TAKING THE CALLSSROOM INTO THE COMMUNITY

TAKING THE CLASSROOM INTO THE COMMUNITY

A Guide Book

By Neal A. Glasgow

Taking the classroom into the real world:

One school’s Approach

               In the approach, the school use technology and their ability to embed traditionally taught information, book content, and process into a problem-based content for classroom activities. This style makes teaching move interesting and motivating for both the teacher and the students than many traditional teaching delivery systems. Teachers use those concerns (e.g. environment) as a form or vehicle for activities become of that topic’s ability to engage students.

           In the approach emphasis is placed on the skill and techniques that clearly and effectively communicate ideas, thoughts and results in authentic, real – world applications. Students gain a new sense of importance for their work because outcomes are shared and critiqued by a wider audience.

          The teachers try to connect the traditional discipline around the thematic units, these creating opportunities to combine teaching and learning activities that meet a number of individual teaching needs and goals. Their goals is to find the connection and applications between discipline and apply them in a realistic and relevant context to problems or themes taken from their community whenever possible.

Mentor project classes:

             These classes have connection to the community and mentors. They maximize the potential for learning in off campus setting and using professionals in many ways. Students engage in working a problem that could not be brought into the classroom.

       Mentors bring a variety of unique educational opportunities that allow students to work in specialized areas on authentic problems that mentors connect schools activities to the real world relevance outside the classroom.

   These experiences are driven and motivated by the individual students and students groups own special interest. Students use a portfolio structure to organize the design, development ,implementations, management, and communicate of their experience.

    Planning is a collaborative effort in successful mentor projects. More than ever, now it includes parents and administrators. Projects are open- ended and offer something for all ability, interest, and motivation levels.

2. CHANGING R0LES FOR TEACHERS.

In the first case, schools have limited funds. But we get that teachers are asked to do more for less. Secondly, teachers engage more students in meaningful academic performance than they did in the past.

 Mentor programs offer a wider range of pathways and opportunities for teachers to meet the needs of their students. These are;

-mentored activities, enhance, and validate existing curricular activities. Once implemented, they can become an integral part of the everyday curriculum.

-Many times students gain a sense of relevance and context for their school work within the mentored project.

-Mentored project activities are open ended in nature and students have the ability, with the collaboration of the mentor and the teacher, to explore and create their own project pathways and explore their personal interests.

-abstract ideas about many occupations become concrete for those experiencing a taste of what they view as a potential career.

-many mentored projects require responsibilities that aid students  in role and behaviour transactions.

-Long term  relationship with mentors offer greater immersion and more meaningful experiences than do job showing, careers days, or guest speakers.

-mentors become community advocates for education and the school.

-relationships with business, industry, and public agencies can provide resources that the school cannot.

-the mentor program model described here is opened, which allows many people, businesses, industries, and pubic agencies to contribute in mutual designed programs within their own comfort zone.

-         the community, much like in sports programs, becomes an active, not a passive, participant in your academic program.

Modifying the teaching paradigm.

Mentored project work takes more work than the organized ‘chapter march’. The project teachers have to be creative, open to people who may know more a bout their subject than they do, and able to think on their feet as unexpected problems come up. The teacher’s role changes from a provider of information to a provider of structure, support, and connections to the resources the mentor and students need. Teachers facilitate and create the vision for the collaboration and the project.

Some roles offered for consideration are;

- Teachers facilitate these  mentored relationships. Teachers will need to consider the mentor-to- student or project ratios. There has to be enough challenge, opportunity, and interest generated to sustain the targeted student group.

-Teachers orchestrate opportunities for student self-direction. Teachers and mentors can put together loose framework for the projects to present to students.

-Teachers act to connect community work with more traditional curricula. A personal balance between project work or mentor interaction and other class activities need to be decided.

-Teachers need to assess, evaluate, and assign grades for mentored work.

-Teachers, accountable to school protocols, need to set a timetable (usually the school’s) for assessment and evaluation.

-The teachers need to consider and budget whatever funds mentors will need for the aspect of the project.

-And finally, teachers will need to rally parents’ support for the enriching experiences their students are having.

3.MENTORING NEW ROLES AND LEARNING OUTCOMES.

Authentic work products become the outcomes of mentored curricula. These outcomes may be very different from most curricular outcomes. One of the basics for planning long term teacher, mentor and student experiences is setting expected outcomes for the collaborations. The following are examples of student outcomes;

-gaining the knowledge, technique, and processes necessary to answer a scientific research question by investigation and then writing a paper.

-creating, developing, and applying a multimedia computer program as an educational tool to teach elementary school students as ‘a salmon in the classroom’ experience.

-writing and publishing an information ,coaching and sports injury manual.

-documenting a research document project with video or presenting the results of research to the authentic audience.

These products are important outcomes for the students, but teacher and mentor educational outcomes are very different. In many cases, hey are not as concrete or easily identified within the project but may be more important than visible outcomes.

-our outcomes involve the creation and orchestration of collaborative pathways of self discovery, exploration and a rewarding educational experience.

-another hidden goal is a collaborative relationship with the students’ personal engagement and buy in.

-we also want to expand the classroom. students will work off-campus and at research sites on weekends and after school when they are truly involved.

-we want students to experience a little of what the mentor’s job demands and become immersed in a related problem or project.

-mentors also bring the nature and flavour of their work to the students by creating opportunities for students to experience the specific career first hand.

(4)     Looking for help: Recruiting Mentor.

Finding mentors:

             Mentors recruitment is an area that inhibits many teachers who are otherwise interested in doing project work. Careful consideration, thought, and planning can alleviate any concern. The key factor in mentor recruitment is flexibility and a willingness to work with what the potential mentors are willing to provide. Look into the curriculum to see where mentoring could fit and enhance learning and teaching. Business and public agencies will attribute professionals in the form of donated hours. Sometimes they will allow the use of the technologies and equipment that school cannot provide. Parents are also interested and asked to sign up if they feel they have something to offer. They are a primary source of contacts.

             The process of recruitment is outlined here:

The first visit:

                      The project program, with examples is presented during the first visit to a potential project mentor organisation or individual. After just the first visit and contact the person with whom you speak about project work usually shares it with others in the organisation or will delegate further discussions to people that might have a greater interest in participation in your program.

The second visit:

 In most cases the visit brings in the potential mentors. Here you define the nature of the program clearly and completely. This includes time commitments and a discussion about what other mentors have done in the past or your personal vision based on your needs. If the discussion go well, they can involve into more specific planning.

     Planning and design:

The next step is to set up another conversation after both sides have had time to reflect on the possibilities. Invite them to your school, share ideas and new possibilities and discuss limitations. If they had gone well to their point, it is time to decide on details. Start with expected outcomes, what you want, your students to know and do at the end of the project. Share these ideas with the mentors, and then create the path to get there.

     The number of mentors with whom you work is up to you. Some projects occur off- site, where at others occur at school. They have options so that students without transportation can participate. 

Liability and insurance issues: 

      Insurance and liability problems can be worked out with your school administration and the mentor agency. If students are to work at facilities and sites with mentors outside the school, each mentor’s organisation may have its own insurance protocols. Plan parents meetings with mentors present. Identify the risks up front, work through them, and mitigate or eliminate them.

In some cases, you have a student or parent who is just not comfortable with an activity, and you will have options available. In some cases half of a group may work off campus and half In campus.

  Credentialing and supervision

   Parents of students in mentor programs sign releases and permission documents. While students are at work, usually no teachers are present and supervision is the responsibility of the manager of the business, who may or may not be present. Liability issue may fall on the participating business or the parents as a condition of the participation.

   Finally, many teachers or instructional aides takes on teaching role under the direct or indirect supervision of teachers and administrators. Interaction with students may occur anywhere in campus, and roles sometimes blur. Library and computer room aides often take a responsibility much like those of teachers.

Credentialed school personnel do not always directly supervise students but do create and supervise student program.

When parents and administrators are familiar with the works or program, many problems or misunderstanding are avoided.

       There is no set formula for recruitment of mentors or the creation of a project excepted for keeping an open mind for opportunities for your students.

Working with individuals who use what you teach in their jobs keep you fresh, current and aware of the skill and abilities that are required in the real world.

(5)     Communicating with the community and the mentors

In actual practice, communicating the community education vision is not always easy. The following approach has worked. The idea is to not only allow participants to work within a teacher’s or school’s vision for involvement but also engage them in a creation and design of it. If I were creating a pamphlet or handout that describes the program it might look something like the following:

     We want your help and invite you to explore, with teachers, potential ways to provide educational experiences to our students beyond the classroom. We are offering you the opportunity and structure to share what you do with the students interested with your field. When the community becomes the school, everyone wins. What if the community got behind academic opportunities the way it gets behind community and school sports? Usually, whole communities get behind extracurricular activities. We all know learning does not begin or end at the classroom door. Most of us learned what we really needed to know once we got into our jobs. Schools gave us the basic and sometimes the interest and motivation to continue into an occupation of our choice. If we were lucky, we had a few people in our lives that believed in us and helped create and support our dreams. Anyone can feel that role not just teachers.

     Acting as a mentor or providing a project has the potential for having a major positive impact on our students. Professionals know, usually better than our teachers what it takes to be a scientist, writer, computer programmer, or video producer. Many businesses and public agencies play a role in shaping and defining the identity of a community by sponsoring sports teams and participating in civic organisation. Communities defined by the quality and caring of its residents.

      We, as teachers want to bring the community into schools in new ways. Mentors and long-term connections and relationship during collaboration projects unify our community’s educational efforts. We want mentors to know what we do, know our students, and know our problems. Together, we create avenues to solutions. We cannot teach unmotivated and disinterested students. Mentors and long-term project connect students to the realities of the work place and knowledge and skills they require. You make our curriculum relevant and alive. Collaboration with mentors creates a more authentic environment for experimentation exploitation and learning that beats a “chapter march” and work sheets every time.

There are many levels in which community agencies businesses and professionals can contribute. You can contribute to local school in the way that will be rewarding for you without interfering with your business or job activities and in some cases will provide you with tangible benefits. We hope you will consider participation and collaboration with teachers, which can begin to inspire creative possibilities that can work for everyone, most importantly for students.

  

What we are looking for:

Educational Methodologies for mentors

We want you to help us build opportunities for students to apply what they learn and experience in the classroom. Creating a safe and structured environment support a high potential for a successful experience. This section should give you an idea of how we do it. We reorganise that a mentor program can be an integral part of a student classroom or school experience. We also recognize that many mentors, although experts in their own fields could be uneasy about the working with teachers and students. Mentored relationships are very unique and may include curriculum and teaching method you may not have experienced. We hope that we can give you a brief idea or recipe for overcoming any reluctance or concerns you have. We want to help structure and implement the project with the greatest chance for student’s success and providing a rewarding experience for you as well.

Things you can count on:

1)    Teachers support In managing and structuring the project, student accountability, parental involvement, and evaluation and final communication of the work.

2)    Collaboration on your timetable.

3)    Parental support, at least for transportation and sometimes more help.

4)    Open-ended opportunities in structuring your project on and off the campus.

There is no minimum or maximum time commitment. Your relationship and contribution are open ended. We have mentors, who communicate with students via email and telephone only, and we have mentors who visit the school or have students go to their work site. The nature of the project Interaction and communication is very flexible.

Communicating with community and Mentors

The idea in this type of education experience, is to foster a collaborative relationship where students take some responsibilities in choosing an area that interest them, and the mentor helps by selecting the problems experience and projects from the real world. The collaboration then plans, structure, implements, modifies and communicates the outcomes of the work. Roles for teachers and mentors are defined. The work can be original or you may know the outcomes, but the students may not need to know that. Teachers wants the students to feel that their work is important to you, and we want them to take ownership and have it become theirs. Ideally we are orchestrating and building paths of exploitation and self-discovery and adding a little mystery for motivation. We want to avoid the “canned labs” lectures and work sheets and instead model how works done in your work place. If we construct our activities well enough, traditional content and process will be needed to solve a project step or problem, thus, the project activity fosters and motivates the students need to know. Then at this point we teach and coach. Knowledge and techniques become important tools to solve interesting and motivating problems. It becomes much easier to teach when students wants to know and want to apply what they know.

In addition to this tool we also want to integrate and connect the curriculum from all major school disciplines. We recognise that most things taught in isolation really work together everywhere else but in school. Please have high expectation for student’s communication math and other skill require in the project. Students may need to be taught the proper protocols appropriate to your area also feel free to help students understand some of the moral or ethical questions that may apply to their project.

Planning sessions with all involved- students, parents, mentors, and the teachers help all the participants to come  to common understanding about the nature of the expectations identity risks, or cover other areas of concern. We try to limit the misunderstandings and problems before they begin. Parents do not remember school being like this. Its new to them teachers will explain to them that we want to simulate real job-site skills, collaboration, cooperation, deadlines, resourcefulness, and so on. This helps them begin to understand our major goals. Students are not used to taking so much responsibilities for their own learning and

teaching in an old system, and we need them to buy in. They have to be taught to learn like this. Most us learn on the job and rarely return to a classroom setting after completing school. The way we, as professionals, learn on the job is similar to the way we want our students to learn.

(6)     IS THE THERE ROOM FOR SOMETHING NEW?

Planning for project, a problem based and theme-based pedagogy is an ongoing activity for us. We use education as a process and as well as a body of knowledge. The teacher’s goals are knowledge, content and sometimes process, but the most important goal is to create enthusiasm, motivation, and interest. These intangibles will      carry students further than hitting every chapter in the book. It is sometimes hard to teach this way, but it is much more rewarding.

Curricular Accountability:

Problem-based learning within projects, like any other teaching and learning methodology or instructional strategy comes under scrutiny from variety of perspectives. All groups and individual within educational communities from students and teachers to parents and administrators have their own scale for assessing and evaluating the validity of teaching. Curricular designers need to be able to justify and provide evidence of the suitability of curricular activities. If teachers are not creating their curricula ,they are bringing it in from other sources. Whether it is produced on site or brought in, it needs to be evaluated for validity. Curricular accountability is at the heart of any validity and effectiveness scale where teaching and learning take place.

         A summary the general curricular features and characteristics of problem-based activities:

1) Teachers are free to build cooperative learning opportunities and offer leadership roles within problems. Multiple   based instrumental strategies can be included within the same problem and mastery can be defined in a number of ways.

2) Special students populations benefit because teachers can customize their opportunities expectations and roles within each problem. There is no one right way to learn here.

3) Flexibility is a key to attribute of this teaching and learning style. Most problems can be modified and adapted while is process.

4) An appropriate balance between teacher direction and self-direction can be built into problems as the student’s experience dictates.

5) Various technologies ranging from computer programs such as word processors and spreadsheets to traditional laboratory equipment can be included that enhance and complement the professional atmosphere that teachers want to foster. A portfolio-based management scheme helps assess and provide evidence of student’s effort and an accomplishment.

7) MANAGING IT ALL: THE PORTFOLIO:

The entire year-long project experience is structured and held together using an instrument or organisational structure called a portfolio. It is advice that gives the project work structure, form and built in accountability. It can be just a file folder filled with information about a student’s project work, or it could be something more.

         The portfolio is the way a student communicates to mentors and teachers. It documents the “process” of doing successful project work. The portfolio becomes the students working directions, guide, timetable, record and the hard evidence that work was done. A portfolio in our context is a self-built structure of guidelines and directions for getting things in an orderly and logical fashion. It helps to keep students on truck so that they do not  get  “lost”. All these put students in control of all their own investigations, research and learning experience. The portfolio also provides mentors and teachers with student accountability for evaluation and assessment. Grading can take place at careful embedded points doing appropriate times throughout the year.

            The structure of the portfolio is separated into three large sections. The major areas are designed and development, implementation and communicate. Each section has its own timetable, requirements, and evaluation or assessment points created collaboratively. This major structure works well for most disciplines and projects.

Design and Development 

This section could be considered the most important portion of the project experience design and development.

 (“D and D”) has the following three parts:

1) Introduction,

                    This part introduces the Students vision of the project and acts as a job description and projection of how the project is expected to go. The students will also need to describe the objectives and goals of the project and make predictions about their expected outcomes.

2) Methods and procedures

                     This is the recipe for doing the work and uses “best guess” specific step-by-step plans for the semester. If you could do the project from the student’s methods and procedures with minimum confusion or questions then he or she is on the right track.

                            Methods and procedures include other skills and equipment the students may need to have or master to move towards complication of a larger goal. If a student needs to learn a computer program before producing a brochure or video production, that intermediate task needs to go into the methods and timetable.

Methods need to reflect concentrate steps to completing necessary tasks within the project.

3) Timetable:

                            The individual students or students group and the collaboration team create the timetable. It should reflect due dates and project products that they expected to produce or complete by those dates, and it clearly defines when you expect results.

B) Implementations

                        This is the time to put conceptual design and development plan into action the conceptual ideas in the design and development are implemented tested refined or modified. Time or task is important. A students timetable for preliminary and intermediate outcomes and the students ability to meet the timetable’s deadlines sign off on their timetable tasks or offer points for the completed tasks at this time.

C) Communication:

                         The communication portion completes and concludes the project. During this period, a student work to complete the project and develops plan to communicate, in a mode appropriate to the project, the successful outcome of his or her work. This would include a written scientific paper seminar, oral presentation, or completed video. It could also include formal authentic presentations to a community group, board of directors or supervisors or other community or business organisations.

                     Communication completes the student’s portfolio its content depends in a specific project. Individual portfolio piece become relics supporting growth understanding and mastery of the overall project process.

8) In Conclusion:                        

       The future of the classroom in the community.

                        The general idea within this program is to give the classroom curriculum validity, relevance and context. Also it seeks to foster or instil a sense of self- motivation and self direction so necessary in huge-achieving active learners.

              The cycle of educational design turns around and recycles old ideas, adds new twists and innovations and applies them to meet the unique needs of today’s learners.

             The bottom here is that the concept of a mentor and community programs is an open handed. More and more grants and finding opportunities that support and facilitate the development of the connections exist than ever before. The opportunities for creative expansions programs and for the creations of new community learning models are open ended and limited only by our imaginations.