|
| |||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| ||||||||
|
|
Ghostwriter PROMOTING LITERACY AND UNDERSTANDING
The key goal of the Ghostwriter Project is to provide children with compelling opportunities to read and write, and the work done by the students supports the state frameworks in reading, writing, and communication for meaning. Both Virginia and Kendall Jenkins-Norton, who became the students' classroom teacher during the project, feel that additional benefits came from the opportunity the students had to bring people who have different backgrounds than they do into their classroom. "THEY ALL LOOK ALIKE" The first time the Bryant and Mendocino kids "met" each other through interactive videoconferencing, they were both surprised by how different each of the classes were. "They all look alike," said the kids from Bryant, while the from Mendocino were amazed to see that there werenít any kids from Bryant who looked as they did. There were other differences and similarities the students discovered as they began to collaborate by videoconferencing and e-mail. Kendall's students noticed that although both schools had lovely gardens tended by the students, the one at Mendocino is surrounded by a large grassy area, while the small playground at Bryant is surrounded by blacktop with small gardens bordering the front of the school. Virginia Davis says the students focused initially on their differences, but soon the similarities became more important. One day when Bryant made a impromptu video call to Mendocino to find Deenaís room empty, the Bryant students were surprised to notice, "Hey, they put their chairs up on top of their tables just like we do!" And Mendocino found Bryant participates in recycling just like they do. Deena Zarlin from Mendocino has stated, "This technology has enabled us to develop close relationships with people in other places that make us feel like we're part of a larger community," and Virginia echoes that statement with "It's brought the world into our classroom. Our students are learning that people are people everywhere, even though they might seem very different at first. All students are learning and we are know learning from one in other." Kendall added that her kids have now learned communication possibilities that they didn't know existed before. Theyíve learned that e-mail is really fast and really effective, and "Now that the kids know they can bring other people into the classroom (using videoconferencing), they think a lot about who they might want to bring into the classroom." COLLABORATION-AN IMMENSE BENEFIT Virginia and Deena both stressed that one really important outcome from the Ghostwriter project was the collaboration between the teachers that came out of the need to develop curriculum with CTW and the need for the teachers to learn how to use the videoconference equipment effectively. Although difficult to put into words, they both seem to feel the sum of their "cascade" of learning was much larger than the parts. All of the teachers involved have changed, to some degree, their approach to teaching as a result of integrating this technology and feel the impact of sharing and collaboration may have been the most important benefit. TECHNOLOGY COMPONENTS
ASSESSMENT
CONTACT Virginia Davis, Technology
Resource Teacher |
|
  Copyright © 1997 Bryant Elementary School, San Francisco Unified School District. All rights reserved. |
In 1995-96, Virginia Davis,
Technology Resource Teacher, and fourth and fifth graders at
Bryant Elementary School, a diverse inner city school,
participated in videoconferencing with Deena Zarlin's fifth
grade students from Mendocino Grammar School, a rural
homogenous town in Mendocino, California as part of the