Learning and Leading - February 2012

would take a lot of work to pull it off.

The facilitation part proved to be easy. My students had superior ideas. They were excited about the opportunity to create a product for someone else and show it off for the world to see.

Communication and Collaboration

Allowing students to work with a partner offered countless benefits. As they collaborated about their ideas, passion ignited from their conversations. At first I suggested having one person in charge of the copy and the other in charge of graphics. But the longer they worked on the project, the more they collaborated on all aspects of the site.

Sometimes students became frustrated by faulty concept ideas or partner absences. But they learned how to work through problems. From late-night phone calls and sleepovers to idea-sharing conversations in class, students began to master the art of getting along and learning from each other.

students in tasha candela’s advanced web design class are: (back row, from left) ian mccain, spencer owens, sean kokenos, Brooke dombrow, matt kukulski, andrew Wilson, Jordan morgan, lisa nye, kayleigh Barnowske; (middle) sarah carter, allyson Whiteman, ashley scalabrino, tiffany kish, kerstyn klein, domonique Blackshear, taylor plotzke; (front) katie Verner, and marie scheppman.

Research and Information Fluency

I felt it was important to choose a business that students had a connection with, so I picked Lakeshore Lanes, the bowling alley where the kids bowl for PE class. They knew the owner, Jim LaHood, and they were familiar with the place. Another plus was that the bowling alley is close to school, as it would be expensive and time consuming to travel too far by bus to gather information or shoot photos. Lakeshore Lanes is a five-minute walk from our school, making the two-hour field trip to the bowling alley much less of a hassle.