I feel that community collaboration can be a wonderful experience for everyone involved. Students have the opportunity to apply what they've learned in the classroom to real life situations. Most of the comments here have been about having people in the community come and speak to students. While I think it's a wonderful opportunity for students to met and interact with professionals and to hear why what we're trying to get them to learn is important, I don't think we can ignore the relevance of collaborative projects.
I think that allowing students to collect their own real world data is invaluable to their understanding of the scientific process. As James mentioned in his post, being able to dissect an owl pellet that you found is even better because you found it yourself. Being able to share the data you collected with other students allows students to feel connected to a larger community beyond their own class or school. Even if it's just to the high school across town, the connections formed help broaden their horizons.
However with any data found on the internet, data will need to be reviewed before used in any larger projects or before students draw conclusions based on it. But the need to review the data found online, can also provide a chance for students to learn about checking data, so perhaps it's not a drawback.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
Collaboration!
What do you think the value of collaboration with the community outside your classroom would be? (feel free to scholar google it and refer to any research too....) Are there any draw backs? What considerations and concerns do you need to address when collaborating with the community?
I don't think there is any argument about the usefulness of real world collaboration. It is an amazingly effective tool for getting students interested because it makes the material real to them. Whether it is a French pen pal in french class or a presentation by a world war II veteran in history, these experiences will really have an impact on the students. I believe strongly that a huge amount of learning takes place outside the classroom and that we need to try our best to incorporate that style or type of learning into the schooling process.
I also think that having students interact with their immediate community, not just the distant "world community", is extremely important because it helps them to establish connections to things that they encounter on a regular basis. Creating these connections helps the students to elaborate on the ideas in class and it enables them to see real applications for their newly learned skills or knowledge. I know that some of my favorite science field trips were just to the local graveyard because there was a family of Great Horned Owls that lived there. We got to watch the chicks grow, learn to fly, and leave the nest. We also got to collect owl pellets and dissect them. If you want to see a group of excited 6th graders, have them dissect something that they have gone out and found in the woods nearby. I will never forget how much I enjoyed that!
Anyways, I am getting off topic. There are so many pros to collaboration in all of its forms that it is sometimes easy to forget that there are concerns to be considered as well. Like I said in my comment, there are situations where collaboration is not helpful and there are situations where it may influence the students negatively. Making sure that you consider the impact and consequences is key to success. Speakers need to be positive, pen pals need to be applicable, and field trips need to be well planned. Any event, presentation, trip, or online project should be viewed or tried in advance.
Collaboration needs to be used in all classrooms, but it also is just a simple resource that has its limits. It should not be over used and it should not be something that is used instead of instruction.
Sorry if I rambled a little bit, but that's what I was thinking =D
I don't think there is any argument about the usefulness of real world collaboration. It is an amazingly effective tool for getting students interested because it makes the material real to them. Whether it is a French pen pal in french class or a presentation by a world war II veteran in history, these experiences will really have an impact on the students. I believe strongly that a huge amount of learning takes place outside the classroom and that we need to try our best to incorporate that style or type of learning into the schooling process.
I also think that having students interact with their immediate community, not just the distant "world community", is extremely important because it helps them to establish connections to things that they encounter on a regular basis. Creating these connections helps the students to elaborate on the ideas in class and it enables them to see real applications for their newly learned skills or knowledge. I know that some of my favorite science field trips were just to the local graveyard because there was a family of Great Horned Owls that lived there. We got to watch the chicks grow, learn to fly, and leave the nest. We also got to collect owl pellets and dissect them. If you want to see a group of excited 6th graders, have them dissect something that they have gone out and found in the woods nearby. I will never forget how much I enjoyed that!
Anyways, I am getting off topic. There are so many pros to collaboration in all of its forms that it is sometimes easy to forget that there are concerns to be considered as well. Like I said in my comment, there are situations where collaboration is not helpful and there are situations where it may influence the students negatively. Making sure that you consider the impact and consequences is key to success. Speakers need to be positive, pen pals need to be applicable, and field trips need to be well planned. Any event, presentation, trip, or online project should be viewed or tried in advance.
Collaboration needs to be used in all classrooms, but it also is just a simple resource that has its limits. It should not be over used and it should not be something that is used instead of instruction.
Sorry if I rambled a little bit, but that's what I was thinking =D
Sunday, March 29, 2009
community
What do you think the value of collaboration with the community outside your classroom would be? (feel free to scholar google it and refer to any research too....) Are there any draw backs? What considerations and concerns do you need to address when collaborating with the community?
I think that collaboration with the community enhances the students knowledge about what the learn in the classroom. It's always great to make connections with the outside world when we are teaching in a classroom. This strategy proves to the students that what we are teaching them can actually be applied. I always hated learning things in school that had nothing to do with my aspirations and dreams. Of course it's important to learn, just to be more knowledgeable, but I believe that students will learn better when connections are made to the real world.
It's not just students getting something out of collaboration with the community, though. I think that when professionals and people in the community connect with the students in a school, it's a chance for them to give back. These connections made within the community help relationships build, and create a network for job searches and internships. Everyone wins!
I would say that the drawback is time. It's obvious that collaboration with the community is a great thing! But people don't really do this, esp teachers, because it takes a great deal of time and effort. Everyone's busy with their own work and lives, so to have to make another commitment is tough. It's hard to match ups schedules, especially for classrooms as big as they are.
Everyone's had experiences with trying to get group members to meet up at the same time. It's extremely difficult!
But then again, the reward is greater...
I think that collaboration with the community enhances the students knowledge about what the learn in the classroom. It's always great to make connections with the outside world when we are teaching in a classroom. This strategy proves to the students that what we are teaching them can actually be applied. I always hated learning things in school that had nothing to do with my aspirations and dreams. Of course it's important to learn, just to be more knowledgeable, but I believe that students will learn better when connections are made to the real world.
It's not just students getting something out of collaboration with the community, though. I think that when professionals and people in the community connect with the students in a school, it's a chance for them to give back. These connections made within the community help relationships build, and create a network for job searches and internships. Everyone wins!
I would say that the drawback is time. It's obvious that collaboration with the community is a great thing! But people don't really do this, esp teachers, because it takes a great deal of time and effort. Everyone's busy with their own work and lives, so to have to make another commitment is tough. It's hard to match ups schedules, especially for classrooms as big as they are.
Everyone's had experiences with trying to get group members to meet up at the same time. It's extremely difficult!
But then again, the reward is greater...
Collaboration
Yahoo, I am the first to answer. :-)
I believe in collaboration of the community. I am a firm believer we learn from others, not always the text book or even our instructor. I can't tell you the number of times where I finally understood a process and the explanation came from a study buddy, not the instructor. I feel by collaborating you can help students see the real world application of a process they are learning about in class. In addition, maybe by collaborating the outside person can explain to the student how to understand the process better. I can still remember a local physician coming in and speaking to my second grade class. He brought a handmade doll. The dolls chest opened up and there inside was the major organs including the heart. Up to that point I had not comprehended the human heart was not a heart shape. But I distinctly remember him showing a heart shape organ. He went on to explain how it was really a different shape in real life. I had finally made the connection! I know this story is a bit goofy, but it is an example of how collaboration works.
One challenge with collaboration is the guest/outside person might not know how much the students really know. It is annoying at any age to have someone talk "above" and about a process the student is not familiar with.
As with any situation, when bringing the real world in, there are potential risks. The first that comes to my mind is saftey. All students need to be safe and so the outside person must be someone who would keep the students safe. In addition, a person who encourages a student to press forward is also a plus. I had a professor in dance that told a close friend of mine "if you really want to dance professionally, leave school and move to New York." Although the advice is true, I don't want my students dropping out of high school to persue work. Just something to keep in mind.
I believe in collaboration of the community. I am a firm believer we learn from others, not always the text book or even our instructor. I can't tell you the number of times where I finally understood a process and the explanation came from a study buddy, not the instructor. I feel by collaborating you can help students see the real world application of a process they are learning about in class. In addition, maybe by collaborating the outside person can explain to the student how to understand the process better. I can still remember a local physician coming in and speaking to my second grade class. He brought a handmade doll. The dolls chest opened up and there inside was the major organs including the heart. Up to that point I had not comprehended the human heart was not a heart shape. But I distinctly remember him showing a heart shape organ. He went on to explain how it was really a different shape in real life. I had finally made the connection! I know this story is a bit goofy, but it is an example of how collaboration works.
One challenge with collaboration is the guest/outside person might not know how much the students really know. It is annoying at any age to have someone talk "above" and about a process the student is not familiar with.
As with any situation, when bringing the real world in, there are potential risks. The first that comes to my mind is saftey. All students need to be safe and so the outside person must be someone who would keep the students safe. In addition, a person who encourages a student to press forward is also a plus. I had a professor in dance that told a close friend of mine "if you really want to dance professionally, leave school and move to New York." Although the advice is true, I don't want my students dropping out of high school to persue work. Just something to keep in mind.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Community and Collaboration
What do you think the value of collaboration with the community outside your classroom would be? (feel free to scholar google it and refer to any research too....) Are there any draw backs? What considerations and concerns do you need to address when collaborating with the community?
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Email Correspondence with students
What type of correspondence is appropriate when dealing with the secondary level students? Would you allow them to IM you? Why or why not? Is it ok if they send you emails that don't really have anything to do with school? Where do you draw the line between being professional and being supportive of their emotional needs?
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