Teacher Guide
This teacher’s guide was
developed in response to the numerous requests from teachers
for a more practical guide to assist them in integrating PA
into their classrooms.
This guide is not a curriculum
with required objectives and step-by-step lessons, but rather
a general framework of ideas, lessons and strategies for you
to adapt to your specific needs. While each and every PA project
is unique, projects tend to follow a general pattern that has
been laid out in the Six Stages. The stages provide a scaffold
on which to organize a PA project and progress linearly from
the start until the finish of a project.
Throughout this guide there are
links to lessons, activities, worksheets, forms, and handouts
to integrate PA into your classroom. These documents are also
meant to assist in merging project outcomes with learning and
performance assessment. The lessons provided can be adapted
for various age levels and to focus on certain subject matter
learning objectives.
A particularly important issue
for teachers is how to align district and state standards of
student learning with PA projects. This involves balancing
assessment requirements while maintaining student ownership
of projects. The third section of the guide provides a simple,
adaptable model of how Public Achievement can be crafted to
meet standards of student learning. PA can be an effective
and engaging tool to address required standards while providing
students with meaningful learning opportunities, broadening
their idea of the "classroom."
Different Models for PA in the
Classroom These pages are designed to help you incorporate
PA in your classroom in a number of different ways. Three principle
models are:
- PA as a "stand-alone" program
in a self-contained classroom. The teacher acts as coach
for a single or multiple groups. Teachers may choose
to use this model in one subject area or across the curriculum.
Teachers may find that they will want the entire class
to
work on one project in order to provide desired learning
opportunities, or they may allow groups of individual
students to select an interest-focus, either wide-open
or tied into
a particular content/skill area.
- To supplement
a PA program in your school or classroom that uses outside
coaches.
The "classic
model" for PA is with outside coaches (undergraduates
or community volunteers) who work with PA teams once
per week. This guide can help you assist this work by
constructing
supplemental activities to support the work of coaches
or as a way to create a multi-day per week curriculum
that includes
the use of outside coaches.
- To pick and choose the resources,
strategies, and individual lessons to integrate with
your already existing curricula. You may want to use single
lessons, mini-units, or PA techniques to compliment your
teaching
in subjects such as social studies, language arts,
science,
and arts.
TO MAKE THE MOST OF THIS GUIDE
WE SUGGEST THAT YOU:
- Familiarize yourself with the
core elements and basic process of PA by reading through
the Web-guide and exploring the PA web-site.
- Identify standards
and objectives to focus on in PA and develop an assessment
plan (See Six
Stages. One of the problems many teachers encounter
when thinking about Public Achievement is how to align
state and
district standards, PA projects and assessment while
maintaining student ownership. The second section of
the teacher’s
guide, Joining Public Achievement
to the Curriculum, provides a model to align PA
and standards of student learning.
- Select lessons from
the 6 Stages of PA and the lessons and activities section.
The 6 Stages of PA presents a chronological framework
outlining students projects from start to finish. This
should give
you an idea of how to organize student projects over
time. Example lessons and exercises are meant to assist
you in
merging project outcomes with learning assessment and
performance needs. It is important to note that PA
does not strictly
follow this order. Many of the stages are present throughout
– for instance, students will take action long before
they determine
their project.
- Work with students to design
how PA is implemented and assessed.
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