I just had breakfast with Marco and 4 of his former students who are in town to teach teachers their multimedia tools. These students have now graduated from college and have started their own non-profit educational professional development consultation company. They are teaching teachers in schools how to implement their visions. They are writing proposals to open a community center where they can give free digital story telling workshops and help their community capture their stories.
The impact of this project is in the legacy of the graduates and in a community that is forever changed. In short, the program did not end when Marco left to work as an educational consultant, it was reborn in several different new ways. The students went to college. They now teach teachers how to do what they learned how to do. There are independent small businesses born - young adults that can help other community businesses with media in their message.
I thought you'd like to know. When I asked them about the end of the program, they all said at once "it isn't over, it was the seeds for change for the rest of our lives." They are keeping this message alive. They are now running the program as volunteers and looking for funding. It lives in the community, not in the school. There is a new teacher being hired for the school program.
Sharing this update,
Mads
Good Morning, For years I taught second and third graders the scientific concept, The Cycle: the life cycle of the butterfly, the 4-season cycle of the seasons.... You may recall using white paper plates, inserting a brad, and spinning the dial-very low tech! From your most recent installment of the Marco Torres story it appears this educational unfolding is also adhering to a natural cycle; this teacher initiative a true LIFE CYCLE - it's ALIVE! Rose H. P.S. Lucky you to share breakfast with such interesting people...We had company too, a little dog named Shelby. She just loves my scrambled eggs!
ReplyDeleteI guess I will have to admit I hit the post comment and lost my first response. So I am starting over. As everyone has mentioned, I was quite impressed with Marco Torres' ability to motivate students. He set the example of a teacher finding the method of instruction to reach even the unreachable students. He was able to find a medium that connected students to an academic environment they might not have otherwise known. His ability to connect students with multimedia, not only gave them a creative and alternative method to display their work, it also gave them the confidence to continue. I have seen this creativity first hand as my daughter has been involved in TV and Video for 3 years. She has produced amazing work. It is her passion, brought forth by a high school with up-to-date equipment, a TV studio and an amazing teacher, like Marco. Teachers such as this can bring the best out in students. They provide the environment and the tools and step back and let the students move ahead. Mads did the same with the class, she gave us the tools and we were on our own. As a group, we collaborated and where one person was weak, the other was strong. We each did our share and we worked together. We laughed, ate chocolate and it never felt like work. We accomplished as Laura and others mentioned, a pod cast we never thought was possible. It is invigorating to think what we can do in our classrooms or schools with children who need differentiated instruction. The struggling reader or the ELL student. The ELL student could go to his/her country of origin and pull information that is familiar and in turn, give other students first hand knowledge about another country. This multisensory, cooperative learning is the direction we need to take. I realize how much we accomplished together, as I watch my daughter work in a group with her TV class, as we collaborate and make a pod cast for the first time or as Marco Torres' students accomplish great work and build confidence.
ReplyDeleteI would also like to add it did my heart good to hear Marco refer to the things he remembers most from school. Something he could bring home and say, "look what I made today." As a preschool teacher for 8 years, I also had the children make a handprint to be proud of and keep as a memory. Marco Torres has empowered me to go back to school and change my way of thinking about differentiated instruction.