Waving

The project has been communicated with my husband all along. This really is a personal quest that ended in an authentic product. According to Callison and Preddy, "Authentic assessment values both the processes and products involved in learning. For example, journals, logs, and concept maps may be developed as the project progresses. Final products might include a letter to the editor, online book review, or presentation to a local nonprofit groupo." (p. 297 The Blue Book). I have always been a believer in Authentic Assessment. As a classroom teacher I had my students write a book review on a book they chose from a list I generated. What I didn't want was a traditional book report. Through peer review, rubrics, lists that showed what a good book review is, the best review was chosen and we posted that on-line through Amazon.com.

My product are three sketches of our areas. While there was an enormous level of frustration throughout this process, my husband and I are ready for the spring. I feel satisfied as most students would when they produced an authentic product that was only possible through an inquiry process.

Additionally, the resources I used were authentic. The sites I chose are recent sites created by experts in the field. I relied on my new found friends at Smalls and Chesterton Feed for advice. They supported what I learned from the resources I selected. In the classroom, students need to be exposed to authentic resources. According to Callison and Preddy, "The library media specialist is essential in authentic learning environments. Stuednts are expected to go beyond teacher-directed activities and textbooks. The library media speicalist can collaborate with the teacher to locate and organize authentic materials and resources from community or online experts to primary source documents or photographs." (The Blue Book, p. 296)

So, while my project will be shared with my husband, the process of Lamb's 8w's needs to be communicated to the faculty.