By
Ed Pierce
Even
the most experienced teachers found it challenging to continue to keep students
focused on learning and improving while using remote learning during the COVID-19
crisis.
But
for Amy Engelberger, a Windham Middle School English and Language Arts teacher,
a special project this spring demonstrated for her that students are highly
adaptable and despite facing obstacles, can produce superior results.
“There were
many curriculum choices to make as a teacher during our remote learning and I
chose to teach writing units for all three of my classes during our last
several weeks together,” Engelberger said. “I wanted students to choose
their topics and stressed they should choose something they felt very
passionate about because this would keep them engaged and curious throughout
the writing unit.”
“The seventh-grade unit was an argument unit where they had to
develop a thesis statement and support their thesis with evidence gathered
through research,” she said. “The sixth-grade unit was an informational
unit where they initially researched their topic to see where the research led
them. Students eventually planned three ‘chapters’ to teach readers about
their topics.”
As the end of the school year drew closer, Engelberger said she was pleased with the results of the project.
“I have been a teacher for 14 years at Windham Middle School and I
felt so emotional as we neared the end of this school year,” she said. “I
was so proud of my students and was amazed at the level of engagement in these
writing units. I told them as long as we continued to communicate as much
as possible while we were apart I knew we would find success and they did it and
stayed with me until the end of the year.”
Engelberger said she was so impressed with their finished writing
pieces, she thought immediately that many of the pieces could be enjoyed by a
wider audience.
She submitted four student articles she chose from the project to
The Windham Eagle for publication because they seemed very relevant to her in a
number of ways.
The articles included “Supporting
Local Farmers” by seventh-grader Mia White; “Online Learning: Is
it more Helpful, or Stressful?” by seventh-grader Riley Yates; “The Library
of Congress” by sixth-grader Elizabeth Duncan; and “Stop Motion is a Great Way To Tell a Story” by sixth-grader Nathan R.
Paulding.
“Obviously the online learning piece is something we have all been
thinking about,” Engelberger said. “Riley is a very gregarious young lady,
and even though she was incredibly successful through the entirety of the
distance learning it was hard for her to learn remotely. I loved how she
was exploring the topic and thinking deeply about it.
“Mia is very passionate about farming and talks about a possible
future in farming,” Engelberger said. “She can debate the need for farms
like a champion. I thought the piece was so relevant as more families and
communities consider starting home gardens and trying to support local
farms. It was informative and interesting to read.”
For the other two submissions, Engleberger said she chose them because
she thought it might be fun for younger readers of the newspaper to possibly
explore these two topics on their own this summer.
“Nate loves stop motion and spends a lot of his free time making
videos and posting them to his YouTube channel. He even made his teachers
a thank you video for Teacher Appreciation Week,” she said. “I thought more
people might want to try this and Nate's piece can teach them and point
them in the right direction.
“Finally, it was important for Elizabeth to tap into her own
curiosity with this unit and she settled on the Library of Congress. She worked
hard to narrow down the innumerable sub topic ideas and her plans were
well done,” Engleberger said. “The finished piece on the Library of Congress
was fascinating, I learned so much. Perhaps people might take a rainy
summer afternoon to explore the sites Elizabeth highlighted in her chapters. I
know I plan to do this.”
A total of 35 of Engelberger’s students participated in the
writing project and she said she’s thrilled by what they accomplished during
the most trying of circumstances.
“The tasks my students
completed during remote learning were not easy and I couldn't be prouder of
their persistence and strong communication skills to partner with me in their
learning,” Engelberger said. “They reached out to me often to seek
feedback and used my notes to improve their writing.
To read the student writing
projects online, click on:
Online Learning: Is it more Helpful, or Stressful? By Riley Yates,
Windham Middle School Grade 7 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oXf71Sn57CQzk9CQ5vDB6jV5E1nU8LnqKOb6oZhDIOo/edit?usp=sharing
Stop Motion is a Great Way To Tell
a Story By Nathan R. Paulding, Windham Middle School Grade 6
Supporting
Local Farmers By Mia White, Windham Middle School Grade 7
The
Library of Congress By Elizabeth Duncan, Windham Middle School Grade 6
