We considered questions such as: What did they learn about their pen pal or their state from the previous letters? What do they hope their pen pal will write about in the next letter? We established five small group sessions with set amounts of time. Teachers kept the class occupied in a lab while the smaller groups congregated around a computer in a separate room. The management of this activity was discussed and planned ahead of time with the decision to model a structured conversation deliberately related to Common Core standards. Each class enjoyed watching each other hear ideas and evidence pulled from past letters and visually seeing each other respond to questions comparing culture and geography. Our follow up chat would give students three minutes to converse with a pen pal.
Our first chat gave students an opportunity to see the face of their pen pal. Last week Flatdaddy and I facilitated a follow up session with the classroom to classroom Skype between New Mexico and Vermont. It has served to distract us from tragedy and gives assurances that schools are a safe place for engaging, meaningful dialogue. A recent pen pal project entered a second phase of practice with letter writing and Skype. In this time when school securities are threatened by unmitigated attacks, technology in education serves to open campuses between distant communities.
Read Part I "Assessments: Upgrading the Age Old Practice of Letter Writing" here.
Teacher Branding 101:Teachers are The Experts.Practicing Self-Care to Avoid Teacher Burnout- An 8 Week Course.
0 kommentar(er)
