{"id":7510,"date":"2017-10-06T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-10-06T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aurora-institute.org\/blog\/cw_post\/learner-centered-tip-of-the-week-teaching-targets-in-authentic-contexts\/"},"modified":"2020-02-27T14:46:08","modified_gmt":"2020-02-27T19:46:08","slug":"learner-centered-tip-of-the-week-teaching-targets-in-authentic-contexts","status":"publish","type":"cw_post","link":"https:\/\/aurora-institute.org\/cw_post\/learner-centered-tip-of-the-week-teaching-targets-in-authentic-contexts\/","title":{"rendered":"Learner-Centered Tip of the Week: Teaching Targets in Authentic Contexts"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"This week’s tip comes from Seth Mitchell, a technology integration coach in the Monmouth schools in RSU 2.\u00a0This post originally appeared at the\u00a0Learner Centered Practices Blog<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0September 25, 2017.<\/em><\/p>\n

Last year, second graders at HLC \u2013 ably guided by Brittany Brady, Winona Prince, and Katie Torrington \u2013 embarked on a year-long journey to apply their learning in a real-world context. Their combined efforts culminated in learners becoming trail guides and offering guided tours of a local hiking path. As students worked their way along the one-mile trail, they shared their knowledge about the flora and fauna of Whittier Woods, explaining how plants, trees, and various classes of wildlife have adapted to this particular environment. Trail visitors stopped at eight different locations to read student-created informational signs that not only synthesize what the students learned, but also display original, digitally produced artwork. QR codes on the signs provide access to videos<\/a> featuring student experts, who explain what hikers might see at each location on the trail. It was a proud moment for learners, for the expert educators who guided them through the process, and for the parents who expressed admiration for what these young people have accomplished. The project began the previous school year with some important questions: How can we situate target learning within an authentic context? How can we bundle standards to provide greater relevance for new knowledge? How can we tap the valuable resources of the community as we design learning experiences?<\/p>\n

There were several important factors that led to the project\u2019s eventual success:<\/p>\n