A Tale of Two Teachers

In the classroom, no longer are adults the only source of knowledge — and often they aren’t even the best. Now more than ever, kids are taking learning into their own hands.

David Cutler

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Photo purchased from Bigstock.com.

The role of “teacher” is changing. The best teachers embrace this development and don’t feel threatened by students who may know more than they do. Instead, they revel in a changing dynamic, in which students and teachers learn together to improve their collective understanding and mastery of relevant subjects and skills.

David teaches journalism at Palmer Trinity School in Palmetto Bay, Florida. In spring 2011, he began conferring with then-junior Preston, a strong student and local sports columnist, about how to improve campus media. Over a two-year period, their relationship came to exemplify what is possible when students and teachers learn together, beyond the traditional “sage-on-the-stage” dynamic.

Pioneering together

In early 2012, Palmer Trinity School was approached by PlayOn! Sports to partner in its live broadcasting venture. At a growing number of schools, students use PlayOn! Sports to cover competitions, ceremonies, graduations, interviews, and special events. All that’s needed is reliable Internet access, a digital camcorder, a laptop, and a video-capture cord.

Though he wasn’t yet enrolled in David’s journalism class, David and Preston had worked as a team to get PlayOn! Sports up and running. Since his sophomore year, Preston had served as the public address announcer for all varsity sporting events. In the second semester of his junior year, he started writing bi-monthly sports columns for The Pinecrest Tribune, a community newspaper. He also published his own blog, Michelson’s Musings, and he had a strong idea that he wanted to pursue journalism as a career.

“I had done public address announcing, but I hadn’t done much in the way of live play-by-play,” Preston says. “It was going to be difficult and come with its fair share of live troubleshooting, but I was up for it. I was very eager to get more students involved in the program.”

David also wanted a medium for students to express themselves and build confidence…

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David Cutler

A high school history and journalism teacher from Massachusetts.