Liberty Elementary's Proposal
Proposal for Common Knowledge:Pittsburgh
Second Year Site
Submitted by Liberty International Studies School
Team members..
Eleanor Dubus Karen Kelso Ada Ayala
Susan Johnson Ellen Brosnan Jessica Hays
Carol Hicks Melinda Gigliotti
Summary (5 points)
We at Liberty are excited about the possibilities that the use of
the Internet can bring to our school. Our planning for this project
actually began in 1987, when we realized that the elementary foreign
language magnet program and the "regular" classes at Liberty were existing
within the same walls, yet not, in fact, "together" in the way that we
found to be acceptable. As our school sought to meet the challenge of
becoming an International Studies site, the faculty organized several
committees which worked to bring the two parts of the school into a
cohesive whole, both within the building and, at the same time looking
beyond the school to the community and the world. We considered tapping
our international student population, studying global problems, and
looking at customs/holidays from around the world. Several programs
remain as on-going results of that planning. The following are
representative of that planning:
1 The Three R's program (Respect, Responsibility, and
Reputation) which involves the instilling of
pride and loyalty within the school community.
2. Pairing of upper grade and lower grade classes for
instructional and social assistance and support.
3. The World Wise Schools Program sponsored by the
Peace Corps. Both K. Kelso and S. Johnson, as former
Peace Corps volunteers have enabled the students to
maintain an on-going contact with 3 Peace Corps
volunteers, representing Central and South America and
Africa. We have also engaged in pen pal communications
through our Peace Corps contacts as a part of our Spanish
language classes
4. The Rain Forest Project. Through connections with the
Monteverde Children's Rain Forest Project (an
international project supporting the preserve in Costa
Rica) the students in grades 3, 4, and 5 earn money in
order to purchase land in the Monteverde Preserve.
Through K. Kelso's visits and on-going contact with
the staff in Costa Rica the students have maintained
a personal relationship with the international project.
5. An active Red Cross Club has regular projects which are
connected with the International Red Cross. Liberty has
on several occasions been awarded recognition by the
Red Cross for excellence of participation.
6. The third grade classes have established pen pal contacts
with other schools within the city, and the fourth grade
Spanish classes have maintained pen pal contact
with students in Valencia, Spain.
We later expanded the International Studies concept in order to
address the restructuring challenge of the Pittsburgh Public Schools. We
are now continuing the work begun in 1987, as we prepare our School Action
Plan in 1993. On November 29, during our first meeting to prepare this
proposal, we realized that our planning is really an extension of what we
have been trying to develop (with varying degrees of success) over the
last five years.
Our proposed project is intended to involve the entire school
population. Through our "pairing" program (already in place) the older
students will share and provide support (such as typing, editorial
assistance, reading, etc.) for the younger children. The project will be
multidisciplinary and will cross all curricular lines. This is a plan
which we have attempted to do time and time again, and we hope this
"broadening out" beyond the school walls will help to increase success.
Problem Statement (15 points):
Since Liberty was established as an International Studies School
(replacing the foreign language magnet title) the faculty has been working
at various levels of energy to create the sort of program which is
reflected in our name. That is, we have been attempting, through a
variety of means, to actually become "international" in our scope. We see
the curriculum/network project as a means through which we might achieve
that long sought-after goal. Much of the curriculum planning which we
have undertaken during these past five years has been based on this ideal.
We see the network as a realistic means to actually contact that "world"
which we have been studying within the limitations of our physical space.
One of our basic goals is to move the ideas acquired through the
interpersonal communications of the classroom and the school beyond the
walls into the broader community of the school district, the state, the
country, the world. We believe that internationalization means global
communication and, as such, we see the Internet being used as an
instrument:
1. to gather data (both by teachers and students),
2. to develop personal contacts for further data collection, and
3. to share what we do at Liberty with and to learn from
others.
Recent research shows that students learn more when they are
actively involved in the learning process. This means using
self-questioning and self- monitoring (both metacognitive skills),
cooperative ventures, as well as connected texts. (Pearson and Fielding,
1991). In fact, "...good readers connect and relate ideas to their
previous reading experiences over time." (Hartman and Hartman, 1993, p.
202). While much research is specific to reading and reading
comprehension, it is our belief that reading is central to much of what
happens in schools. Further, "a text does not have to be confined to the
boundaries of printed language..." (Hartman and Hartman, 1993, p.203)
"When text is defined broadly as any unified chunk of meaning, the process
of constructing intertextual ties can be seen more generally as a metaphor
for learning or cognition." (Rowe, 1987, p. 101).
Through the use of multiple texts, including Internet, we seek to
increase students' cooperation and metacognitive skills. We know that
these skills develop more when students' motivation and volition are
high--in other words, we seek to increase their responsibility for
learning and performance. Corno (1992, p. 80) says that this happens when
students have opportunities to pursue interests without formal evaluation;
release their potential for revision; use peers as learning partners; and
observe adults and other children at work in similar situations. She
further asserts that "teachers may provide evaluation-free contexts for
pursuit of interest; open the door for a new attitude toward revision;
set the stage for frequent, constructive peer interaction around student
work; and use participant modeling in any combinations of subjects and at
any grade." (Corno, 1992). We believe that we can expand our use of
these techniques through the projects and communications which involve the
Internet. We seek to expand interpersonal communications in the classroom
and the school beyond the physical walls into the broader community of the
school district, the state, the country, and the world.
Specifically, we would like to address these research questions:
1. In what ways can our international focus be
expanded/developed/deepened through the use
of Internet?
2. How can students become more actively involved in
their learning (and take more responsibility for it)
through Internet?
Evaluation:
The curriculum/network evaluation is intricately connected to the
curriculum evaluation which is a part of a program that is already in
place at Liberty. One of the means which many of us have been developing
is the use of portfolio assessment as a planning tool. We plan to use the
same idea on a broader, school-wide basis in order to evaluate the success
of our network project. The projects and plans which are created on all
levels will be collected in a school-wide portfolio. This evaluation tool
will have a multidimensional use both for the evaluation of the network
project and for the planning for the future. We also see the school
portfolio as a means of communication, both within the school and with the
broader community. It will be our record of the development of the
project. The school portfolio will be kept in the library and will be
used as a basis for our regular team meetings. During the first months of
our network involvement, we anticipate weekly meetings to monitor and
discuss our progress. It will be the responsibility of each team member
to keep the portfolio up-to-date.
The Curriculum Project (30 Points)
We propose the establishment of a communications network which
will enable the faculty to share and develop an international studies
program which will provide links within and beyond the school walls. We
approach the project with a broadened notion of the "story" which
includes, not just that which is usually considered within the word
meaning, but which expands to include the idea of communication of ideas
among community members. In his work, Teaching as Story Telling, Kieran
Egan argues that all learning is more effective when viewed as story
telling and that, "(t)he story...reflects a basic and powerful form in
which we made sense of the world and experience." (Egan, 1986, p. 2).
"The whole point of stories is not 'solutions; or resolutions' but a
broadening and even a heightening of our struggles--with new protagonists
and antagonists introduced, with new sources of concern or apprehension or
hope, as one's mental life accommodates itself to a series of arrivals;
guests who have a way of staying, but not necessarily staying put."
(Coles, 1989, p. 129).
Stories are how we communicate. Stories capture interest--of the
students, teachers, and others with whom we will share our work. We will
use traditional stories, stories that have been written by others, and
stories we will write. Also, as we share what we do and look to learn
more about how others in other cultures live and study at school, we will
be sharing stories of our lives. As such, the project is multidimensional
and reaches all levels of the school population and curriculum.
We the faculty at Liberty seek ways of broadening and enhancing
our own skills in the use of the technology which the curriculum/network
project offers. We believe that by developing our own technological
skills and capabilities we will be more capable of sharing with the
students and the community. Specifically, we see teachers using the
Internet to collect data from numerous world-wide sources. Locally, we
expect to use library catalogues on a regular basis. Bulletin boards will
be read and consulted to see how others approach tasks and projects which
we want to develop and perhaps to share some of what we are doing.
Some of the activities that are already in progress which we see
as being greatly enhanced through the use of the technology(once the
teaching staff has learned its use) are the following: � The Student
Council (composed of representatives of the fourth and fifth grade
homerooms) will communicate via bulletin boards with other student
councils around the city and the nation. Last year Liberty students
participated in a workshop day with other student council members around
the city. We see the network as a continuation of that type of
experience. � The library will be a center for investigative research
based on questions arising from class activities. The librarian will act
as facilitator, and the library will act as the hub for all of the school
network activities. � The Kindergarten and first grade classes (with the
assistance of their fourth and fifth grade paired classes) will expand the
study of daily weather conditions by obtaining information from other
parts of the country and the world. � The Kindergarten will enhance the
interactions available through Weekly Reader Pen Pals or "writing"
partners obtained through network. For example, they may establish a
communication through the network with another school in some other part
of the world. They will then maintain a daily network communication with
that classroom. � The third grade will use the network to share their
diaries of daily experiences with other classes around the city and the
nation. Presently the classes have only been able to share within the
school walls and, on a limited basis, with other schools in the Pittsburgh
district.. � The fourth and fifth grades will make use of the network for
the purpose of getting feedback for their creative writing. Feedback and
peer review are a regular part of the writing workshop format presently
used in the English classes. � The third, fourth, and fifth grade classes
will expand the project involving the Monteverde Children's Rain forest in
Costa Rica. (We are presently in our second year of this project.) � The
science classes will use the communications network for the purpose of
research and to communicate findings within the school and other schools
using the Full Option Science System (Lawrence Hall of Science, University
of California, Berkley) materials for "hands-on" investigations. The
network will facilitate classroom to classroom communication and will
provide the ability to share information gained through class
investigations. In the future it will also provide a resource for gaining
data from sources beyond the school walls. Through our previous
planning we have established penpal connections with a school in Valencia,
Spain A similar contact which we have established with our Peace Corps
volunteers (through the World Wise Schools Program) will be made far more
viable by using the network rather than the regular mail system. Planning
Process (20 points) TIME LINE:
Our first goal, once the school has been connected to the network
will be to address the issues pertinent to its use. These first steps are
all teacher-centered as we believe that we must become totally comfortable
with the process before we involve the students. We project that the
first actual student use of the network will take place during the spring
(May or June) of this academic year. That would be limited to in-house
communications. Some of those processes which we see as immediately
important are:
1. The teachers will become comfortable with the
use of the network resources by sending in-
house communications several times a week.
2. The teachers will learn the etiquette of network
use. ("Netiquette" questions...Who reads what?
Privacy issues re. students and staff, and the accepted
format for messages in order to be able to teach
it to our students.)
3. Each teacher will identify one project (based on
personal interest), establish the problem to
be addressed, and gather data via Internet.
4. Each teacher will create her own personal set of
learning objectives, establishing and defining
needs and areas where special help from the
CK:P technical staff is required.
Eleanor Dubus, the librarian, will maintain and coordinate the
library as a center for information and further program development.
Karen Kelso, fifth grade teacher, will act as the coordinator for the
rain forest projects.
Ada Ayala and Jessica Hays, third grade teachers, will be
responsible for investigation of bulletin boards in order to determine
appropriate ones for use by the students.
Susan Johnson, fourth grade teacher who has recently (November 20)
participated in a workshop entitled "A Window to Realities in Latin America:
Networking via Computers," will take the responsibility for communications,
with a focus on the use of electronic mail.
Carol Hicks, fifth grade language arts teacher, will take
responsibility for implementation of portfolios as a tool for curricular
planning and assessment. .
Ellen Brosnan, science teacher, will coordinate the
science-related projects which will take the in-class experiences beyond
the limitations of the classroom. "Project Monarch Butterfly" is the
project which is in the process of development at the time of this
proposal.
Melinda Gigliotti, kindergarten teacher, will cooperate with the
third grade teachers in investigating appropriate communication links
which will be usable by all students. Furthermore, she will take the
responsibility for daily in- school communications in order to help the
students in the kindergarten and first grades develop a familiarity with
the network. We see this as particularly important for the pre-readers
and the beginning readers as the communications network will help to
develop phonemic and print awareness in a natural setting.
These teachers are committed to the implementation and management of
the program. Once the network has been established we will meet regularly
during E.S.E.P. time and after school in order to share and implement the
learning process.
We will require training in the use of the network on all levels.
Although we have a good idea of what we want, we are novices. Most of us
have some limited knowledge of networking, yet none of us has anything
close to the knowledge that this technology requires. We are assuming
that there will be support and training provided by CK:P staff both during
the remainder of this school year and during this coming summer. Given
that support, we project full student participation focusing on the
projects listed in the Curriculum Project section of this proposal
beginning in the fall of 1994.
As a part of our planning for the Pittsburgh Public Schools'
School Action Plan we are working to involve parents and community members
in planning and activities for the school. Once the teachers have
achieved a level of competence in the use of Internet, it is our intention
to open the experience to participation by interested parents. It is our
hope that our presently active school volunteer program be expanded
through the connections provided by Internet.
Implementation Scenario (10 points)
Generally speaking, the implementation scenario involves the following
time line:
*a thorough training of the teachers during the remainder of this
schoolyear (including gaining basic familiarity with
the network (See Planning Process for details),
*some (limited) involvement (focusing on in-house communications) of
students late spring of this year,
*summer in depth training for the teachers which will provide
support for the personal "need plans" that they will
be developing during the remainder of this school year,
*and an opening of the resources to the students taking place in
the fall of the coming school year.
Personnel (10 points)
The members of the planning committee [Eleanor Dubus (librarian),
Karen Kelso (fifth grade math, social studies, Spanish) Ada Ayala (third
grade math, social studies, language arts, Spanish), Susan Johnson (fourth
grade language arts and Spanish), Ellen Brosnan (Science and math),
Jessica Hays (third grade language arts, science, Spanish) , Carol Hicks
(fifth grade language arts and Spanish), and Melinda Gigliotti
(Kindergarten) ] are firmly committed to continuing the planning,
implementing, and evaluating the activities.
All of the members of the planning committee are experienced
teachers who have demonstrated dedicated commitment to their field of
interest and knowledge. In the creating of this proposal narrative all of
us have worked-- brainstorming, and revising to create a project which we
see as workable, because it is based on what we have already done. Our
conviction in this regard is founded primarily on the fact that we are
building upon that which we are already involved in doing--without the
technological support that Internet can provide.
Generally speaking we see the following "division of labor" as
appropriate for the beginning stages of the program.
*The Science and social studies teachers will focus on
gathering data. In concert with the librarian the science
and social studies teachers will investigate available network
resources
*The fourth and fifth grade language arts teachers will focus
on sharing data. Bulletin boards and other sources available
via Internet will be investigated and plans for sharing established.
*The Kindergarten and the third grade teachers will focus
on establishing links with others through network resources.
These general divisions will enable the teachers to become
comfortable with the type of network usage which seems most applicable to
the class projects which are already in place.
Technical Architecture (10 points)
We will use the 5 Tandy 1000 computers already in the building.
We also have 2 other IBM compatible computers which can be used. We have
monitors and printers, although we are not certain that the dot matrix
printers which we have are suitable. We will require modems and the
telephone lines needed to support the Network.
We would like to see the 7 computers mentioned above linked to the
network through the installation of modems in 7 classrooms. The library,
which will serve as the hub of our own in-house, communications network,
needs a computer with an overhead projector attachment and a printer. It
will be the responsibility of all participants to keep the librarian
up-to-date on projects begun and in progress, as well as maintaining the
school portfolio which will be housed in the library. We will use the
e-mail facility daily in order to maintain in-school communication
regarding activities.
Communication is one of the primary educational outcomes. We see
the network as a means to link the work being done within the classrooms,
on all levels, with available resources. The librarian will be the
intermediary link in cases where questions arise regarding networking
which might require special on-line assistance from CK:P technical staff.
We see this project as a means to enhance and expand our work over
the past several years. Primary in our vision is the unification of the
Spanish magnet with the non-magnet classes. By expanding communications,
we hope to make an international connection for all of our students and
faculty. The project is visualized as an integrated program which will
make use of the electronic data network to enable our students and faculty
to interact on multiple curricular levels with students and faculty beyond
our immediate physical limitations.
APPENDIX B
REFERENCES
Coles, R. (1989). The Call of Stories. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.
Corno, L. (1992). Encouraging students to take responsibility for learning and
performance. Elementary School Journal, 93, (1), 69-83.
Egan, K. (1986). Teaching as Story Telling. Chicago: University of Chicago
Press.
Hartman, D. K. and Hartman, J. (1993). Reading across texts: Expanding the role
of the reader. Reading Teacher, 47, (3), 202-211.
Pearson, P. D. and Fielding, L. (1991). Comprehension instrustion. In R. Barr,
M. Kamil, P. Mosenthal, P. D. Pearson, (eds.), Handbook of Reading
Research, Vol. 2. pp. 815-860, New York: Longman.
Rowe, D. (1987). Literacy learning as an intertextual process.
In J. E. Reademce & R. Scott Baldwin, (eds.) Research in Literacy:
Merging Perspectives. pp. 101-112. New York: National Reading
Conference.