The following message was posted to iti@ael.org in response to an invitation for readers
to tell their own stories, based on a problem or opportunity in their own local community. We
thank all who have shared success stories with us and offer this example as testimony to the
power of subscriber-to-subscriber talk. You can be part of a learning community like this if you
subscribe to the discussion list iti@ael.org. Join us soon!
Schools in the Community and the Community of Schools
Marylyn Wentworth writes:
Right now I am involved in starting . . . The New School, which is a high
school located right in town, in a church basement, across the street from the town library and the
town offices. We intend to learn in the community and . . . invite anyone in the community to
join the classes. We are connected to several museums, two
art schools, an estuary research site, a land trust, a historical society, [and] a trolley museum that
restores trolleys. . . . We will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and will never isolate the students . . .
[and] we have 50 adults already in what we call our Community Resource Pool. These adults are
willing to take kids on as apprentices, be mentors for students' independent studies and projects,
or teach something they have a passion for (like astronomy AT NIGHT). A retired college
professor is working with a group of kids to figure out an expedition to Mexico, an electronics
engineer is working with a student to design a Web page for the school. . . . It really isn't that
hard to involve the community if you give them something worthwhile to do. The students will
all function as citizens, not just learn about civics. They will belong to the Conservation
Commission,
join the town recycling committee, work on the town bike trails, maybe even run for town
council. Recently a student and I spoke to the Rotary Club, and they asked us what they would
notice about this new school. Ginny and I said that they could expect to see kids on the street in
the middle of the day and [the kids] wouldn't be truant. . . . Ask them what they are working on,
rather than assume they are doing something wrong. We said we wanted a change of attitude
around town about how kids learn and how adults interact with them and learn with them. They
asked a lot more questions about all that and let us know that this seemed pretty sensible. The
New School students will
present what they are learning to public audiences. Their proficiency will be evaluated by
community people and their community mentors, along with their teachers and parents. They
[will] graduate when . . . they have met the broad goals of the school,
and a committee of townspeople, their mentor, parents, and teachers agree that they are indeed
proficient. They can graduate in two years, five years, in March or July, alone or with friends,
and can plan any kind of celebration they wish. Interestingly, though our school seems quite
unorthodox as schools go, everything we are planning is approved by the state of Maine--in other
words, every high school could be doing just what we are planning. Kids don't have to stay in
school buildings, rotating through seven artificial periods a day to learn, even in ordinary public
schools. I hope that gives some of you ideas as to what is possible. We won't open until
September 2000 so it's all just talk right now. But there are 75 of us--kids, parents, community
people, and educators--who bet it will happen!
Marylyn Wentworth
259 Log Cabin Road
Arundel, ME 04046
Phone: 207-967-4735 or 207-967-2863
Fax: 207-967-2863
e-mail: marylynw@gwi.net
Moderator Douglas S. Fleming responds:
One of the many ways of engaging students in reading, writing, and speaking activities is
to provide opportunities to learn from primary source materials. Combining primary source
materials with questions that require a variety of thinking strategies can produce powerful
learning. The National Archives and Records Administration encourages teachers at all levels to
use documents, photographs, cartoons, posters, maps, artifacts, sound recordings, and motion
picture footage in their classrooms. The National Archives and Records Administration Web site
provide access to primary sources and suggested activities, which include reproducible primary
documents and instructional units correlated to educational standards. An analysis worksheet for
written material (a letter, diary entry, newspaper clipping, patent application, telegram, press
release, advertisement, census form) asks students to fill out a checklist of facts related to the
document. Accuracy and precision are important in research. The sheet also asks students to
think about the document and to respond to the following questions:
- List three things the author said that you think are important.
- Why do you think this document was written?
- What evidence in the document helps you to know why it was written? Quote from the
document.
- List two things the document tells you about life in the United States at the time it was
written.
- Write a question to the author that is left unanswered by the document. These questions
demand interpretation, analysis, and judgment. They promote reflection and connection making.
Want to read the other analysis worksheets?
The National Archives and Records Administration maintains the following Web sites for
educators:
Click on the Document Analysis Worksheets.
http://www.nara.gov/education/classrm.html
http://www.nara.gov/education/teaching/analysis/analysis.html
Click on the worksheet of your choice.
Douglas S. Fleming
P.O. Box 597
Lunenburg, MA 01462
Phone: 978-582-4217
Fax: 978-582-7925
http://www.tiac.net/users/dfleming
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