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LIFE IN THE FISHBOWL
Lupe Guerrero teaches
fourth and fifth grade at Bryant
Elementary in San
Francisco. Lupe partnered with Deena Zarlin,
another fourth grade teacher in Mendocino for the
purpose of sharing Spanish language activities via
videoconferencing. The students received so much
benefit from the relationship that Lupe and Deena
made a decision to keep the videoconferencing unit
on during other parts of the school day, and "life
in the fishbowl," as they named it, was
born.
Lupe feels that the
combination of videoconferencing, e-mail, and
related Internet research has provided a good
foundation for his students to get comfortable
using telecommunications. Sharing what they know
and what they are learning with their counterparts
in Mendocino has reinforced the students' pride in
themselves and has proven to be a great motivator
for the acquisition of additional language skills.
It has also begun to build a sense of community
between the two classrooms as they discover the
differences and similarities in personal interests,
culture, and academics between the two
populations.
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"We're not just in Room Ten;
we're also in another classroom.
It's been really valuable because
it's an important motivation
for my students to really want
to express themselves in English effectively."
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