Communtiy Work Journal on Teaching for Community

Posted by on August 6, 2004

A Very Special Issue of Community Works Journal

Written by teachers and accompanied by student work and photos this special expanded reflection edition of Community Works Journal, features essays and reflections accompanied by curriculum overviews that highlight the importance of place, service, and sustainability to a relevant and meaningful education.

To review or download the issue go to Community Works On-Line [http://www.vermontcommunityworks.org] A Downloadable Order Form is Available on-line.

ISSUE HIGHLIGHTS

* Community, Love and the Standards – Steve Glazer shares his passion for community-based curriculum along with the process he went through in refining the acclaimed Valley Quest program.

*Giving Place a Voice is elementary educator Rob Hanson, story of his curriculum’s return to the outdoors as he introduces his students to the power of the natural world.

* Spending a Little Time in the Woods is an account of the professional development program for teachers known as A Forest For Every Classroom as experienced by its program coordinator, Pat Straughan. The program benefited a number of the teachers featured in this issue.

* Learning from the Natural World is Sheryl Green’s story of the student-inspiring work she facilitated at Mills Riverside Park, a valuable and unique local resource.

* Reflections on Teaching for Sustainability and Skydiving into Sustainability are reflections on teaching for sustainability from Tre McCarney and Jen Cirillo.

* Exploring Community: Literature Based Inspirations is teaching librarian Nancy Ancharski’s introspective focus on the great value of using children’s literature to nurture understanding and caring about some of the larger issues facing our society.

* A Piece of It All: Learning to Read, Learning to Belong from reading specialist Mary-Ellen Lovinsky describes a class project that combines her professional passion for literacy work with her personal passion around community.

* Reflections on a Driving Question is fourth grade teacher Brent Sclafani’s honest reflection on what has worked well, along with the challenges he still faces, in making sustainability a meaningful part of his work with students.

* Where Food Comes From contributed by kindergarten teacher Nicole Arsenault outlines the opportunity to impact family nutrition through school curriculum that she facilitated in her classroom.

Regular contributing editors, Erica Zimmerman and David Sobel, provide timely reflections in “Educating for Sustainability” and “Of Place And Education” that nicely complement the contents of this special issue.

Our Resources pages feature important opportunities for educators: Green Teacher, a nonprofit based in Ontario, offers a series of wonderful resource publications including their magazine Green Teacher. We also feature Lights, Camera…Leadership!, an innovative video-based project curriculum. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Agency’s Partners Program offers an exciting opportunity for both schools and community members; Shelburne Farms offers an array of innovative professional development.