AUTHENTIC

AUDIENCE

Examples of Coaching in the classroom

Full post @ DrewMcAllister.net

A LOW-STRESS IMPLEMENTATION

Kelly Lautenschlager, West Middle comm arts teacher,asked her students to compose their work using Google Docs. Nothing out of the ordinary here. But what Kelly decided to do next changed the way students approached the assignment: she paired students with peers from other classes she teaches. Kelly created authentic audience for her peer editing process simply by connecting students in one of her classes to students in another.

ANOTHER LOW-STRESS IMPLEMENTATION

Corrie Meyer and Kristin Judd, math teachers at West High, used an animation and presentation tool called Scratch to introduce important elements of mathematical reasoning to geometry students. What’s different about that? Instead of asking students to download and “turn in” their projects, Corrieand Kristin told them to post them online, in a gallery everyone could view (even the “outside” world).

A COLLEGIAL IMPLEMENTATION

Donna Carter, gifted teacher at West Middle, has embarked on a collaborative project with a colleague from another Parkway middle school. Donna's students post their own work to a wiki, a collaboratively created web site, and her colleague's students simply view their peers work and leave comments.

ANOTHER COLLEGIAL IMPLEMENTATION

Two Spanish teachers, Megan Schacht at West Middle and Eileen Rodriguez-Kiser at West High, coordinated a project to promote student participation in upper levels of Spanish. Eileen’s Spanish 5 students did a cumulative performance event that year, as they always did, but this time they did it for a real audience – the 8th graders who would be joining West High the next year. Skype joined the two classrooms quickly and easily.

Skype icon courtesy of YellowIcon

CONNECTING TO THE WORLD

Amy Cohen, science teacher at West High, recently began a collaborative work with another teacher in Mexico, connecting their students around the theme of medical sciences. These students will correspond to one another through ePals while also talking with one another through Skype.

This is an outgrowth of the work Eileen Rodriguez-Kiser has been doing with another colleague at the same school in Mexico. As we pursue authentic audience for our students, we open up opportunities for others!

Skype icon courtesy of YellowIcon