We learned how to work as a community to build something permanent and beautiful...
The Pond: an Expedition in Ecology
| My first year teaching, I found myself struggling to keep the attention of my students. The textbooks were in poor condition and grafittied with gang signs, and most students didn't bring books (or any other supplies) to class anyway. | This project completely changed the course of the year, for both me and my students. It created a purpose for learning and for teaching. | |
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| The building of the pond became our textbook...as we progressed in the project, we investigated soil properties... | We studied circumference and diameter, volume, surface area, and the cost of building materials... | |
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We learned how to work as a community to build something permanent and beautiful... |
An ecosystem that continues to change and grow. | |
"The best gimmick, I found, isn't a gimmick at all--it is to plant a dream into students' heads and then to empower them to make that dream come true. This "dream search" creates a learning situation where students, teachers, and community experts combine talents and knowledge to problem solve and to produce a product."
--from McKamey, "Using Real-World Projects in the Classroom," Teaching and Change, June, 1997.