"Teachers Exchange Comments and Help"

EAST LEE MIDDLE SCHOOL
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It has been said that the walls (both inside and extending outside to the halls) reflect the life of a classroom. A walk down the sixth grade hall at East Lee would tell a story of exploration and learning represented in a giant mural of an estuary complete with many plants and animals from that environ and the results of the estuary survey presented in colored bar graphs. Another attractive wall decoration represents a teacher's success with a scaffolded reading strategy -- a special strategy that provides support for the learner as s/he attempts to learn new content or skills.
Cynthia Wicker, a math and science teacher, explains: "When the kids saw the video I gave them what we call the learning quilt. On the back of the page they were to write six facts that they learned that were interesting to them. It was the only time that I have ever had kids ask for more paper. You know how hard it is to get kids to take notes -- they were taking notes from the video to make their learning quilt and they ran out of space. That was really exciting to me because I had struggled trying to get these kids to write down important facts. That was really neat. And then when they produced their learning quilts they were beautiful so we hung those up. I was proud of all of that and it was important to me."
	Cynthia went on to describe her efforts to integrate math and science by following up a unit on graphing and surveying with a practical application to the estuary unit. "So this was a wonderful tool because they surveyed about the estuary to find out who knew where it was and why it was important . . . . then we took that information and we graphed it. It was real to them and it had special meaning because they were experiencing it. This was the best way I've ever seen to teach surveys." Cynthia was also pleased with her students' response to the word problems that she modified to reflect an estuary focus
"So instead of going, 'Oh, no, word problems,' they were interested in reading the problems because they was related to what they were doing -- that was a big plus. It is a wonderful way to get them excited about the curriculum, and I feel like the only way children will ever learn and remember. You could drill it into them all you want, but unless they experience it . . . it's not going to have meaning for them. They can spit it back next week but long term it's not going to be there. If they take it and use it in something they are enjoying then I feel like we are truly educating." It was her partner, Bonnie Marshall, a science and social studies teacher, who Cynthia credited with the idea of theme teaching in science
	Bonnie described her experience with thematic teaching: "I'm trying to head more toward that direction [thematic teaching]. In other schools, at other grade levels I've actually done this through the science curriculum. I can see that it works more effectively with kids this age. It works so much better than, 'We're going to do this and then we're going to do that.' I like to tie it all together. They'll go back and they will say, 'Oh, yeah I remember when we did that -- so that's what that means.' So it shouldn't be, 'We studied heat in the fall,' and that's it, or 'We studied estuaries in the fall,' and that's it. It should always be we're getting back to that or this is still a part of it. Because themes will give students a message
They learn themes in communication skills so they can pull out what was this story is telling you. Well, I want them to be able pull out what science and social studies are teaching you this year. It's not isolated and it does have a message all year long." Cynthia was also excited about the potential for using the estuary as a unifying theme for her year's science instruction: "And then this year I saw where I could take this one unit and teach all the science -- all the curriculum . . . technology brings it to life for us." Sherry Groves, a language arts teacher, joining the project for her first live virtual field trip experience, spoke of how exciting her students found the technology: "They got into the internet part of it -- they just couldn't believe that we were on the internet."
	Bonnie also spoke of the value of the interactive component of the trip: "These kids when they see their questions typed in and they hear their questions answered are so excited that they have been 'in' this technology and that they are a part of it and people are actually paying attention to them and telling them that these are good questions. I think they feel like they're an active part of it. They are getting feedback immediately, and I think that's very important. They have played games on computers but now they are actually learning through the computer. It's a new age."
Paul Brinkley, who has supported these teachers every step of the way to this "new age" is a great spokesperson for the internet and this internet-based project: "...the internet when it's used properly is one of the best educational tools that a teacher could ever hope for. So many wonderful sites open up opportunities for students that they would not ever get to be a part of any other way. We're trying to use it as much as possible. And the internet field trip is an absolute perfect example of how the internet can be an excellent teaching tool
	. . . I see the excitement and the enthusiasm on the kids' faces as you walk down the hall and see the bulletin boards that they have made and all the activities that they have done and they are so proud of it. When you can see kids having that much fun in education you know you're doing the right thing. To me it's the most fun unit that I do with kids all year long in any school."
It's schools like East Lee who make the EstuaryLIVE Project worthwhile for students and gratifying for us. Thanks from the EstuaryLIVE Team to students and teachers of East Lee Middle School, Lee County, North Carolina.

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