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proposal.html
A PROPOSAL SUBMITTED TO
COMMON KNOWLEDGE: PITTSBURGH
FOR FOURTH YEAR SITE
SUBMITTED BY PERRY TRADITIONAL ACADEMY
KAREN FRONZAGLIO
KATHY GENSURE
GLENN PONAS
MELODY SNYDER
ISABEL VALDIVIA
ELLEN WRIGHT
INTRODUCTION
Perry Traditional Academy is a comprehensive magnet high school located on the northern
perimeter of the Pittsburgh School District. The student population is about 1,000;
we draw students from neighborhoods across the city. We are a traditional academy and a math and science magnet. Each year, a large percentage of our students go
on to post-secondary education that ranges from business school to community college
to prestigious colleges and universities. The need for our students to leave Perry
Traditional Academy technically literate is very important to them, to their parents, and
to the staff. As a faculty, we wish to assure that we have provided our students
with the skills and experience in the use of resources and emerging technologies
that they need to make a successful transition to the next educational level.
PART I: THE CURRICULUM PROJECT
PROBLEM STATEMENT
In keeping with current educational reform goals, Perry Traditional Academy seeks
to enhance the communications skills of its students. The communication of which
we speak is not merely communication between students in contrived situations in
the classroom. We seek to break down the walls of the school, and to extend students' curricular
experience to the local and global community. To that end, a group of Perry teachers
has developed activities that will enable students to enter into continuing dialogue with authentic audiences in relevant problem-solving situations. These activities
are based on the premise that real learning happens when students challenge their
own and others' thinking. Authentic audiences enhance learning because all the interactions and negotiations, both spoken and written, that go into dialogue occur in relevant
situations with real people.
The learning problem facing Perry students is two-fold. First, our students have
little access to sources for authentic communication beyond the school walls. While
teachers have attempted to facilitate dialogue between students within the school,
such dialogues quickly lose their effectiveness because the students do not view them as
relevant. Previous attempts at linking students with authentic audiences have proven
difficult to build and maintain because we do not have a quick, reliable, effective,
and inexpensive means of communicating with people beyond the school environment.
A second learning problem is that our students have very limited access to and training
in the use of current technology. Upon leaving high school, students will be expected
to attain a level of expertise not only in personal computing but also in using the Internet as a resource for communication and information retrieval. While Perry
students are fortunate to have access to a large number of individual computer workstations,
their current access to the Internet is minimal--a single modem-equipped workstation in the school library. Increased access within the school to the Internet
is critical to reaching our goal of a technologically literate student body.
By developing a comprehensive curriculum and network project, we hope to address these
two problems. We understand that access to the Internet, by itself, will not solve
these problems. We seek to establish a small, dedicated collaborative of teachers
who are willing to X-Spand their existing curriculum and instruction to take advantage
of the communication and information available through the Internet.
CURRICULUM ACTIVITY
Participating teachers have selected small groups of students from three content areas:
foreign languages, science, and mathematics. We have developed curriculum activities
that focus on collaboration--building a community of learners that goes beyond the structure of the building. This community will not be based on physical proximity,
but on a common thread of intellect, curiosity, and learning. These activities complement
the existing curricula by adding the communications capabilities of the Internet--electronic mail, chat, listserve, and bulletin boards--in order to X-Spand the
students' opportunities for authentic communication in the local community and beyond.
Foreign Languages
The target population for foreign languages will total approximately 35 students in
Japanese II and Spanish II. The goal of the foreign languages component is to create
a real language environment in which exchanges are meaningful, natural, and personalized. Accordingly, we plan to implement the following activities:
Both Japanese and Spanish students will engage in spontaneous, real-time written conversations
via Internet Chat with native speakers. This activity provides students with the
opportunity to engage in authentic communication and to practice in a realistic setting the skills that they have drilled and learned in the classroom setting.
Japanese and Spanish students will enter into on-going electronic mail correspondence
with native speakers as well as with other students of the target language.
Japanese students will use a listserve (Gakusei-L on Listproc@uhunix.uhcc.hawaii.edu)
as a way of reading and translating messages from large numbers of native Japanese
speakers on a variety of topics. It also will provide students with the opportunity
to compose and post messages to the listserve on topics of their choice. Japanese students
will be able to utilize the Japanese support system on Netscape to access newspapers,
magazines, and other on-line services such as: Japan Links, Japan Yellow Pages, Asahi, and Mainichi Shinbun.
Mathematics
One section (approximately 30 students) of regular geometry will serve as the target
population for the mathematics component of the project. The goals of the geometry
component are 1) to provide students with opportunities to share their solutions
to geometry problems with students and faculty throughout the Internet, and 2) to use
the Internet for researching topics associated with applied geometry. Consistent
with these goals are the following activities:
The students will access the Geometry Forum (http://www.forum.swarthmore.edu) weekly
to download and post their solutions to the Forum's Problem of the Week and Project
of the Month. Geometry teachers download these problems as a routine component of
their classroom instruction. The Internet will afford students the opportunity to use
the Forum to display and compare solutions to geometry problems, and to engage in
discussion with other students of geometry, graduate students in mathematics and
in education, and faculty members of high schools and colleges.
Students will research the topic of applying geometry in the real world. The end
result of their research will be a student-created homepage on the World Wide Web
that will act as a pointer to locations on the Internet related to applications of
geometry in the real world. Not only will students learn how the language of geometry is applied
across career fields, but also they will learn the computer programming skills necessary
to build a homepage.
Science
Biology I classes, totalling approximately 50 students, will be the target population
for the science component of the project. For the past two years, these classes
have monitored the water quality of Pittsburgh's rivers as part of the RiverWatchers
volunteer monitoring program. The goal of the science component is to move this project
beyond simple water testing. Specifically, the biology students will engage in
the following activities:
Students will conduct scientific tests on water from the Ohio River, and will use
the Internet as a vehicle to disseminate the results of those tests to students,
researchers, and the general public.
Students will engage in library research on the nature and effects of specific water
quality parameters, such as phosphates or dissolved oxygen.
INSTRUCTIONAL PROCEDURES
The addition of the Internet to the classroom alters the roles of both the student
and the teacher. As students enter into collaborative communication, they must take
an active role in their own learning. Students will depend not only on their own
technical skills but also on their ability to communicate their thoughts effectively to
others. They will become problem seekers and problem solvers, initiating inquiry,
mastering concepts, and reflecting on the thinking process. In this collaborative
environment, the role of the teacher shifts from that of a holder of knowledge to that of
a facilitator and partner in learning. Teachers must not only provide opportunities
for students to engage in collaboration, but also teachers must become active participants in the collaboration process, listening, suggesting, and guiding students in their
learning. In each participating content area, teachers have designed instructional
plans that facilitate the inquiry process.
Foreign Languages
Prior to the start of the project, the participating foreign language teachers will
make contact with groups of native-speaking students in the target languages. These
groups are readily found on the Internet through listserves and electronic bulletin
boards related to foreign language instruction.
Throughout the school year, students will engage in conversations with native speakers
of the target languages through e-mail, chat, and listserve. The topics of their
conversations will include: self-introduction, their families, their friends, their
leisure activities, teenage concerns, current events, news, customs, and traditions.
The journal entries will follow sequentially the topics, themes, and language presented
in the existing course of study.
Mathematics
Incorporating the geometry curriculum activity into the classroom is a relatively
easy task. The staff of the Geometry Forum develops and posts problems on a weekly
basis that correspond with the sequential topics in the Discovering Geometry textbook
by Michael Serra, the primary textbook in the Pittsburgh Public Schools for regular geometry.
Each week, students will download the problems and prepare solutions in classroom
collaborative groups. Students will then send their solutions to the Geometry Forum. As a listserve, the Forum will send copies of the students' solutions to all
subscribers. Teachers' experience with the Forum suggests that solutions posted
to the Geometry Forum generally result in many responses and inquiries from students
and teachers throughout the Internet community.
During the second semester, students will engage in a week-long research project in
which they will find sites on the World Wide Web on the uses of geometry in society.
Students will focus on one of the following areas: art, science, architecture, or
archeology and will prepare written summaries of the Web sites they have explored.
These summaries will form the cornerstone of a Perry-based World Wide Web page on
applied geometry.
Science
In the fall, after watching a WQED video on Pittsburgh's rivers, the students will
select a water quality parameter to study. They will research this parameter in
the library, using a variety of reference sources and will prepare a research proposal
for their specific water quality parameter.
Beginning in October, students will test river water on a bi-weekly basis and will
communicate the results of their tests to the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation
Commission (ORSANCO) via electronic mail. Staff members at ORSANCO will visit the
classroom to talk about the organizations that have volunteered to test the Ohio River.
Students will utilize the ORSANCO Electronic Bulletin Board System (BBS) to access
water quality information for all three of Pittsburgh's major rivers in order to
analyze the data, write their results, and draw conclusions from those results.
Students will share their results with other schools and river-testing organizations through
the ORSANCO bulletin board.
ASSESSMENT
Each of the curriculum activities described above has end goals that result in tangible
and measurable products. For example, one natural result of each curriculum activity
in all content areas--foreign language, science, and math--is an electronic portfolio of written work. These portfolios, in handwritten form, have been a component
of the existing assessment plans in the content areas. In their electronic form,
the portfolios make the teacher's job of providing feedback much easier. Each activity
will have baseline criteria. These criteria include completion of the task (evidence
of a working knowledge of Internet-based resources), meeting pre-established rubrics,
and written reflection. In foreign language, for example, the students will have
a complete set of e-mail entries to present orally to the class in the target language.
At this level, students will be able to describe their e-mail partner and talk about
his or her family, friends, leisure activities, etc. They will also submit personal
journals in English in which they reflect on these personal experiences with native
speakers of the target language. For each activity, students will fulfill criteria
specific to the content area as well. For example, mathematics and science students
will demonstrate their success by creating specific research tools for the Internet community
at large.
Clearly, the success of these activities from both the student's and teacher's perspective
is related in part to the quality of the products. More importantly, however, success
on the student's part must be measured by the extent to which their products demonstrate compliance with the Chapter 5 exit content standards and district graduation
requirements. The teachers' success will be measured by their facility in using Internet
resources and by site-level formative and summative group evaluations of the instructional process.
PART II: DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION TEAM
SUPPORT AND VISION
The Project X-Spand committee is composed of six members representing the foreign
language, mathematics, and science departments. Karen Fronzaglio (librarian) and
Glenn Ponas (mathematics) will act as co-site coordinators. They will provide first-level
technological support, network training, and organizational leadership within our
local environment. Their specific responsibilities are detailed in their letters
of support (see Appendix A). Isabel Valdivia (Japanese) and Kathy Gensure (Spanish)
will implement the foreign language component. Ellen Wright (Biology) will be advised and
assisted by Melody Snyder (Chemistry) in implementing the RiverWatchers component.
All teachers will work in partnership with the librarian so that students have continuing access to library and Internet resources.
The development of community partnerships such as RiverWatcher projects, Mellon Bank,
and the Geometry Forum has been a high priority for some time. As shown in their
letters of support (see Appendix A), our community partners have welcomed the extension of the partnerships to include the Internet as a way of enhancing communication
and collaboration between Perry and their respective sites.
We have worked well as a team to design, organize, and write this proposal. In introductory
meetings, the team set overall project goals, and established responsibilities of
individual team members for drafting specific components of the proposal. In subsequent meetings, members shared their ideas for the components and sought feedback
from other team members before compiling final drafts. We believe that our high
level of teamwork in writing this proposal is indicative of our capabilities to collaborate in making Project X-Spand a success. We further agree that our long term vision
for Perry is to X-Spand the Internet across all content areas and in every classroom,
allowing all students the opportunity to become members of this worldwide community.
MANAGEMENT
Phase one of Project X-Spand involves training project staff members in the use of
computer and network technology. In addition to Common Knowledge workshops on the
basics of Internet computing, the staff will spend at least one period per week during
their professional period on the Internet. During that time, teachers will become familiar
with various Internet tools for communication and information retrieval. Teachers
will also contact their respective partners and set in motion the necessary logistics to begin the collaborative process. Project team meetings will be conducted as
necessary to facilitate teachers' learning and to brainstorm solutions to potential
problems as they arise, including the definition of specific evaluation standards
for student work and for the project in general.
In phase two of Project X-Spand, students in the targeted classes will learn about
and use the Internet. The project teachers have committed one day per week in their
classes for their respective components of the project, although more time will be
allotted as necessary. Students will begin by learning the basics of Internet use,
including e-mail, chat, listserve, bulletin boards, and web browsing on computers
in their own classrooms and in the laboratory in room 124. As students become more
proficient in these tasks, teachers will guide students toward the resources necessary
to complete the curriculum activities. The main library computers will be available
at all times for students to conduct research under the guidance of the library staff.
The computer lab will be made available to individual students when the lab is not
in use by classes. Students in the targeted classes with existing knowledge of the
Internet have already agreed to act as tutors both in individual classrooms and in
the Internet Lab. Throughout phase 2 of the project, the team will meet on a weekly basis
to share experiences, seek advice, and monitor the progress of the project. Teachers
will report to the team on the status of their instruction and assessments, and will
adjust instruction as needed.
CEIP PLAN
Project X-Spand is aligned with the Perry Traditional Academy Comprehensive Educational
Improvement Plan in three ways. First, the project exemplifies the long range goal
of "promoting professional growth in the areas of restructuring and student-based
objectives". Second, Project X-Spand seeks to advance Perry's mission of "providing
a quality education which includes the development of life skills" by promoting technology-based
skills. Third, the project is in agreement with the vision of the Parent/School/Community Council that, "students should be empowered to take greater responsibility
for their own education".
PART III: EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION OF RESOURCES
STATEMENT OF NEED
Beginning with the 1995-96 school year, Perry Traditional Academy had in place and
operable over 100 IBM-compatible 486-dx2-66 computers with 8 megabytes of RAM, with
MS-DOS 6.22 and Microsoft Windows for Workgroups 3.11 software. These computers
currently function as stand-alone systems and do not contain network cards. Project X-Spand
has permanent access to 30 of these computers in the following locations:
six (6) IBM workstations in the main library
sixteen (16) IBM workstations in the computer laboratory (room 146 - adjacent to the
main library)
two (2) IBM workstations in room 123
two (2) IBM workstations in room 029
two (2) IBM workstations in room 227 (each containing an RJ-45 ethernet card)
two (2) Macintosh LC III workstations with 4 megabytes RAM in room 242
Networking these existing computers is an easy and relatively inexpensive process.
In order to connect these resources in a network, we request the following resources:
ethernet cards for each of the computers listed above
additional RAM memory for both Macintosh computers in room 242
a file server that can handle the 30 computers in this project and that is capable
of future expansion to other computers in the building. The file server should be
placed in a secure area such as room 149 (librarian's work room--off limits to students)
the necessary routers and concentrators to network the 30 machines in this project
as well as future expansion to other computers in the building
Internet connectivity
the necessary wiring to connect the file server to the 30 project computers that are
located in the following rooms: main library, room 146, room 123, room 029, room
227, room 242
the necessary wiring to connect the file server to the technology lab in room 229.
This room has 25 additional IBM-compatible computers that already contain network
cards. It is our intention over the course of the school year to bring those computer
online to give students an additional Internet access point beyond our original 30 project
computers.
staff training and technical support from Common Knowledge and Pittsburgh Public Schools
staff.
We have several compelling reasons for requesting network resources. First, the school
district has already made a substantial investment in computer hardware and software
at Perry. Networking these computers will greatly enhance this investment by linking computer users to the vast resources available on the Internet. Second, given
the ever changing and rapidly expanding knowledge base in the sciences, it is imperative
that Perry students, like those at the Westinghouse High School science and math
magnet, should have access to the latest sources of information. Third, there are no
educational opportunities within the Western culture, let alone in the local community,
for students to witness the Japanese language in use in real life situations. As
the only school in the district to offer students access to computers with Japanese versions
of operating systems and word processing software, we offer a unique opportunity
for students to see Japanese in action. The next logical step is to use this existing software in conjunction with the Internet. Fourth, for the past two years, the biology
classes at Perry have put much effort into collecting and reporting data on water
quality. Because of limited access to the electronic bulletin board at ORSANCO,
the students have been unable to fully utilize all the resources of the RiverWatchers
project. Access to the Internet will greatly increase opportunities for students
to engage in collaboration and data analysis.
UNDER-REPRESENTED POPULATIONS
Project X-Spand will attempt to meet the needs of the mainstream student. There are
already many programs in place for exceptional students who are found at either end
of the learning continuum. Often, the students near the center of that continuum
have fewer opportunities to engage in new and innovative instruction than their exceptional
counterparts. Caught between two groups who receive substantial attention, mainstream
students are often overlooked in the instructional process. We think that these
students have the capability of making great strides when they are engaged in learning
that is exciting and meaningful to them.
It is our belief that including technology in our curriculum activities will attract
at risk students to subject areas that they have traditionally avoided: math, science,
and foreign language. The hands-on experience and the novelty that such activities provide will also address the diverse learning styles of these students.
CONTINUITY
Perry Traditional Academy receives students from all district middle schools that
are CK:P sites: Allegheny, Frick, Knoxville, and Schiller. Students entering grade
nine at Perry from these schools have the expectation that they will not only be
able to utilize their existing knowledge of the Internet, but also that they will be able
to X-Spand their knowledge and skills. This proposal gives us an opportunity to
meet and exceed this expectation.