During this past semester, I required my students to work in small teams to generate bi-weekly newsletters for our class. The newsletters are at least four pages long. Students became creative to explore possible contents, including what they had learned and what was going on both on campus and in the field. They designed nice layouts and filled the newsletters with important content and interesting snippets. They relied on each other to provide good ideas and activities/events/occurrences in each individual classroom. The finished newsletters, amazingly informative and attractive, were disseminated among the classmates.
Although the task of producing newsletters can be a daunting hassle at first, they managed it well without complaining. There are actually many merits in this exercise. Students learned how to plan and how to work collaboratively with each other. They also realized that this exercise forced them to formulate strategies to manage a major task. Some students even recognized the value of newsletters as a good communication tool that they may use it to reach out to parents and other people. I learned that they became closely bonding with each other and were very proud of their work. The newsletter assignment created a big learning community/ support group among them. Their newsletters also highlighted various aspects in the junior practicum. They worked hard and kept busy. They have accomplished a lot.
You don’t have to take my word for it. Please read their newsletters.
