to have smaller learning communities so students interact closely with each other and community members. Megan believes giving students the ability to show their work and discovery bodes better for them in the long run because students can then decide with the teacher if further research is required and ultimately learn much more information than if the teacher were feeding them knowledge to a certain point and then stopping short of something they might have been able to figure out on their own. What makes this activity so much more powerful than most others we have heard about is that it connects community learning and experiential education with content integration and Real World application that redefines each student's understanding as more than just an answer on a test.
Many times people think of school as a separate entity of society apart from everything else: they believe this entity "education" occurs in a classroom and does not interact with the community at large...this is so not true! According to Eileen, these students learned one important idea above all others: education and learning are not limited to the classroom but can be experienced and discovered anywhere at any time, thus creating lifelong learners that benefit from everything they do because they always have their eyes open, ready at the drop of a hat to gain better understanding of the world around them. We agree with the article's premise that this opinion or theory of education, found in too many classrooms and homes across America, is a bad approach to learning that jeopardizes student growth by denying them the ability to gain a rewarding amount of knowledge from their surroundings and community members. In fact, Michael even suggests that not only do the students gain from this interaction which gives them deeper thinking and discovery, but businesses benefit as well by strengthening the innovation and creativity of the future work force that might enter their doors looking for jobs and sometimes even gaining money or sales from their involvement.
Afterword
Still, there are some inclusions of the business world in schools that have actually become detrimental to student learning and have created an environment of discord and distraction in schools across the country: snack and soda machines. If they were healthy, it wouldn't mean much, but unfortunately as we stuff our students up with soda and junk food they stop listening and are more likely to fall asleep in class. So our suggestion is that the business world stay out of the school except to help better the learning experience as it does in the articles numerous examples where we see greater student learning because of it, and leave the nutritional concerns to the Cafeteria workers.
Fifty Six eleventh graders in San Diego created a 246 page guide book on the biodiversity of their intertidal areas as the central project for their Junior year under the auspice of three teachers (in biology, math and humanities). This guide included color photographs, scientific descriptions, maps by early explorers and GIS maps. The guide was sold to a wide audience and gave the students validation of their work and accomplishment. To help create the book they received community assistance in the form of donations and also research grants from area Universities and Foundations. This project was based on the tenets of John Dewey's educational philosophy that supports Real World application and hands-on learning experiences: the applications the students were making contributed to a multi-disciplinary and intracurricular approach which increased student motivation and professionalism. The project was very student-centered with the students have the ability to make choices about what to include, how to write, organize and publish the guide, and also find community resources and create partnerships with outside businesses and service learning opportunities. One important aspect of the project was that students utilized interpersonal communication to get help from each other and the community. Some other activities that have been done across the country include: A history book of photographs and first person accounts in New York, one school required they interview an expert for their final paper in American Studies, students working in an intern or community service work setting. The major tenet of many of these activities is that they get students out of the classroom and into the society at large.
Reflection
This article proved that we can create powerful learning experiences for our students. Steve especially loved the photo journal and first hand account examples because he saw there to be a lot of different and creative choices for students working on projects such as those; he also was drawn toward interviews in that they make learning more relevant and meaningful and thought that the teacher could even compile a list of people in the community for students to use as a starting point in their search. We believe that it does make sense to have smaller learning communities so students interact closely with each other and community members. Megan believes giving students the ability to show their work and discovery bodes better for them in the long run because students can then decide with the teacher if further research is required and ultimately learn much more information than if the teacher were feeding them knowledge to a certain point and then stopping short of something they might have been able to figure out on their own. What makes this activity so much more powerful than most others we have heard about is that it connects community learning and experiential education with content integration and Real World application that redefines each student's understanding as more than just an answer on a test.
Many times people think of school as a separate entity of society apart from everything else: they believe this entity "education" occurs in a classroom and does not interact with the community at large...this is so not true! According to Eileen, these students learned one important idea above all others: education and learning are not limited to the classroom but can be experienced and discovered anywhere at any time, thus creating lifelong learners that benefit from everything they do because they always have their eyes open, ready at the drop of a hat to gain better understanding of the world around them. We agree with the article's premise that this opinion or theory of education, found in too many classrooms and homes across America, is a bad approach to learning that jeopardizes student growth by denying them the ability to gain a rewarding amount of knowledge from their surroundings and community members. In fact, Michael even suggests that not only do the students gain from this interaction which gives them deeper thinking and discovery, but businesses benefit as well by strengthening the innovation and creativity of the future work force that might enter their doors looking for jobs and sometimes even gaining money or sales from their involvement.
Afterword
Still, there are some inclusions of the business world in schools that have actually become detrimental to student learning and have created an environment of discord and distraction in schools across the country: snack and soda machines. If they were healthy, it wouldn't mean much, but unfortunately as we stuff our students up with soda and junk food they stop listening and are more likely to fall asleep in class. So our suggestion is that the business world stay out of the school except to help better the learning experience as it does in the articles numerous examples where we see greater student learning because of it, and leave the nutritional concerns to the Cafeteria workers.
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