You Are Not Alone

Written by Michelle Fulton, Fort Osage High School English Teacher

I made the same assumption in my first try at Real World Learning projects, as any teacher would. I assumed I had to create everything from scratch. I assumed I had to make all the business connections, all the grading rubrics, all the collaboration documents, and anything I wanted the students to use with their clients. I thought I had to come up with the project and the options for kids to choose from.

But the reality was, I didn’t! And it took my Real World Learning Coordinator many, many repetitions, over several meetings, for me to finally believe her – the students will rise to the occasion.

My coordinator was the one who already had contacts within the community; my only job was to prepare students to receive information and ask questions. Then I could coach them through the process of creating solutions for their clients.

This year is my second year as a mentor to teachers trying Real World Learning projects for the first time. I found myself repeating:

• “What does your RWL Coordinator say?”
• “Have you asked your RWL Coordinator?”
• “You shouldn’t have to make those contacts, have you asked your coordinator what they think about this idea?”

Most of the time, the answer was no, or not yet. Most of my advice was for my teachers to stop and take their ideas to their coordinator.

Almost every time, the coordinator had the solution and was able to coach the next steps. My teachers needed me, another teacher, to tell them it was ok to let go of control and use the resources available to them. 

My teachers wanted to hear about my projects and how I ran them. As I would relate my stories, I realized how much I was a facilitator and a mentor to the students and not a planner; I would not plan their every step. And that is when students did their best thinking and learning