Publication of student work on the website extends the learning community beyond the classroom to the entire school community. Key to this effort is a school website that includes a community publishing platform. Students and teachers choose whether to make the work viewable to the school community only (students, staff, parents, alumni) or the public, depending on the pedagogical goal of the work. Learning becomes a community endeavor rather than only a classroom pursuit, increasing authenticity and mutual understanding of the work that happens at school.
Click on each title to view the content at Catlin Gabel.
Students tackle topics of sustainable development in Portland, “The City That Works.” During the school year, we offer a semester elective. The summer brings an intensive program with students from different schools.
Students report on their independent research plans, progress, and results. The teacher provides feedback in the form of comments. Only one of the students has made her blog public, so you won’t see the work of the others on this page.
The science department invites all Catlin Gabel community members to contribute items of interest to this blog.
Blogging about global trips increases the sense of community experience. The 15 lucky students who go on the trip become ambassadors for the rest of the school, no longer the sole beneficiaries of the experience.
Students get out into the community to research the hispanic presence in Oregon. Through the blog, they report their findings back to the community and help educate us all. This project includes a lot of primary audio and video footage from Portland.
Honors Arts Projects portfolios
Students attach photo galleries to their blog posts to create a portfolio, in this case to support their college applications.
Fifth grade Fractured Fairytales
Students create “alternate” versions of classic fairytales, then we publish them so that parents and others students may read them as well.
Sixth grade Language Arts Poetry Box
Students write poetry, but then the teacher publishes both the text and an audio version for parents and the rest of the community to enjoy.
We have now collected two years’ worth of blog posts from seniors reporting and reflecting on their spring projects. Up until now, all of the posts have been for the Catlin Gabel community only. This year, students will make the public/community-only decision for each post. Watch this page in May 2010 to follow their progress.